#im going to archive the first iteration anyway

[reitziluz]

when is it better to post a fic rewrite as a new work instead of editing existing chapters?

is it after a certain percentage of changes? certain amount of new content? when the comments stop matching the details of the chapters? when tags get changed? when chapter count gets altered? when scenes get shuffled between chapters? when edits break the continuity between chapters as they're added one by one? when it's fair to assume people would want to get notifications for the rewritten chapters as they're posted? when it would be less work to archive the old version rather than reposting it for archival purposes?

(feedback welcome)

[quietbluejay]

Fulgrim 4

return to Fabius Eidolon is sulking about being sent to ensure a spot is staying loyal Fabius: okay but what do you want ME to do about it Eidolon wants to be experimented on

fabius: no clue what this means but at least it's something fabius going full mad scientist in his internal monologue oh the beginning of the noise marines he's creating an organ that will allow astartes to do a black canary

mcneill not beating the writing everyone as children accusations as we go to Serena's POV as she throws a tantrum for not being able to mix the right shade of red like, in isolation this wouldn't be too bad but when it's every. single. character. acting like a child

gloriously masculine towers STOP this is not the first time McNeill has done this I have not forgotten the "obvious masculine symbolism of a titan getting ready for war" oh boy anyways she's trying to mix red again and it's still not quite right and then a drop of blood from her earlier tantrum mixes in "and she knew what she must do" serena uh you do know blood dries a different colour right yay self harm

and now, Solomon and Marius are sparring and talking about how they're gonna take a new combat drug Solomon is sus because it was made by Fabius

lmao he's got a point eesh Marius is going to make up for his "failure" by making sure he and everyone else follows Fulgrim's orders to the letter no matter what they are

yay it's time for attacking a peaceful civilization, and probably war crimes!

yeah so Balhaan's punishment was just getting supervision then again given they act like children this probably feels like the Worst Thing Ever

has not this guy been fighting his entire life okay they found the solar collectors and, you can't make this stuff up

THE GUY WHO IS SUPPOSED TO BE SUPERVISING HIM SO HE DOESNT MAKE BAD DECISIONS

and this Diederik guy is an Iron Father im dying squirtle

time for Julius to go to the archives

…why are the servitors barefoot

julius is apparently a nerd and hangs out here all the time and knows the librarians including evander tobias who used to be head iterator

one would think all of y'all would be smarter than orks so julius wants to find out more about stuff like the temple

are you sure about that i see so-called secular imperials calling people that ALLLLLL the time pretty sure Dorn called Curze that and Russ called Angron that IRENAEUS MENTION IRENAEUS MENTION

….no you can only be a heretic if you are a member of that belief system like a Christian is not a Hindu heretic and someone who leaves a belief system for another is considered an apostate and someone who- argh anyways

also lmao, the irony of an ex-iterator saying this

the conversation gets interrupted because they found the diasporex

the spicy knife is giving him the thoughts of a 10 year old and the only thing that surprises him about it is the venom in it

also there has been SO much telling not showing in this book

also only the remembrancers who went to the surface are being commissioned to make new art for his ship also he's never happy with the art he's making something just isn't quite right

you know i think getting corrupted actually made him smarter this Fulgrim couldn't manipulate Perturabo out of a paper bag also like they know psychic stuff exists out there and warp predators etc even if they Can't Call Them Daemons also mind altering drugs

lmao get rekt ferrus, you wonder why your sons did this stuff? look at who they learned it from

seriously how are any of them alive at this point julius as usual for a character in these books is childishly sulking that fulgrim isn't there and everyone is doing their normal jobs as per usual instead of missing him so surprise we did not have any war crimes this chapter

okay battle vs the diasporex and they're holding their own despite fighting like a group of individuals and not a fleet rip they were close to getting a way out then the EC got there okay the EC are boarding a diasporex ship

ell oh ell

this is classic turning a completely unprovoked war of aggression into "a fight for survival"

i dunno how McNeill could be more blatant about the fascism unless he gave them all handlebar moustaches i wouldn't put it past him

at least there's something actually happening and not some guy being mad for the 20th time that someone didn't look sad enough that fulgrim wasn't there

oh get a look at this

i have to laugh otherwise i'll never get through this book

as i've said before, the best thing reading McNeill is good for is giving you confidence in your own writing

i once compared going from abnett to mcneill as being like going from lukewarm water that has an admittedly decent bath bomb in it to freezing cold water full of leeches going from adb to mcneill is like… enjoying an orchestra concert only to look up and find out that all the instruments have been replaced by the musicians making farting noises with their armpits

i may be exaggerating a bit for comic effect, but in essence

lol you know i've actually been positively surprised by the lack of war crimes in this battle so Fulgrim is big mad that Solomon "ruined" his moment of triumph and the daemon is stoking this like yeah the daemon is i guess making him worse but given how childish they all acted before this it's…kind of hard to tell?

[criphd]

hello.... idk how to start this tumblr so here's some stuff about logistics & what i've been doing/ what i'll be doing [?] & all the waiting & liminal space & even being excited !! about doing a phd which is one of my dreams in life !!

