#getting to write antagonistic eliza just makes me so

[tndrhrt]

🍃 just  faithliza  tings:    she  always  has  the  bliss  on  her.  in  injectables,  in  vials,  ingestibles.  keeping  a  smear  of  it  on  her  thumb  when  talking  to  her  captives,  ready  to  swipe  over  their  tongue  should  they  grow  too  rowdy.  being  overly  physical  -  not  in  the  most  pleasant  of  ways.  pulling  your  head  back  by  the  root  of  your  hair  to  expose  your  neck  +  forcing  submission,  holding  your  hands  and  wrists  a  little  too  tightly.  bloody  noses  from  overexertion,  mood  swings  from  malnourishment  and  bliss  deprivation.

[cheapshrimpysheep]

You Will Stop the Wedding! - Jamil Viper

SUMMARY: YOU were the one being kidnapped by Princess Eliza to marry her. How would he react and how would he save you? With the aggravation of he already having a crush on you.

CHARACTERS: Jamil Viper x Reader

TAGS: Fluff; GN Reader; Declaration

WORD COUNT: 1.260 words

Riddle Rosehearts / Leona Kingscholar / Azul Ashengrotto / Jamil Viper / Vil Schoenheit / Idia Shroud / Malleus Draconia

Rescuing You - Deuce Spade; Jack Howl; Floyd Leech; Kalim Al-Asim

COMMENTS: What have I done? Why did I commit to writing this? And why did I write so much? Why was I so inspired? There were seven of them! Why do I do this to myself? So yeah, this took me a long time. But I hope it was worth it, for me and for you.

CONTEXT: Someone was kidnapped to marry some ghost princess and might end up turning into a ghost too. And they just found out that someone was you.

Jamil was not present at the Housewarden's meeting, since he isn't one. But it didn't take long for Kalim to tell him, especially because he was panicking. He starts saying loose sentences about ghosts, kidnapping, marriage and especially your name. Jamil gets very serious and asks Kalim to stop for a few seconds, calm down a little and explain things clearly. And if that doesn't work, he has a plan B: ask one of the other Housewardens. Riddle would be an excellent choice.

After fully understanding what is happening, he himself panics for a moment. But then he clears his throat and calms himself down. He asks, no, he orders Kalim to stay safe in Scarabia while he joins the others in the rescue groups. When Kalim tries to convince Jamil to let him help them, Jamil gets straight to the point and says it's dangerous, both for him and for you. Does he really want to risk ruining everything? It's your life that's at stake here! Jamil was being harsher than usual, but Kalim knew why, and promised that he would stay in Scarabia hoping that everything would go well. He would behave well for Jamil and for you.

However Jamil is too cautious to simply believe him. So most likely, without Kalim noticing, Jamil will put him to sleep or something with some spell or with his Snake Wisper. You know, just in case.

Jamil asked to be in the last group. A little like Azul, he is the type to first analyse all angles of the situation before forming a more appropriate plan.

When it's the last group's turn, whenever someone needs to stay behind to tie up the ghosts, Jamil tells one of the others to do it. He always managed to show himself as a good strategist and someone who conveys the confidence of a leader, so the others just followed this order without questioning much. His behavior showed that he seemed to have a plan in place. He ends up being the only one to arrive at the ceremony hall.

He could follow the plan, but he knew himself well in this regard. He is good at hiding his true feelings, but he is not good at showing feelings that are antagonistic to his true ones. The princess would definitely notice this as she noticed some of the others' strategies. For these reasons he had a plan B, but still wanted to try the original plan.

“Your majesty, you must stop this wedding. You are taking with you someone who doesn't want to be with you. If you don't marry someone who loves you back, both of your lives... afterlives? will be miserable. And that's why I'm here. Please accept me as your husband and I promise to do everything in my power to make your afterlife wonderful.” Everything was going well, until he proposed to be her husband.

The princess said out loud the same thing that you also noticed. In these sentences his emotion almost disappeared, showing that he was lying. And she accused him of trying to deceive her.

Jamil sighed. He was now forced to follow plan B, which he never really likes to follow: Be honest. “You are correct, your majesty. I was lying. But-” Before he could continue speaking the princess ordered the guards to catch him. And he had a plan for that too.

He managed to dodge all the ghost guards and was heading towards the altar where you and the princess were. But one thing wasn't part of his plan: One of the guards turning into a giant ghost. Obviously he still tried to fight and did his best, but he still lost against the guard. As soon as the guard caught him, the princess wasted no time in slapping him, she didn't want to hear his excuses.

However, Jamil remained able to move. Everyone gasps, including the princess. When the guards ask what's going on, the princess says it can only mean one thing. The thing is that her slap is capable of petrifying anyone, except those who have already found their true love. The reaction from all NRC students is like "What the F-?!" And Jamil’s reaction was to lower his head to try to make his hair hide his face.

Then he lifted it again, with an upset and slightly obscured expression on his face. He really hated exposing himself like that, but at that moment, it was his last shot to save you. “Do you want the truth? I'm here for someone, yes, but not for you. I'm here for the person you kidnapped to force to be your partner.” She starts to say that she didn't kidnap or force anyone. “Your delusion disgusts me.” The guard shakes him, threatening him not to insult the princess.

But now the princess is interested. He was there for you? So why did he ask to marry her? “Because we had a plan.” Jamil admits, as if he's had enough and just wants to resolve everything once and for all. “Making you accept one of us as a husband to put a ring on your finger that would send you to the afterlife.” The princess is offended and feels attacked by that. And while she and the guard start to say how outrageous that is, Jamil looks at the princess again, but this time with a condescending look.

“If you're going to take someone with you, take me then. Let (Y/N) go. Let me go in their place. From a young age I learned that part of my job would be to be willing to give my life for someone. Let me give my life for someone I lo... care about, then.” He couldn't fake something like this that well.

And, out of nowhere, the princess started to feel sorry for herself and jealous of you. Having someone willing to give their life for you like that. This was the greatest proof of love anyone could give. How she wished she had someone like that for herself too. And this was the opportunity that the guard who was in love with her found to declare himself and say that he would give his life for her, after all, technically, he had already done so. And that whole ending of the princess realizing that she loved him too happens, they get married and happily ever after.

As soon as the guard releases Jamil, he runs to you. “Are you well? Are you hurt?” You were petrified, but shortly afterwards you could move again. Jamil never left your side until the ghosts left.

After everything and while the first-years were getting ready to tidy up and clean the cafeteria, you asked Jamil to wait a bit. You leave the room so you can talk alone. He couldn't look at you, and he was trying to hide his face with his hands or his hair. He had practically already declared himself to you during all that madness. So you decide it's your turn to tell him that you feel the same way about him. He looks at you in surprise and you can see how flattered he was.

Knowing now that your feelings were mutual, he becomes kind of smug. “Does that mean you would give your life for me too? That you would serve me if necessary? *chuckle* Don't worry, I'm just messing with you. Unless you don't mind.” You say you would at least kiss him right there and then if that's what he wants. He holds you by the waist. “Be my guest.”

If you would like to read more from me, you can find it in my pinned post: INDEX

[bethanydelleman]

I saw a post you reblogged at some point about Fanny being stuck in a time loop and it got me thinking: if the main men (both protagonists and antagonists) of the different Austen novels time travelled back to the day they first met their love interest/the start of the novel - whichever is latest so wentworth, knightley, and Edmund Bertram would travel to the day the main events of their novels start - who do you think would end up changing the least of the events and the most (intentionally or not)?

Because I feel like Knightley would change the least and Henry Tilney and the three S&S gents would come next. But like Wentworth would immediately throw the entire novel off track and like Darcy and Henry Crawford would come in close second trying to change their truly awful first impressions

(Also I just want to add that I really love your Austen takes and discussions 😊)

Thank you!

This is a fascinating idea. Here are my thoughts:

Wentworth just marches into Uppercross Cottage and proposes again. Doesn't even wait to be properly introduced to the family. He's getting Anne back NOW. (She says yes, of course)

I can imagine Darcy having a tiny little crisis as he decides if he really wants to be married to Elizabeth, maybe he could just not accompany Bingley to Netherfield and his life could go the way he planned... nah, he can't resist. Off to Netherfield he goes and he lets Bingley introduce him to Elizabeth at the assembly ball. Things progress unimpeded and by Christmas there is a double wedding and Wickham's character is known throughout Hertfordshire. He skips town and Lydia is packed off to Pemberley to benefit from some better society. (Side note: Mrs. Bennet would push Mr. Collins on Mary if she had any inclination that Darcy liked Elizabeth).

If Bingley knew everything, he'd never leave Jane. He'd return from London and marry her, no matter what Darcy or his sisters said. (I wrote that once actually)

Does Wickham count as a main? Because I don't want him having the ability to predict the future. Yikes on bikes!

Henry Crawford is very interesting, because does he actually understand where he went wrong? I'm not sure he does. Can he resist a flirtation with two very pretty sisters? That would be a fun fan fiction to write. Because if he went for Fanny right off the bat and she knew nothing else about him... he'd probably succeed with her, secret Edmund love or not. And she certainly wouldn't have a leg to stand on in refusing his proposal.

Does Edmund come back in the same timeline as Henry? That would be so agnsty! If not, he'd probably be doing whatever he could to keep Maria and Henry apart, but he's shockingly ineffective in canon, so would he even be able to change anything?

Henry Tilney would probably just try to prevent Catherine being sent home alone. He could easily come back early.

Mr. Knightley's best move would be to tell Robert Martin to propose in person. I doubt Harriet could have resisted. Then he could just sit back and watch everything else play out.

Honestly, I don't know if Frank Churchill would change a thing, other than making sure his final letter was posted to Jane. He enjoyed the subterfuge.

Poor Edward Ferrars has to travel back while engaged to Lucy? I feel like he wouldn't even want to relive the novel, there is nothing he can do anyway.

Colonel Brandon would probably change a lot. He could immediately save Eliza and challenge Willoughby. He might even spare Marianne from a lot of pain.

Reginald de Courcy (Lady Susan) would likely act as well and save Frederica earlier than in the novel.

[knjbrin]

Introduce your ocs to me, im new :3

Oh HIIIII omg Let me start okay so These are all Ocs for my Comic Broken Bottlez;

*This is Willow they go by She/They Pronouns and is the main character and lead singer and guitarist of the band

Her interests consist of reading Books on The history of rock music and Practicing guitar. She takes writing music and keeping the band together very seriously. When she’s not doing any of that she’s Exercising or working part time at Vera’s Bar.

*Then there’s Keeoni She’s 24 and goes by She/Her pronouns and is the second main character. She’s a Journalist for a Magazine that features Rock bands and all things Alternative.

A social Butterfly Keeoni loves to be on the scene whenever there’s a concert, a party, or an event that needs her she’ll be there.

Her interests consist of Learning about bands and the history of Alternative music because her father used to be the lead singer of a Famous band. When she’s not doing that she’s Volunteering at Libraries reading to children or tutoring students. She loves Fashion and Wants to start a blog about Fashion trends in the scene. She’s new to town and Finds herself Getting much more personal with Lead singer of Broken Bottlez

*Then there’s Elizabelle who’s sort of the main Antagonist of the comic. She’s 25 and goes by She/Her pronouns and is an Ex member of Broken Bottlez along with Being Willows Ex.

An Upcoming Model and Fashion Influencer Elizabelle is A Social Butterfly she thrives in the Social Scene and will do anything to Stay in it.

Her interests consist of Shopping, Blogging, and Socializing with People of her Social Status and going to Parties to mingle with the VIP there. Outside of that Eliza struggles with her self image of being Apart of a society that looks at her like another Bimbo Woman who just wants to be Famous.

*Then there’s Vera The best friend of Willow and sort of the older sister of the bandShes 25 and goes by She/Her pronouns and takes on more of a Manager role for the band By finding gigs, writing songs, managing tours and interviews etc.

She owns a Goth Bar and Considers herself an Ambivert. Blunt and Straightforward when it comes to the greater good of her friends and the band she’s taken on a Sisterly role to Willow, Ash, and Karissa.

Her interests consist of supporting her community and giving her people a space where they can be themselves and still feel safe and comfortable. She can be sarcastic at times and a little harsh with her honesty but has the greater good of her friends in her heart.

*Then there’s Karissa Lead Bassist and Sub Vocalist of Broken Bottlez She’s 22 and goes by She/Her pronouns and is Willows younger Cousin Karissa is the heart of the band She always knows how to lift everyone’s spirits whenever things seem to be going wrong.

She’s an Extrovert and loves to be around like minded people. She’s very protective of her friends Especially Ash and Willow. She can tell what a persons feeling just off of one look and tends to be the shoulder her friends can lean on.

Her interests consist of making her own Clothes and designing outfits for the band to wear. When she’s not doing that she’s Practicing Bass and helping out at her mother’s Bakery or Helping Vera manage the Band. She also may or may not have a teeeeny tiny crush on Ash.

*And finally There’s Ashton “Ash” for short. Lead Drummer of the bandThey’re 23 and go by They/Them pronouns and is Willows Best Friend

Introverted by choice Ash likes to keep their public image simple: Cold and Mysterious. Buuut in reality they’re actually An open book and a very loyal and kindhearted Individual to those they are close to. They just really prioritize privacy. Tends to get overwhelmed when at the center of social scenes so Prefers Observing and listening.

Their interests consist of Playing and Practicing The drums. Are they never not playing the drums? Outside of that They Help run their family’s Record store With their Oldest brother and going to quiet places like parks, libraries, and Art galleries. Loves to hangout at Vera’s Bar tends to be the one Social setting they thrive in.

And that’s it pretty much! I’m still working on some things and getting character sheets out but Welcome to my Weird little Sapphic Comicverse 😭❤️❤️❤️

[choolantanavt]

this is a secret post only tumblr is allowed to have

STOP!

Are you on Tumblr right now? If not, you are not allowed to continue. This post is a secret, only allowed on Tumblr and nowhere else.

This is your final warning. I will eat every single pair of pants you own, I swear to GOD.

ok, theyre gone? good.

I wanna talk about random story threads I've been thinking about in my mind, because if I write them down then they become just a little bit more real.

This is Eliza. She spent most of her young-adulthood as a "Celestial Guardian," empowered by one of Four mystical stones that contain incredible power. (She's a Magical Girl. That's it. Don't need to think too hard about it.) As her and her other Celestial Guardians grew up and went through high school and into college, the other three members of her team ultimately left. One was severely wounded after fighting an incredibly tough opponent and never fully recovered; one grew distant with the others and ultimately vanished into the wider world; while her third and final teammate cracked under the pressure and renounced her Guardianship. This leaves Eliza alone as the Guardian of the Celestial Stones. For years, she fought her way through the hordes of enemies who seek to steal or destroy the stones, but the fight has not been kind to her.

Now, in her mid-20s, Eliza is TIRED. The poor girl has spent so much time as a Guardian that she's beginning to realize she doesn't actually... know what she's doing? As long as she could keep fighting, she had a purpose, but underneath that she struggles with her identity and her future. She's living with her parents, juggling whatever dead-end jobs will take her terrible schedule and random disappearances, all to keep on protecting, what, a bunch of rocks?

She's getting tired of it, but unlike her other teammates, she is still dedicated to the cause. So, Eliza, on top of her other responsibilities, has taken it onto herself to find the next generation of Guardians to protect the Celestial Stones.

So, it's a Magical Girl who's grown up and realized she can't be a Magical Girl forever. So, she wants to find the next generation of young, impressionable kids to take her responsibilities off her shoulders so she can live her life.

Even now, as I was writing out the ideas I had, I kind of realized how much I'm projecting onto Eliza here. Mid-20s, what amounts to a dead-end job, still at home with the parents, struggling with a sense of self and identity?

haha

Anyway, in my head, she's still friends with the 3rd member of her team, because instead of ending up injured because of a fight or vanishing, she stayed around. I have no ideas about this friend of Eliza's at all. I also have absolutely no ideas in my head about the other two teammates (Except that the one who vanished absolutely gives me future Antagonist energy--like she's going to reappear as some sort of Tech Start-Up Billionaire who wants to use the Celestial Stones to mine Bitcoin or something stupid like that). I don't even have any ideas about the kids she'd have to find to take on the mantle of Celestial Stone Guardian!

Share your thoughts with me, but remember. This is for TUMBLR ONLY. This is my secret, private, oops all shit fart hole where I can make anything--I don't need Twitter to hear about this.

I'm tempted to not tag the post, but I do *kinda* want people to like... see it? We'll see.

[oceanmusings]

Fandoms

I'm pretty chill when it comes to roleplays, some days I can't plot or be able to reply, but eventually I will respond to you!

If you want the same love interest as me we can instead just do like AU type universe instead, if you really don't want to I can find a different Love Interest (but some fandom's I won't be flexible)

the amount of ♥ is how much I am interested on rping it.

♥ - 1 (not interested)

♥ - 5 (absolutely would)

-cinema-

Marvel Universe | ♥♥♥

Status - watched most of the shows and movies, working on netflix shows (currently on "Jessica Jones, season 2") (9/23)

Notes - Won't write for any of the protagonist, this doesn't include the anti-heros. And I won't write for Yelena romantically, since she is aroace. Only platonically.

Claimed - Tom!Peter Parker, Michelle "MJ" Jones-Watson :: paired with Charlotte "Charlie" D'Angelo (fc, vaness marano) || Andrew!Peter Parker :: paired with Charlotte "Lottie" D'Angelo (fc, emmy rossum)

Star Wars | ♥

Status - Watched all the movies, The Mandalorian, Kenobi, and Andor. I haven't watched the clone wars or played all the games, so my knowledge is limited.

Notes - Won't write for villains, like Darth Vader (not Anakin)

Claimed - Rey Skywalker :: paired with unknown || Cassian Andor :: 0aired with Addimaev Carric (fc, daniella pineda) || Obi-wan Kenobi :: paired with unknown

Harry Potter | ♥♥♥♥

Status - read all the books and movies (except for the last fantastic beast movie, I refuse for obvious reasons)

Notes - I don't condone anything JK or some of the actors have done. I will shit talk and make this fandom my own and anything we do for the rp that will piss of JK is okay for me. But also I refuse to write Severus Snape, Voldemort, or Barty Crouch. Mainly any Death Eaters (Draco doesn't count since I like giving him a redemption arc and believe his dad forced him)

Claimed - George Weasley :: paired with Anna Diggory (fc, liza weil) || Ginny Weasley, Harry Potter :: paired with Karina Carter (fc, zendaya) || Fleur Delacour :: paired with Athena Owens (fc, jenny walser)

Marauders Era | ♥♥♥

Status - Gimmie all the headcanons, I will accept anything.