:)))

i’ve been having a weird time for many reasons & haven't been particularly stable for the past like six months to a year whilst i've been working on phd ideas/proposals/funding applications and although i have had some joyful moments & got to spend lots of time with my fav person i'm really glad all that waiting and deadlines and redrafting over and over and over is over. my phd as a project/idea went through i would say three main iterations - the first was mostly just.... wibbly wobbly.... but the second iteration was what i applied with to all bar one place & it did well with academics who were invariably kind to me about my project, enthusiastic about the authors/ideas in it and happy to supervise me if i got a place - & the project did get me some places.

the last proposal i wrote was for a specific medical humanities, health inequality, interdisciplinary studentship and i think it coalesced my ideas to their peak and is the most successful they've been - altho one of the other applications i did was also recieved really well & the did invite me to take up a place applying for funding & starting it in 2023, that just doesnt work for me !

so my phd, rather than being on the original four women authors i wanted to bring together is instead about a whole range of women sociaists from across the uk who were all writing fiction and non fiction about politics, women, care & relationships and it does mean my time frame shifts to focus more on the 1890s than across them into the twentieth century (so i wont include sylvia townsend warner like i had originally planned which is a little sad). it will tho still cross into 'modernism', & that's good because modernism is really important to me!

i'm also kind of hoping to read/work on some naomi mitchison but im not really sure if she fits in terms of 'era' but like... i think she's cool & vibes with the other women included atm... & i would also love love love to discover some working class women socialists lost in the archive who i can fish out and shout about. (i also need to reread my proposal lol bc i pushed a lot of it out my mind when preparing for an interview on the second project!)

anyway i thought i would write this out as a kind of reflection on what the process of applying & interviewing & not getting funding/etc was like as well as record of the amount of work and effort i put in (along with the many kind people who read drafts & supported me through each application!)

logistically i'm not in a totally fine place but i am going to reapply for funding in my first year and in the mean time get a postgrad loan [grimace emoji] to cover my fees and some living costs and i'm lucky in that my parents can help me financially a lot [!] altho i dont want to rely on them at all really bc they suck a bit. my soon-to-be phd supervisor (!) is really lovely, was rly happy when i said i would take up a place with her & thinks i have a high likelihood of accessing funding and i also have found a couple of places to apply to for small amounts of funding, which give out between around £500 to £3000 for postgrads & which i'll write an application schedule out for soon. as well as u know... finding a place to live... moving... etc etc

the process of applying itself has left me with a little web of kind women (most of whom are obviously queer) academics who loved my proposal[s] and so i also feel like i have some folks i could email for advice/checking in/whatever already, across different institutions and that's really nice!!!

anyway i dont quite know what this tumblr will be or how i will use it but yh... i'm sure i'll be sharing some quotes, some ideas & experiences, study inspiration, complaints about how im treated bc i'm disabled, being gay and falling for ghosts etc etc

[valdotpng]

Can the Gay art bugs also help Myla?

while she definitely Could join hallownests coolest new art club/therapy group, i dont really think that her problems being solved by becoming some kind of an artist would fit her character… arc? i guess??

see, i picked the ‘quirrel gets dragged to sheo’s and becomes a landscape painter’ route for several reasons (tw for suicide mention/discussion btw!!): 

the first one being, obviously, the nailsmith - a character that has a lot of similarities with quirrel when you think about it. he also helps you on your quest throughout your big adventure– he upgrades your weapon til he forges the pure nail and so, after doing the thing that he was meant to do, wants to end his life. if we take the ‘quirrel kills himself after the blue lake scene’ theory into consideration here, you can definitely see the similarities in their… approach to fullfilling their ‘life purposes’. and imo thats exactly the kinda thing that both of these guys could bond over if quirrel is given the same opportunity to recover from this kinda mentality. if the nailsmith lived through this, then so can quirrel

the second one is related to the thing that people like to point out a lot - quirrels nail, how he always iterates the vital importance of having one, and how he symbolically abandons it by the end of his journey. this is where sheo comes in! sheo is basically a bug whose whole life used to revolve around the nail… until it didnt; he was able to find a new calling in life by abandoning his old one. ‘abandoning’ is a strong word though, cause he definitely held on to most of his knowledge and mastery of the nail, repurposed it. after all, “the wielding of a nail, the wielding of a brush… these things are not so different”. maybe quirrel could learn this lesson, too

the last one is that i just think that becoming a traveling landscape artist just… fits him?? quirrel LOVES exploring and sightseeing, so why couldnt he become passionate about trying to capture the many wonders of hallownest (and possibly other lands)? preserving those awe-inspiring places, recording those moments of discovery on a canvas. to archive them, if you will.

i hope they dont mind the tag (i’ll delete it if u do), but @wingmould added some really nice tags on my original post about the idea, and, Yeah. i wholeheartedly agree

now to myla. first and foremost, i gotta say that im one of the people desperately clinging to the hope that if you dont touch her and then get rid of the infection, she gets cured and lives happily ever after. that being said, i know that some of yall accidentally (or purposefully, out of mercy) kill her. so! heres what i got for our sweet miner girl in vals ‘theyre FINE shut up’ au:

in my understanding, the main cause of myla succumbing to the plague are two things feeding into eachother: her obsession and her loneliness. 