Notes - I won't write for Peter, mainly cause I just don't know him. IF you really want me to, send me things you like about him (like headcanons, fanfic, tiktok's) to help me get his vibe.

Claimed - Remus Lupin :: paired with Devyn Edwards (fc, eliza scanlen) || Sirius Black :: paired with Reese Sudsworth (fc, joseph quinn) || James Potter :: paired with Ava-Rose Wyatt (fc, holland roden)

-tv-

Daisy Jones and the Six | ♥♥♥

Status - Completed both the book and the show!

Notes - I will write for anyone

Claimed - Karen Sirko or Graham Dunne :: paired with Talia Montgomery (fc, zooey deschanel) || Daisy Jones :: paired with Andrew "Andy" Foster (fc, billy crudup)

Shadow and Bone Series | ♥♥

Status - Completed the show, read the Shadow and Bone books and the first Six of Crows book.

Claimed - Nikolai Lantsov :: paired with Elisa Volkov (fc, mathilde ollivier) || Genya Safin :: paired with Stafford Lantsov (fc, harrison osterfield)

Gilmore Girls | ♥♥♥♥

Status - Completed a thousand times, I technically have never seen the last season tho.

Notes - I'll write anyone.

Claimed - Paris Geller :: paired with Eloise Gilmore (fc, talia ryder) || Jess Mariano :: paired with unknown

Switched at Birth | ♥

Status - Currently on season 4 (9/23)

Notes - Will not write for John Kennish

Claimed - Tobey Kennish :: paired with Cora Shepard (fc, hayley williams) || Kathryn Kennish :: paired with Adalia Parker (fc, holly marie combs)

Charmed | ♥

Status - Have watched the originally many times, I haven't read the comics or watched the reboot.

Notes - n/a

Claimed - Paige Matthews :: paired with unknown

X-Files | ♥

Status - Currently on season 7 (9/23), and have never seen the movies either.

Notes - Will not write any antagonist (like the smoking man)

Claimed - Dana Scully :: paired with unknown || Fox Mulder :: paired with unknown

Teen Wolf | ♥

Status - Have finished the show to the point Stiles and Scott leave, wont go any further. (I trust Kai's judgment)

Notes - Won't write for Peter.

Claimed - Allison Argent :: paired with Adam Dorian (fc, milo ventimiglia) || Lydia Martin :: paired with Avery Primula (fc, sarah ramos) || Derek Hale :: paired with Sadie Price (fc, meghan ory)

Stranger Things | ♥♥♥♥♥

Status - Have watched all the seasons many times. Currently reading the books!

Notes - I won't write for Billy

Claimed - Robin Buckley :: paired with Daisy Hopper (fc, florence pugh) || Steve Harrington :: paired with Paige Evans (fc, kate hudson) || Robin Buckley :: paired with Vivianne Owens (fc, talia ryder) || Will Byers :: paired with Francis Levin (fc, aiden gallagher)

Supernatural | ♥♥♥♥♥

Status - Completed, have not watched "The Winchesters" (9/23)

Notes - n/a

Claimed - Dean Winchester, Charlie Bradbury :: paired with Lori Holt (fc, krysten ritter) || Sam Winchester, Castiel :: paired with Virginia "Gigi" Rivers (fc, alyssa marano) || Bela Talbot :: paired with Beau Rivers (fc, colin o'donoghue)

The Walking Dead | ♥♥♥♥

Status - Currently on season 8 (9/23)

Notes - Won't write for Negan or Merle

Claimed - Michoone Hawthorne, Daryl Dixon :: paired with Jennifer "JD" Moore (fc, jodie comer)

Criminal Minds | ♥♥♥♥♥

Status - Currently on season 14 (9/23)

Notes - n/a

Claimed - Spencer Reid :: paired with Arwen Valentine (fc, imogen poots) || Emily Prentiss :: paired with Michaela "Mika" Briggs (fc, tatiana maslany) || Any :: paired with Dana Hart (fc, deborah ann woll)

-literature-

Percy Jackson | ♥

Status - Currently on House of Hades (9/23)

Notes - Won't write for Luke

Claimed - Percy Jackson :: paired with Arely Wesseck (fc, natalia dyer)

The Raven Cycle | ♥

Status - Completed. Have not read Call Down The Hawk. (4/23)

Notes - n/a

Claimed - Richard Gansey, Blue Sargent :: paired with unknown

The Diviners Series | ♥

Status - Currently on The King of Crows (4/23)

Notes - Will not write for Jake Marlowe.

Claimed - Mempis Campbell :: paired with unknown || Sam Lloyd :: paired with unknown

-video games-

Detroit: Become Human | ♥♥♥

Status - Completed most endings.

Notes - Will not write Richard Perkins.

Claimed - Connor RK800, Markus RK200 :: paired with Alizarin Morgan (fc, suzy berhow)

Heavy Rain | ♥♥

Status - Completed, have seen 2 endings.

Notes - Will not write Scott Shelby

Claimed - Norman Jayden :: paired with unknown

Life Is Strange | ♥♥♥

Status - Completed, have seen both endings.

Notes - I have only played Life Is Strange and Life Is Strange Before The Storm. I also won't write for David.

Claimed - Chloe Price :: paired with unknown

Red Dead Redemption | ♥♥♥♥♥

Status - Completed both games. Only seen high honor.

Notes - I won't write for Micah Bell, Bill Williamson, and Hosea Matthews.

Claimed - Arthur Morgan :: paired with Emmaline Nielson (fc, jessica brown findlay) || Sadie Adler :: paired with Delilah Matthews (fc, rosamund pike)

The Last of Us | ♥♥♥♥♥

Status - Completed both games and show!

Notes - I will not tolerate Abby slander

Claimed - Joel Miller :: paired with Fiona Kelley (fc, molly parker) || Abigail "Abby" Anderson :: Camilla Miller (fc, unknown)

-anime-

Fruits Basket | ♥♥♥♥

Status - Completed the reboot

Notes - N/A

Claimed - Sohma Yuki or Hanajima Saki :: paired with Tamaki Sayuri (fc, rinka urushiba)

Cowboy Bebop | ♥

Status - Completed both the show and live action

Notes - N/A

Claimed - Spike Spiegel or Faye Valentine :: paired with unknown

Spy X Family | ♥♥♥

Status - Watched up to season 2!

Notes - Willing to do just 1x1

Claimed - Yor Forger :: paired with unknown

[inky-duchess]

Lessons Writers can learn from Hamilton

Guess who finally watched Hamilton? I love historical dramas and films and now historical musicals. I am a bigger nerd than before and I can't stop singing My Shot. So what can we learn about writing from Hamilton?

Aaron Burr, Sir

I really feel for Aaron Burr during the beginning of the story. Most of us have dealt with a similar issue: working hard yet somebody is always better than you. Even though Burr is technically the antagonist by story's end, most of the audience does get his point. But the problem with Burr, both by the audience's view and Hamilton's is the fact that he doesn't say what he believes in. La Fayette wants the fall of monarchy and better equality. Hamilton wants to make a place for himself in the world. Eliza wants her family to be happy. Burr tells Hamilton to keep his opinions to himself leading to Hamilton to ask, "Burr, the revolution's imminent. What do you stall for? If you stand for nothing, Burr, what'll you fall for?" Every character should have something they fight for. It endears them to the audience and allows us to stand behind them. Without goals and principles, a character will always just remain a name on a page and a collection of actions without meaning.

A different PoV- a different story.

During the Helpless section of the story, we witness the scene through Eliza Schuyler's eyes. We see her sister Angelica crossing the room to Alexander Hamilton to get him to dance with Eliza. Eliza sees Alexander as an honourable gallant, who has stolen her heart. Then in Satisfied, we see the scene from Angelica's PoV. Angelica is less naïve. She notes Hamilton's recognition of their last name, realizing that he's out to get a rich wife. She also realises that Hamilton will never be satisfied in life and that he's not a great catch socially or financially. "I asked about his fam'ly, did you see his answer? His hands started fidgeting, he looked askance He's penniless, he's flying by the seat of his pants". By showing this scene in dual PoV, we are awaken to both sides of Hamilton, the romantic version and the shrewd politician climbing his way up. By choosing a PoV character to tell a particular part of the story, you are moulding the events to the character's preconceived notions and opinions.

Foreshadowing

Hamilton does one thing exceptionally well. It foreshadows the ending very well. Hamilton repeatedly tells us that he isn't going to throw away his shot. We think it means his shot at rising up from poverty and his chance at notoriety in the Revolution. It starts becoming literal as Philip goes off to his first duel, with Hamilton almost begging Philip to fire his weapon away from his opponent. It doesn't do Philip any good. Later on during the duel against Burr, Hamilton intentionally misses his shot just as his son had only to die when his opponent discharged his weapon, killing him. Burr even called back to Philip's duel while describing Hamilton's affect before their own duel. You only begin to realise how profound the echo of My Shot is.

Alluding to a bigger picture

Hamilton may be a musical with no dialogue but that does not mean that there is no tell in the story. The actors do a great job of alluding to a deeper story behind the lyrics. During his last corporeal scene with Eliza, Hamilton's affect tells us that he at least very much suspects that he is not going to make it back this time. Lin Manuel Miranda's subtle expressions are just masterful. His mouth is saying one thing and his eyes are saying something completely else. In another brilliant Lin moment, the scene where Alexander blows up at Washington after the very first duel, you can see how angry Hamilton is. He is shaking despite his polite, yet curt replies. We don't even have to have the "Don't call me son" exchange. Lin's face tells us everything. Hamilton loves Washington like a father and resents him for rejecting his attempt to defend his name. We do not even have to be told, they showed us. There is always a deeper meaning to what a character does or says.

Your Protagonist is allowed do shitty things

A protagonist is not perfect. Most of the stories we read are narrated by people, who are by definition imperfect. If you look at any story the narrator/protagonist is usually a good person but has flaws or has done some questionable things. Hamilton is the good guy of the story, the protagonist, the hero. He's pro-Revolution, anti-slavery and has a troubled past. Even still Hamilton has an affair. It is not his best move or even the most savoury thing. There is no redeeming reason for him to cheat but even still, the audience either forgives him outright or takes it in their stride. Your protagonist does not have to be squeaky clean. They are allowed to make dumb decisions.

Remember History has its eyes on you

The one thing I often find missing in stories and worldbuilding is the media's/public's opinion on your characters or even the world around them. Hamilton hits the nail on the head. Your characters have no say on how they are perceived by their peers or the world around them. It is an interesting component to add in any narrative. What does the public say about your characters and world? "And when you're gone, who remembers your name? Who keeps your flame? Who tells your story? Who tells your story? Who tells your story?"

[wardens-stew]

The Mask Falling Hints MASTERPOST

Clearly I have wayyy too much time on my hands! 

I have compiled a list of information Samantha Shannon has divulged on social media about The Mask Falling, mostly paraphrased from her Tumblr and Twitter. Some of it dates back as far as 2016, so it’s not certain that all of it will happen - I’ve included an asterisk for the tidbits in which Samantha explicitly mentioned that it was pre-editing. I didn’t include a link to the original source because that would be too much work, but if anyone has questions I can probably find it pretty easily! The recent ARC reviews also include some hints, but I haven’t included them because that would be a crap-ton of text. Feel free to add anything I missed! Anyway enjoy the fruits of my obsession! 

Hints:

We will find out how badly Warden was affected by Paige’s torture - there’s a lot about the effects of her torture in the book 

The non-binary character is a free-world spy, pretending to be French 

Paige has issues with drinking water and showering 

Paige will make another valiant effort to get Warden to talk about his feelings 

Paige’s demisexuality is clarified -  she reflects on the way she wants in comparison to the way the allosexual Nick and Eliza do

Paige gets slammed into the wall by someone, but not Terebell (also not Warden, because then she would be very dead) 

The grey market storyline continues

Etymological connection of Arcturus meaning bear-guard and Mahoney meaning descendant of the bear is worked into the books 

Paige cries

Paige’s PTSD is a thread throughout the book 

Paige has mental and physical difficulties following her torture 

“The scope of everything gets bigger, there's more focus on the free world and how it interacts with Scion, and you'll find out more about Rephaite history and the origin of clairvoyance.”

You may figure out what happened to Procyon

Warden’s aura type is mentioned*

Paige starts calling Warden Arcturus. They have a discussion about it. But she keeps calling him Warden in front of other people. 

The prologue begins about an hour after The Song Rising 

Warden asks Paige to teach him Irish

Contains clues as to the big secret at the heart of the series 

Warden does a few very sweet things

We’ll find out a reason why Nashira considers Warden a possession rather than a partner*

Paige is at her most fragile

One of the characters eats an orange

There is a distinct Priory parallel in one section of the story

Paige asks Warden if Rephaim can get drunk 

We will find out if Rephaim can get physically ill

We’ll get a piece of information that may help us understand the Rephaite logic behind Warden feeding on Paige’s aura 

More about the golden cord

Paige’s feelings with her father will be explored 

We will find out why it was common knowledge amongst Rephaim that Terebell and Warden were once mated 

Warden might tell us what would happen if he tried to eat

More about voyant-amaurotic sex will be explained 

We will learn more about the Rephaim’s internal politics and conflicts 

We get to see Paige’s birthday

We we’ll find out how Warden knows how to develop Paige’s gift*

Paige and Warden butt heads over right and wrong 

We’ll find out why Warden said that Sargas are the only Rephs who choose their mates

We’ll find out more about the half-urge

We’ll find out more about the complicated history between Warden and Terebell

Warden is planning to learn Gaelic (pre-editing)

We’ll find out two of the reasons why Warden hates Nashira so much*

We’ll find out about the promise Warden made to Nashira that she alludes to before the Bicentary

Warden says something with an exclamation mark

Warden will tell us more about the memory of Terebell, and how it was a prelude to one of the defining moments of his existence 

Paige visits Warden’s dreamscape a few times, but we only see it once

Paige addresses the author directly 

Nick isn’t in the book at all

The plot takes place only in Paris

Paige dies her hair red

A character Samantha did not originally plan to be in TBS4 now is

There’s a big scene in the Sainte-Chapellle in Paris

The book is shaping up to be the darkest book in the series, but also contains the most jokes 

Paige feels really ill for most of the book 

Samantha starts hinting at the Grand Backstory of the series 

Paige is under strict orders to stay inside for a month, but she breaks the rules to explore Paris 

The main antagonist was born in “the burning summer of 2019”

We’ll find out about two of Warden’s past relationships 

Paige and Warden have to get food deliveries from a guy called Albéric because they’re not allowed to go outside 

There’s espionage 

Warden uses the super unnecessary word “sennight”

A lot of the book takes place underground

We learn if a non-polyglot could ever learn Gloss 

There is a Very Awkward Conversation*

There is a time skip between the fourth and fifth books

Warden smiles a lot… with his eyes

The ending will change everything 

Scion must change its public face due to an event that happens at the end

People who liked The Mime Order will love it

TBS4 picks up when Paige is resting.

It will go into more detail about how Rephaim emerge

It marks the beginning of Beautiful Dresses in The Bone Season 

It introduces a Rephaite character Samantha absolutely loves, with her favorite Rephaite name 

There’s a scene Samantha has wanted to write for years 

The ending is very dark 

There’s a cute priory reference 

There’s a character Samantha loves - “she’s so cool that I don’t know how a nerd like me invented her”

“The relationship between Warden and Paige gets deeper and more complicated in this one, and you get to know Warden a little better.”

“[Paige and Warden] are together a lot in this book, as they’re sharing a safe house in Paris. It’s the first time they’ve spent a significant amount of time with one another since they escaped Sheol I.  You’ll actually glimpse the ways they both react to being stuck inside in The Mask Falling, as they’re meant to stay hidden in a safe house for a month so Paige can start to recover from her ordeal.”

“It’s a love song to Paris in the way The Mime Order was a love song to London.”

“[Paige and Warden do have some happy calm moments.] Although there’s a lot of action in the book, there’s also quite a lot of downtime. Paige is still recovering from her ordeal in the Archon, so she can’t always be out in the world kicking ass. She’s resting as well, trying to get her strength back.”

“I won’t lie, The Mask Falling is a book to fear . . . but there are some nice bits. Including some coffee-drinking.”

“[Paige and Warden] do so much in this book. So much.”

“Most of the characters who didn’t go to Paris are absent from TBS4.”

“Paige and Warden do so much in this book, I just couldn’t cram any other storylines in. However, several old friends do turn up in it, as well as a bunch of new characters I hope you’ll love as much as I do.”

“Paige [experiences the messiest-most-intense emotion in TBS4]. She goes through the emotional wringer in this one.”

“The second ‘arc’ has the same main characters and the same antagonist. The difference has more to do with the setting, the scope of the narrative, and the type of battle being fought against Scion. You’ll have a better idea of what I mean when you read the end of TBS4.”

“This book puts both [Paige and Warden] through the emotional wringer, but there are lighter parts as well.” “Nick meets an old friend while he’s in Sweden and Paige and Warden will be staying in central Paris, on Rue Gît-le-Cœur. You can see some of the locations from Book 4 here: [x]”

“TBS4 is basically just a long Hurt/Comfort piece with occasional and reluctant splashes of Action/Adventure”

“THE MASK FALLING leans a little more Adult than the other BONE SEASON books. The whole series is officially classified as Adult, but the first three aren't far off YA in terms of sexual content, violence etc. THE MASK FALLING is . . . maybe a tiny bit sexier.”

“Doing my final reread of THE MASK FALLING and naturally I've noticed a recurring phrase that I have used no less than thirty times in the manuscript.”

“It blows the world of The Bone Season right open. It’s where everything changes. It takes place in a brand-new setting and forms the bridge between the two ‘arcs’ of the series. I hope the ending will show readers get why I really do need seven instalments to tell this story.”

“Books 1-4 is what I call the “Scion arc”, but Scion is still a threat in Books 5-7. Book 4 is kind of in the middle, with more of a focus on Rephaim than there currently is in Book 3.”

“He’s in Book 4, he’s French, he’s voyant, and I’m writing his introduction scene now. I think I love him?”

“The draft is about 140 000 words long – a little shorter than The Mime Order – with a veritable tonne of action, espionage, international politics, eerie catacombs, old enemies, new friends, and messy, intense emotions packed into that word count.” 

“This one combines my favourite elements of The Bone Season (Warden and Paige chats), The Mime Order (syndicate weirdness) and The Song Rising (heists and angst)”

“The fourth Bone Season book is well underway, and things are about to take a very dark turn for Paige.”

“It’s mostly focused on Paris, but you’ll find out bits and pieces about what’s happening in both England and Europe.”

“She’s suffering from PTSD and aquaphobia following her water torture in The Song Rising, so she’s pretty much in the ringer for the whole book. There are a few light moments, but she’s under a lot of stress from the start.”

“While I wouldn't call it spy fiction, TBS4 is delving into espionage territory as Warden and Paige, still exhausted from their tremendous efforts against Scion in The Song Rising, attempt to navigate the convoluted political and criminal networks of Scion Paris.”

“Book 4 is a touch more political, laced with subterfuge”

Lists:

Things you’ll see:

The carrières of Paris

A masquerade (ofc)

A mysterious character you haven’t seen in a long while

Arcturus Mesarthim saying ‘hm’ about 18 times

Five words:

Revelations

Politics

Water

Heartache

War

Three adjectives:

Macabre

Emotional

Seismic

There is a lot of:

Warden and Paige

Rain

Classy interior decor

Angst

New characters include:

A spy so fashionable and icy cool I’m unsure of how a nerd like me created her

A tall, irritable Frenchman with a bit of a God complex

A terrifying new Rephaite with an uncomfortably sexy voice

It has:

A Parisian underworld 

A demisexual MC 

A masquerade ball 

Catacombs 

Forbidden, angst-stricken desire 

Verbal consent 

Acknowledgement of periods 

I can promise:

Parisian buildings TOURISTS LOVE. Notre-Dame? It's there, there's a masquerade INSIDE IT. Sainte-Chapelle? Oui. Versailles? Naturally. The Eiffel Tower? Oh, we're climbing it 

Getting DOWN and DIRTY. (By which I mean literally, down, into the catacombs.)

People who arrive in Paris SPEAKING FRENCH because they have been given a job for which they have the correct SKILLSET *bangs table* 

No crêpes (#OhCrepe), but CHAUSSONS AUX POMMES 

ROOFTOP PICNIC 

Not everyone is STRAIGHT 

Chic OUTFITS, all quite filthy by the end

Locations: 

The beautiful Sainte-Chapelle, my favourite place on Earth. 

Rue Gît-le-Cœur, a major location in the book and previously home to the Beat Hotel.

The famous doorway in the Paris Catacombs. The inscription translates to 'Stop! This is the Empire of Death.' 

Rue Montmartre, where we may or may not encounter an old face. 

Preview in gifs:

Originally posted by cinemagraphs

Originally posted by queeniegoldtsein

Originally posted by cumlelerinruhu

Snippets:

Out-of-context chapter title: Chapter 3: Gloomy Coffee

Part names*: 

1. To Pay Thee Free

2. Turn the Anchor

3. Eurydice

Quotes:

“What the fuck is that?” she whispered to me. “Looks like a frozen rainbow.”

“The horizon was as red as if the fire still burned. I watched the sunrise from the roof. Fog breathed into every nook and alcove of Paris, laced over the dark crests of the river, blanched the skin to the pink of salmon. I was sure the air was still spiced with the tang of smoke.”

“So,” he said, “we are choosing larceny.” “Always so surprised when his criminal friend commits crimes.”

“I wouldn’t usually care who you’re riding at any given time”

“I sensed all of this was very important, but I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about”

“I picked up the floundering ribbons of my dignity and started over”

“His home was in decay, and mine lay in the shadow of the anchor. Scion had made wanderers of us.”

Current opening line (circa Dec 18, 2018): “The sun had been climbing over the cliffs when our ship had pared away from Dover.”

“Someone who had heard of me and whose first response had not been to try to kill me. What a treat.”

“A hollow ache stretched out within me. It started in the chambers of my heart, in a place that reached eternally for Ireland.”

“‘I promised you we would stay together,’ he said. ‘In the absence of other options, I will follow your lead on this matter.’”

“‘I’m fine.’ ‘Your attempt to mask the darkness under your eyes serves as compelling evidence of that. As does the full bowl of coffee.’ I cocked my head. ‘Did you just master sarcasm?’ ‘Paige.’ ‘It’s a cup of coffee. With… no handle.’”

“‘There’s no fireplace,’ I stated. ‘No.’ ‘But how are you-‘ A wild laugh was bubbling up. ‘How are you going to cope without one?’ ‘Cope,’ Warden repeated.  ‘You need one. To stare into, pensively. Did you know,’ I said to him, ‘that you do that a lot?’ He tilted his head, which only set off a fit of silent laughter. My ribs ached in protest.”

‘I mustered all the breath I had left and screamed, until I folded on myself and my voice burned to nothing.’

‘Who can break you now, Black Moth, now there is nothing left to break?’

[mediaevalmusereads]

The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics. By Olivia Waite. New York: Avon Impulse, 2019.

Rating: 2.5/5 stars

Genre: historical romance, wlw romance

Part of a Series? Yes, Feminine Pursuits #1

Summary: As Lucy Muchelney watches her ex-lover’s sham of a wedding, she wishes herself anywhere else. It isn’t until she finds a letter from the Countess of Moth, looking for someone to translate a groundbreaking French astronomy text, that she knows where to go. Showing up at the Countess’ London home, she hoped to find a challenge, not a woman who takes her breath away.

Catherine St Day looks forward to a quiet widowhood once her late husband’s scientific legacy is fulfilled. She expected to hand off the translation and wash her hands of the project—instead, she is intrigued by the young woman who turns up at her door, begging to be allowed to do the work, and she agrees to let Lucy stay. But as Catherine finds herself longing for Lucy, everything she believes about herself and her life is tested.

While Lucy spends her days interpreting the complicated French text, she spends her nights falling in love with the alluring Catherine. But sabotage and old wounds threaten to sever the threads that bind them. Can Lucy and Catherine find the strength to stay together or are they doomed to be star-crossed lovers?

***Full review under the cut.***

Content Warnings: sexism, allusions to homophobia

Overview: I feel like I’m in the minority of not loving this book as much as I wanted to. Based on content alone, it should have been a perfect storm for me: a historical sapphic romance, a lady scientist, debates about the value of art and women’s contributions... but while the romance genre doesn’t have nearly enough wlw stories, representation alone wasn’t enough to sustain my interest in this novel. It had the threads of a good story - something along the lines of The Countess Conspiracy or The Suffragette Scandal - but in my opinion, too much of the focus was on needless interpersonal drama, which left the plot dragging for the bulk of the story. So though the representation is great, and there are a number of feminist themes that I think are valuable, I didn’t enjoy this book enough to give it more than 2 or 3 stars.

Writing: Waite’s prose is about what you’d expect from the romance genre. It’s simple and straightforward, getting to the point without leaving the reader wondering what’s going on. My main criticism would perhaps be that Waite sometimes does a little head-hopping in the middle of a chapter without a section break. One minute, we’ll be seeing things from Lucy’s POV, and the next, we’ll get something from Catherine, then back to Lucy. It was a little jarring, but not too distracting - I could still immerse myself in the story ok.

Plot: The Lady’s Guide follows Lucy Muchelney as she translates, expands, and publishes M. Oleron’s Mechanique celeste (an astronomy text) under the patronage of Lady Catherine St. Day, Countess of Moth. After being rebuffed by the male members of the Polite Science Society, Lucy endeavors to render her own translation in hopes of educating readers who are interested in astronomy, but may not have had access to the range of texts needed to understand Oleron’s work. Catherine, for her part, funds the printing of Lucy’s work, while also discovering her own value as an embroiderer.

On the surface, this plot had all the things I love: women in science, valuing women’s art, a social commentary on patriarchy. But despite the interesting threads, I didn’t feel as if Waite used them to the greatest advantage. Aside from a few scenes, there wasn’t a lot of external pressure from the Polite Society; any drama that arose from their sexism was easily dismissed or avoided with a trip to the country, and I felt as if sexism in this book was more of a nuisance than a threat. This isn’t to say I wanted the characters to be constantly suffering or be miserable from an onslaught of male meddling, but I would like to have seen more of a sustained plotline where the Polite Society attempts to thwart Lucy’s efforts, thereby creating more suspense and giving Lucy and Catherine some external challenges to face together.

I also think the subplots could have been strengthened so that they enhanced the main conflict. The plot involving Eliza, the maid with a talent for sketching, was a good parallel to Catherine’s arc, which involved finding and rewarding women’s talents in art, but Eliza wasn’t a compelling character on her own, nor did I think Catherine reflect enough on the paradox of how she encouraged Eliza but not herself. I also think more could have been done with Lucy’s brother, Stephen, so that his meddling in Lucy’s career paralleled the Polite Society’s - just in a more subtle way, thereby showing different forms of sexism. Granted, there is a little of that, but like the Polite Society, Stephen pops up at convenient times before disappearing a page or two later.

Characters: I hate to say it, but I didn’t feel as if I could connect to the characters. Lucy, one of our heroines, is a mathematician and astronomer who inspires Catherine to see herself as an artist... and that’s mostly it. I guess she’s also bold and headstrong, but honestly, she felt more like an archetype than a fully-fledged character.

Catherine, for her part, is meek on account of being mistreated by her husband, but has brilliant skills as an embroiderer and is generous with her financial support. I did like the depth that Catherine had with regards to her insecurity over whether or not she could call herself an artist, and I liked that she respected Lucy’s feelings and didn’t allow her desires to be too selfish. But I also felt like she had no ambition or desires of her own until maybe 75% of the way through the book, and she mainly existed to support Lucy.

Side characters were hit or miss. I liked the idea of Eliza, the maid who gets to put her drawing skills to use as an engraver, but she wasn’t a fully-fleshed out character and didn’t hold my interest on her own. Stephen, Lucy’s brother, had the potential to be interesting, as he is an artist and acts as a foil to Lucy in many ways, but he flits in and out of the story as needed. Even Lucy’s ex, Pricilla, seems only to exist to make petty drama; there was no pining, no angst, and I didn’t see why Lucy had once loved her. There wasn’t even any commentary on how both Pris and Catherine were blond women who were skilled at embroidery.

Polite Society members had the potential to be good antagonists, but because their appearances were so contained, I don’t think they were used to their full potential. They provided some nice commentary, but I would have liked to see them meddle more often in Lucy’s translation process.

Romance: This is personal preference: I don’t like it when the love interests get together too early in the story. It usually means the rest of the romance is going to revolve around petty drama, and I think that’s what I got here. Lucy and Catherine become a couple some 25% of the way through the book, and for the life of me, I couldn’t see why they wanted to be together other than they were interested in women and happened to be sharing a house. Over time, their reasons for loving one another became a little more clear: Lucy loves that Catherine believes in her and lets her forge her own path, whereas Catherine loves that Lucy values her skills and lifts her up, rather than dismissing her (as Catherine’s deceased husband did). While these are certainly nice, I wanted there to be a little more to their romance. Because they got together so quickly, there was very little pining, very little growth in their affections.

I also think all the angst and relationship drama that happened after they got together was a little tedious. Lucy spends some time pining for her ex, which causes Catherine to be jealous. Catherine also sees the relationship as being incompatible at one point because Lucy likes science and she likes art, so of course that means they’re on different paths that can’t be reconciled. Most of the barriers to the relationship could have been overcome by either talking it out or getting to know one another a little better, so rather than good tension (in the form of suspense), I felt like there was pointless tension. I would have much rather seen Waite dive into the very real concerns, such as the economic inequality between them or the lack of permanence that comes with not being able to marry - I think those are real, life-altering concerns that could have tied in well with the non-romance plot, but unfortunately, those concerns seemed to be resolved a little too neatly.

TL;DR: Despite having some much-needed wlw representation and a number of feminist themes, The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics does little to cultivate a compelling plot and relies on misunderstandings to drive the romantic tension.

[bombshellsandbluebells]

23, 27 , 28 for the 100 is done-dred!!! 💛💛💛

23. Which villains were the best in the series?

My girl ALIE will always be my all time favorite. I love the plot of the City of Light. I love how genuinely terrifying ALIE is - rewriting people’s brains and erasing their memories without them even realizing it is terrifying to me. I love how Erica portrays her; her mannerisms are so inhuman and work so well. She’s great, I love her, and I’m still sad she never came back.

Blodreina is another great villain because I’m so onboard with the aesthetic and the tragedy, though I honestly kind of wish they had committed to going full tragic villain with her in the end.

Mount Weather are also fantastic villains because they’re so human and real and you can understand WHY they’re doing what they’re doing but they’re also clearly crossing so many inexcusable lines. 

Anya as a villain in s1 was fantastic for a similar reason, in that she’s genuinely threatening but she’s also very understandable and you can see how from her point of view she is trying to protect her people from invaders, but she’s also not above killing or torturing children who barely know how to defend themselves to do so.

Diyoza is just so genuinely charming and fun to watch that it was hard for me to even root against her haha. I don’t even know that I’d call her a villain so much as just an antagonist. Her actress has so much charisma it’s amazing, and it was definitely one of the best casting decisions made on this show.

You didn’t ask the worst but Cadogan and Josephine are definitely the absolute Worst and I had zero interest in either of them.

27. Rank the seasons from 1-7. Feel free to explain or not!

Season 3 - I’m probably the odd one out with this, but I just love ALIE and the two part finale so much it puts it at the top for me. I’ve rewatched the two-part finale like 6 times.

That said, the entire like first half of s3 is so badly written and so boring, that I really am only talking about the second half of the season when the ALIE plot really starts unfolding. The rest I couldn’t care less about (expect the Memori scenes.)

Season 2 - This is the season that I think has the strongest writing and filmmaking over all, and it’s only my love of ALIE that keeps this from being number 1 for me. The visuals this season are some of the strongest, the pacing is a lot better than most of the other seasons, and the Murphy/Jaha storyline is genuinely one of my favorites in the entire show. 

Season 5 - I love Spacekru!! I love them so much! I love Diyoza! I love Blodreina! I think the writing for this season is pretty solid, though some storylines and arcs are not given really great conclusions in the end. The filmmaking leaves a lot to be desired, but the storylines are fun, the characters and dynamics are interesting, and it did something new that I felt really refreshed the show after s4. It would have been a really great conclusion for the series if it had decided to end here.

Season 1 - Has some gems along the way and sets up the world and characters well, but doesn’t really stand out to me as anything special. It got me into the show and hooked, but it’s not one I really go back to all that much aside from a few key episodes (aka...the Murphy ones lmao.) The Murphy storyline and Anya’s appearances are the highlights for me.

Season 4 - Boring, bland, and forgettable overall as a season. There ARE storylines I genuinely love from this season (Memori joining the team, Raven and Murphy’s forgiveness storyline) and Gimme Shelter and God Complex ARE some of my favorite episodes of the whole series, but the season as a whole is so BORING.

There’s so much pointless wandering in s4. It really feels like they knew where they wanted to end but had no idea how to get there, so most of the season feels like filler with no real direction.

Also this was when the filmmaking noticeable starting getting worse in this series and it has my least favorite episode of the whole series, A Lie Guarded.

Season 7 - Didn’t fully watch but followed along enough to know that it was very bad and very boring, but with a few gems sprinkled through out - at least enough to bring it ahead of s6.

It does win a few points for focusing a lot on Echo, giving Memori an interesting storyline about becoming leaders (even if that went nowhere), and putting Emori in some nice dresses, though.

Season 6 - Trash. The sets look like cardboard and are so incredibly badly designed. Half the dialogue sounded like it was spoken by NPCs in a bad video game. The music is awful. It tries to retcon all of the season before it and fails to sell any of the changes and almost no character acts in any kind of way that makes sense coming from the season before it. Eliza’s acting couldn’t sell me on the body snatching plot and Josephine was such a boring, annoying villain.

Wins the prize for worst overall filmmaking of the whole series. Wins absolutely no points for anything. I genuinely liked nothing about this season. (Except the Memori proposal and that one look between Echo/Emori.)

28. If you had to choose, what group would you want to belong to?

Floukru!! I want to chill on a boat being a pacifist and doing my best to stay away from everything happening between the other clans haha.

Thanks!!!

The Hundred is Done-dred Ask Meme

[jackskelowine]

hmmm who are some of your favorite ocs??

                              WARNING: LONG POST TIMEmy entire run as an artist has led me up to this momenti’ll admit not every character ive made has been up to snuff, and a lot of them need work, but i wont give up on any of emTIME FOR A 6 COUNTDOWN LIST, IN NO PARTICULAR ORDERat number #6 we have Lydia

Whats not to love about this girl?Shes a muffin loving sweetheart with a job that most people would consider her a menace for havingpopping back into relevance at seemingly random moments, she grows more and more important as i do more world building, but why I love her specifically is how freaking adorable she is about it all, she cares about everyone, living or dead and turns her curse into a gift so that nobody within her range of jurisdiction is ever forgotten, powering through her fears to guide spirits who are lost, its a light hearted take on the old generally scary folklore of the grim reaper...she may be a ginger but shes not soulless *wink*...also she took up sewing, have fun with your ragdolls XD (a creepy cute character trait she will never lose)at #5 we have Tyson

starting out as your par for course bratty rage boythis character as of recent has evolved into one of my favorite temperamental characters, also i like to save some of the best lines, insults, and rage moments specifically for him because of how funny i think it ishe loves anime and hates worms, camels, and many other things, but then again a lot of people have pet peeves, tyson just got tired of not voicing it, especially because his conscience sometimes has him apologizing for his freak outs XD, he only wants to help people Also fun fact, tyson doesn’t shoot fire from his hands, he breathes it from his mouth...(and occasionally his nose when hes REALLY ANGRY) and he can hold his own fire in his hands which is great for punching shit or just throwing a fire ball At  #4 we have Ellie

to this day i am still shocked at how MUCH ive grown to love this girl, dont get me wrong, shes a pervy asshat and honestly needs to get a suckerpunch to the gut for various reasonsbut thats part of the appeal in my opinion, its why jack is amazingits not all her fault though, her mother is also an asshat so its only natural that whatever messed up childhood she had would make her a bit messed upsometimes i wonder what kind of person she would be if she had better conditions to live underbut i do my best to keep her a funny, likable and relatively scary antagonist its a tricky blend, but im managing also theres that funny thing where her and katie become “sisters” #3 Gareth 

how do you make your over the top knight interesting?simple, you turn them into Garethnot many people know this guy yet but i LOVE THIS CHARACTER, and have been working on him for years Rivaling rachels immense strength, Gareth is part of the order of “COLD STEEL KNIGHTS” which is a knightly order who prefers the old style of medieval knightly hood and use magic to make up for their lack in technology hes honest, friendly, honorable, ect all the noble knight traits, most of his order is a bit eccentric in general, but most importantly, hes shaped like a friend and will fight for your safety if need be, he is neither the hero we need nor deserve, but he gets the job done because he cares i could go on and on about the knights and their role in this world but thats for another day and another post, moving onat #2  Rachel

cmon, how can i not make a list without best pirate girl in it?shes one of the OG characters too, and has lasted ever since, and has been one of my favorites since the beginning, its hard to describe why though.is it how her weird interests make her a bubbly character yet she shows signs of teen angst? How she can hurl a school bus across a football field against the raging wind or use a tank as a baseball bat. How her hand eye coordination is absolute trash and she couldnt hit the broad side of a barn.  Or perhaps it just her dad being a grumpy old fart and shes a bit more upbeat in comparison. its funny though their personalities used to be somewhat reversed, with ray being an incompetent over the top villain and rachel was his seen it all straitlaced daughter who didnt care for his antics now hes training her to conquer any obstacle in her path when pillagingwhile swearing in spanish, whatever reason for some unexplained reason she reminds me of lammy lamb and i love it XDAnd #1 you guessed it  Eliza and Ted i broke my own non spoken rules by using two in one

I have quite a few “polarized sibling” combinations in my stories i know, but these two are easily my personal favorite because of how they act both together and separateLiz was merely a plot device in a long since non forgotten atlantis trial *cough cough* and ted was there too as an antagonistafter many rewrites they have become an integral part in not just each others lives but a core function in some of my personal favorite plotlines that ive come up withplus they’re just fun in general, just look at those new outfit designs I LOVE EM

I love eliza because of how she can handle being a good spirited and perky person and also a well balanced leader type, but she still has much to learn if she wants to overcome her weaknesses help lead her country, also she tends to get very vocal when excited, or frustrated  Ted however is clearly more collected and no nonsense which in and of itself has its benefits and drawbacks  he is a skilled swordsman and leads the  police force to halting crimes against atlantis within its borders, but hes not all strict serious, its just his sense of humor is more dry and sarcastic than anything else??????????????????#???? Jack

Cmooooooon, you must be out of your MIND if you thought i was gonna leave this guy off this list and its fitting that i put him AFTER the list was finished and reached #1lemme just say i love wild card characters and while he is easily the hardest character to write at the time (especially the functioning of his powers), i love everything im attempting to do with this character, is he perfect, no not even close, but thats part of his charm, as well as his creativity Hes your first class “ladies man” with my favorite color as his main color and a cool pair of shades to match, but what i like most about him is how anything he does can just seep into joke territory seamlessly, whether intentional or not.his strange an uncanny way of handling certain situations is why he can pull off many feats, a “method to his madness” persay he’s actually pretty well rounded with having a mixture of failure and success under his belt, some people talk down on him, but they can never say is that success was ever handed to him he screws up yes, but that makes it all the more satisfying when he finally pulls off a winwhats even funnier is how i can technically classify him as the “main character” despite having some uncommon main character traits 

[sometimesrosy]

Basically we don't to be invested because bellarke is the story,is HAPPENING,i tought this fandom had already asumed that? b/e is an obstacle a plot device to create conflict with octavia to push bellarke foward and for echos single arc(which from tasya is going to be about family and trust)bellamy's ,JR was so clear bellamy/clarke,bell/oct/clarke are the important rel for him,they called bellarke soulmates(about time jason we already knew that too),canon is coming but is not gonna be easy.

Right.

HE CALLED BELLARKE SOULMATES! I can’t believe it. And we flipped out over “non-romantic” which is not news.

We want him to feed us, and then when he feeds us, we think he’s betraying us. They write them as SOULMATES. The writers are telling the story of SOULMATES. That is such a big deal. Wait. Let’s go back to SDCC. “The 100 is about Clarke and her relationship with Bellamy, and, on some level, it always has been.” 

So that means, they are writing, and always have been, the story of two soulmates as they grow. It’s about how they find each other, how they work together, how they challenge each other, how they are tested, how they come back together, how they depend on each other, how they forgive each other, and how, ultimately, they come together. TOGETHER is how they get things done. 

And while it HAS been non-romantic so far, if they want us to think it is not about eventually coming together romantically, they’re going to have to keep them from caressing each other’s faces and chests, ending in a pining/grieving story that continues for 6 years like some sort of post apocalyptic Penelope and Odysseus (married. romantic. love. epic. endgame. classic. archetypal.)

I would so rather point to the text and say “this is what’s happening because we see it on screen and it’s canon.” And we’ve all SEEN that Clarke and Bellamy are soulmates, but because of the talk around it, from “that’s not the story we’re telling right now” to biased reviewers telling the fandom that Lxa was the hero now, to the ban on the cast talking about Bellarke (which the fandom didn’t exactly accept,) I think we CRAVE JR and Bob and Eliza to give us some legitimacy and say we’re right about bellarke because the talk AROUND bellarke has been so negative and antagonistic and MISLEADING.

Yes. It has been intentionally misleading because they wanted us to be invested in the ROAD to Bellarke, not just bellarke instead.

And the ROAD is long.Which JR told us. But the road, the journey, the obstacles, the slow and difficult rise, is what makes the story so rich, weighted and EXCITING. You don’t have to LIKE the obstacles in the road to Bellarke, but you should value them, because each obstacle makes Bellarke stronger. And if you look at all 4 seasons and how Bellarke has come out of the challenges that kept them apart, this is narratively true.

 Clarke+Bellamy+Struggle=Stronger Bellarke. EVERY. SINGLE. SEASON. And there has always been some element of test of their relationship in every single season.

WAIT.

THERE HAS ALWAYS BEEN A TEST OF THEIR RELATIONSHIP IN EVERY SINGLE SEASON.

And they have ALWAYS passed the test.

DId they give us the first test in episode 1 even before the reunion? That means they’re starting on endgame before the story even begins. S1 developed it and tested it at the end. S2 had them reunite and tested it in the middle sending him into the mountain. S3 had them on opposite political sides for more than half the season and they came out choosing each other. S4 had them together, in various ways that were hard for them both and tested them with the bunker and they came out practically married and all over each other. S5 starts us off reminding us of their connection and the throwing the surprise test of some other girl, before they even get back together.

This is so exciting for my Bellarke heart I can hardly stand it. People think the story is going into B/E or away from Bellarke, and to me, this is evidence that they are jumping RIGHT into Bellarke as a romance. THE OBSTACLE IS NOT POLITICAL OR LEADERSHIP OR ANGER ITS ABOUT ROMANCE.

Hell, the obstacle is not even about Bellamy stuck in space and thinking she’s dead, because WE KNOW she’s alive and they are about to reunite. Space and time? Pshaw. Not a problem.

THE.

OBSTACLE.

IS.

ROMANTIC.

they are going there.

[rate-out-of-10]

THE SHAPE OF WATER REVIEW

Writer/Director Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy) has a very specific style; he lavishes in gorgeous set design and floods the screen with particular emotions. The Shape of Water may not only be one of the best films to come out 2017 but it may be Guillermo’s best. In many ways, The Shape of Water soars (or swims) into beautifully unique territory.

WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD

CHARACTERS PERFORMANCES

The film stars the extremely talented actress Sally Hawkins. In this role, Sally barely mutters a word. Her character Eliza is mute and relies on sign language, body language, and facial emotes to convey her character, and she does so beautifully. She is truly a princess in this post-war stylized fairy tale. She’s cute, she’s funny, and she’s a very honest character. Sally Hawkins was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance in this film. Alongside of Sally we have her character’s neighbor, Giles, played by Richard Jenkins, who is a struggling older artist. Giles was very likable and very funny. He grounded the film a lot and spoke the minds of the audience through certain scenarios. Richard provides a lot of comedic relief as well and his relationship to Eliza resembled a lovely/sweet middle ground between a father/daughter and two best friends. Richard Jenkins was nominated for a Golden Globe in his role. Michael Shannon takes the “antagonist” role in this film, portraying Richard Strickland. Strickland is an obtuse character, specifically meant to evoke regressive ideals. As the film is set somewhere in the 50s/60s, his attitudes towards race, religion, and life are all transparent, and it eventually comes full circle against him. Shannon commands the screen while he’s on, not shying away from his character’s grotesque personality. And while I hated the character, Shannon definitely gets props for making me hate him so much. In a supporting role, Octavia Spencer plays Eliza’s close work friend. Octavia supplies much of the comedic relief but also plays her stern, strong woman of color. She often faces micro-aggressions, namely from Strickland’s racist, back-handed comments, but each scene is handled wonderfully by Octavia. Octavia has a knack for easing tension in films but never breaking it. Octavia Spencer was nominated for a Golden Globe in her role for a supporting actress. Doug Jones who plays our monster or “Amphibian Man” (as he is credited as) needs to be commended. He often plays CGI/body suit characters (Abe Sapien in Hellboy, Fauno in Pan’s Labyrinth) much like Andy Serkis, but his talent can’t be overlooked, especially here. He puts on a wonderful performance in the film’s other non-speaking role.

WRITING/DIRECTION

Guillermo del Toro blends several genres in The Shape of Water, like horror, suspense/thriller, fairy tale, noir, and sci-fi, but competently crafts a romance filled with a ton of heart and genuineness. This may be del Toro’s best film simply due to the immaculate set production (very reminiscent of the BioShock universe) and cinematography, however the well written characters and wonderfully paced film earns your engagement. The film moves very fluidly from moment to moment, scene to scene, effortlessly, allowing the viewer to believably take some things for granted, and get completely immersed in others. The only pieces of the film that I take a sort of an issue with is Giles subplot of him trying to land a job (or get one back?), it just didn’t fit quite into our focus and felt weak compared to much of the film. The film, as wonderfully paced and well-written it is, does take more of a typical turn in terms of story development. It all felt engaging but a race to escape the “bad guy” felt a little cheesed. Of course it is an integral part of noir films of old, and The Shape of Water makes a lot of old school call backs to old films, so that’s why I understand the choice, but the film had plenty of potential for a more unique way of threads being finally tied up in the story.

The Shape of Water is slated for a very promising awards season as well. As I stated before Sally Hawkins was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actress, Octavia Spencer for Best Supporting Actress, and Richard Jenkins was nominated for Best Supporting Actor; however the film did win two of its Golden Globe nominations: Guillermo del Toro for Best Director and Alexandre Desplat for Best Original Score. It’s other nominations included Best Motion Picture – Drama and Best Screenplay.

FINAL RATING

9/10

With all that being said, The Shape of Water takes its odd circumstances, and some outlandish happenings, all in stride. It’s romantic and sexual themes never felt trivialized or condescended. The film also flourished with LGBT and racial commentary that still resonate strongly through today’s world. The film is wonderfully set, acted, and written. It may not be for everyone, it may feel a tad slow or tediously tension-filled, but there’s something very beautiful and genuine at the film’s heart. The soundtrack alone emits an infectious romantic tone. The Shape of Water is incredibly well rounded and can please audiences who favor many different genres.

[hawthornewhisperer]

Fun fact! Kass Morgan didn't come up with the original idea for the 100. A think-tank at a company called Alloy Entertainment did! And they did it by working backwards from the name! (Not terribly romantic, I know.) Morgan and Roth were both brought on by Alloy to develop the first book and the show, respectively. Morgan started first, though, and I think things like main character names/backgrounds and probably some basic world-building stuff beyond the premise are originally hers. (1/3)

I vaguely remembered reading about all this when the pilot came out, and I'm super proud of myself for digging up a decent source, so here it is! publishersweekly. com/ pw/ by-topic/ childrens/ childrens-book-news/ article/ 58480-counting-down-to-the-100. html The article says that Alloy actively *didn’t* want the TV show to follow the plot of the book or vice versa. The only things that are supposed to be the same are the premise, the world, and the main characters. (2/3)

But I don’t 100% believe it. It’s pretty obvious to me that JRoth intended for Bellarke to be the central relationship/endgame of the show since Day 1, and I think he must have gotten that from Morgan as well. Otherwise it’s quite a coincidence that the book and show turned out to be the same in this regard. They’re just not going to tell us outright, because spoilers. (3/3)

That is really interesting!  If people want the link, it’s here.  However, I’m gonna have to disagree with you on bellarke being endgame since day 1-- I think when they pitched the pilot, it was Clarke/Finn, and I think the love triangle (you know the CW wanted a love triangle right off the bat because that’s their bread-and-butter) was pitched as Clarke/Finn/Octavia, which makes sense because Marie was offered a lead role and as of 101, Raven didn’t exist.  They obviously changed their minds before writing 102 on the Octavia-in-the-love-triangle bit, but from what I’ve seen Bellamy was set up as an antagonist for Clarke in the first few episodes, not an eventual-love-interest.

That being said, I do think they saw the chemistry between Bob and Eliza fairly early on in filming and started writing that way by 108.  The reason I’m saying this is not to be all no you’re wrong but to gently remind people that this sort of writing tends to be very fluid-- they might have an overall endgame in mind, but writers come and go and actors spark things on set that might not have been considered originally, and just because something was planned from the beginning doesn’t mean it is guaranteed to happen.  For example, I do think bellarke-as-endgame was in Jroth’s brain by the end of s1, but had they been able to get AD.C back permanently for s3 and beyond I’m fairly confident they would have abandoned bellarke in favor of cl.exa-as-endgame.  But contracts got in the way of that plan, so now we’re back on track with endgame bellarke.

In short: I think that’s where they’re going, yes, but I think the path to getting there BTS was a little twistier.

[hangsters]

You were recommended to me by my-dearesteliza. Would you be willing to write any thoughts on a Downton Abbey/Hamilton AU? Your work is lovely, by the way :)

 this has been in my inbox for actual months, not because I didn’t want to answer it, because i love downton, but because I literally could not figure out  for the life of me whether they should be the upstairs or downstairs crew. So I’ve given up and wrote rough little ideas for each, I hope you’re still reading my blog, anon!!

Upstairs:

Okay so clearly the Schuylers are the Crawley family. So Angelica would be Mary, Eliza as Edith (though definitely without the bitterness in the beginning) and Peggy as Sybil. Although, I debated Eliza being Sybil and Alex being Branson, cos despite lack of common sense it’s romantic as hell that they fell in love and got married.

Okay so it’s actually way easier to cast the rest of them in the downstairs au, so here we go with that:

Alex is Mr. Bates, obviously, what a sad boy, he needs so much love

Eliza is Anna, she’s such a sweet and gentle lady, she loves this sad kinda broken man from the very beginning, and no matter what they’re put through, she works to keep her chin up

Washington is Mr. Carson, he looks after everyone, and Martha is Mrs. Hughes. Okay everyone is waiting for them to get together, it’s such a relief when they finally do.

Jefferson is Thomas, because he’s just the kind of antagonist you love to hate, and then his character arc was just so good, dammit thomas

It’s so hard to find a place for the rest of these guys, like it’s such a good au but things have to be rearranged so much, I don’t even know where to put them, so if anyone wants to add onto this, please do!

So that’s my kinda shitty overview of this idea, I’d love to go into it in more depth sometime, I just need to take the time to make it fit

[ashilrak]

What are some cliches (hamilton fandom or otherwise) we should avoid writing?

Alright, so I’m going to start off by saying that I myself have been guilty of quite a few cliches in my writing. I have over 100k of chat-fic under my belt, and everyone knows that chat-fic is the Worst. Another fic of mine is a royalty au, and if you think I didn’t decide to write that for the cliched ballroom scenes, you’re wrong. The King’s large hand burned hot through the layers of Alex’s clothing as they spun around the room, the other guests melting away as they got lost in the other’s eyes - and there’s nothing you can do to take that away from me,

Cliches and tropes can be fun - and fanfic is supposed to be fun! But, the thing about cliches, is that they can easily be overdone and it’s all about figuring out how to handle them - and that can be a very slow process. Some of the things I’m gong to include are things I’ve done, but I’m still learning!

So, here are some things to maybe keep an eye on as you’re trying to find that balance:

Token nonbinary character - you know exactly what I mean. There’s a difference between writing a character that is nb and a Nonbinary Character. 

Flat Antagonists - very human being is faceted. As a writer, it is your responsibility to recognize that. You can not be a successful writer with a black and white viewpoint of the world because that will translate into your characters and your stories will not be as strong. The antagonist in your story is also going to have some good in them - don’t be afraid to show it.

Tropey characterization decisions - sweet cinnamon roll eliza, john likes turtles, tjeffs likes mac n cheese. 

Let! Your! Character! Fuck! Up! - They don’t need to be perfect. I once had someone tell me they had to change their story because for the original idea, they would have had to make a character make a racist comment. Your characters aren’t perfect! Don’t make them perfect! Perfect people don’t exist and make boring characters! As much as an antagonist can be good, your protagonist can be bad! It’s all about perspective! 

Forgotten characters - not every story needs to have a perfect division of speaking parts between every character mentioned. Every story is different in its distribution of characters - it’s oftentimes a product of the setting. Don’t force characters to show up - but use who’s there! If you mention Hercules, use him! Don’t just bring a character in to score brownie points or whatever when they don’t actually offer anything to the plot. 

Characterization in general - give your characters life, but know that certain traits or theirs are set in stone. John Laurens was an angry rich boy, Hamilton was always hungry for more, George Washington didn’t want to be president, and Thomas Jefferson was a hypocrite. With Hamilton, the characters are so interesting and so intriguing - so very human because they Were. You don’t have to try to add depth to flat characters - it’s already there. They’re all a bundle of contradictions and it’s fantastic. You, as the writer, get to pick which traits to emphasize - make decisions on what would carry over in what settings. I’ve told a couple of people that I’ll probably keep writing for Hamilton for a while because these characters - these people - are already great characters. They’re complex and interesting and they don’t always make the right decisions but they’re Trying.. Don’t waste that. It takes something really special to make a character real - let alone a full cast. The characters of Hamilton already are. 

DON’T RUIN THE GIFT YOU’VE BEEN GIVEN WITH THESE CHARACTERS BY MAKING THEM TROPEY GOD DAMMIT

Takeway: Your story can be as tropey as you want as long as your characterizations are strong.