(presumably) like many explorers before her, myla came to hallownest with a specific goal in mind -  to get wealthy. and them mysterious, powerful crystals near the mines sure do look like a jackpot, dont they? especially when they start singing about ‘something even more valuable hidden deeper in’. that’s the reason she comes down there, the reason why she stays AND the reason why the radiance is able to invade her mind so easily. but i think that if she just had someone that could stop that obsession from consuming her, she could get saved??

like, sure, little ghost might pop in now and then to listen to her singing, but i dont think theyre really able to tell her ‘myla for the love of god stop overworking yourself and go outside’. and, from what we know, she doesnt have any friends/acquances besides the knight who could do that, either. “This is hard work, but I don’t mind. Down here, I can k-keep working without even sleeping. It’s fun!” see what i mean????? shes been down there for god knows how long, sleep deprived, probably starved, and alone, and NOBODY tells her that, hey, maybe she should, like, take care of herself? please??

so my idea is that someone actually does that and saves her. im thinking maybe sly? or cornifer?? cornifer deffo would be a better candidate since, in-canon, he could find myla while doing some exploring. and then he could take her to dirtmouth at some point, to, yknow, get some fresh air and maybe a cup of bug tea or whatever. and, after speaking with iselda, she Possibly could get hired as the new map shop keeper? since iselda is interested in going on an adventure with corny. it would be a way for myla to earn some geo and not risk her life while doing that. plus she could make some friends in dirtmouth! that way she’d be surrounded by people that wouldnt let her reach that rock bottom again, yknow?

woof, thats!! a lot of text. sorry about that! im just really passionate abt HK discussions!! anyways, it’s 5 am and im still not sleeping so i should. probably go do that sdhfuashdffus. good night

[spockandawe]

Hmm. I'm not sure how long ago it was when mscott went into greater detail about how/why she'd characterize Knock Out as a fatshamer, etc., so it might be old, but I hust saw it now.

And this whole thing, his character annd her characterization, is actually something I've talked about before, but I thiiiink that the posts are buried deep in forum archives.

Because the thing that gets me, I'm theoretically down for this character flaw. But there's something about the way she'd... implement it. It makes me nope away even harder than if I'd been uncomfortable with the idea in the first place. And I like her writing very, VERY much in some ways, but this isn't the first time she's talked about taao in that way where I'm like yeah, I'm on board with-- noooooOOOOO STOP--

Knock Out, okay. He's got relatively few iterations of his character to define him, but in general? He boils down pretty easily to a vain but charming asshole. And if we've got 'vanity' and we've got 'asshole', BOOM, rich minefield for character flaws. Even charming isn't necessarily a virtue, but Knock Out just becomes even more interesting to me then. He's full of flaws with... limited redeeming features, but he's been a fan favorite from the START, so obviously there's something gold in his character.

And obviously, I don't want to iron all his flaws out of him just because he's a character I adore. I'm never satisfied until I can distill out the worst and best qualities of all my faves. If I'm writing and want to make a character compelling, I can't do that by pretending their flaws don't exist, I have to do it despite their flaws.

So, fat-shaming. That's a loaded topic to start with, and I think for it to work, it'd have to be handled with some serious delicacy and/or subtlety. And I think that's where ny first problem is with mscott's posts. Honestly, trying to do this in a comic, with limited panels and limited dialogue and no descriptions of the action? Without derailing the overall plot? I kind of think that's a losing proposition. You lose so much subtle body language in that medium, where something in motion or in prose could convey more easily.

But for a comic, dealing with a cast of characters, for Knock Out to subtly ("subtly") shame every person he deals with on the job, that's... going to be cartoonish. If he directly gets shamey with Breakdown, on the regular? Same thing. If his defining feature is 'fat-shaming', he's going to look like a caricature, and I'm going to be yanked out of the comic constantly wondering why anyone puts up with him.

It's not the same issue at all, but consider how your garden-variety casual racist actually IS racist. Not by making race-based jabs at everyone of color they meet. It's more like handwringing over the wrong sorts of people moving into the neighborhood or complaining that immigrants can be good, but these immigrants aren't even trying to assimilate. It's got a layer of plausible deniability on top, even to their own eyes.

So why not a Knock Out who looks a mech up and down and raises his eyebrows and gives Breakdown a look, because you know what I'm talking about, babe, look at how he's let himself go, right? A Knock Out who makes occasional remarks to already-slim mechs like Blurr that he's surprised Blurr hasn't gotten rid of that extra plating yet, but he knows a doctor who provides those sorts of services--

A Knock Out where Breakdown tries to talk to him about this every so often, but Knock Out makes it impossible. He's not saying there's something wrong with them, but I mean, just imagine them trying to participate im a race, right? Anyways, he's only worried for their health, he just thinks people should take care of themselves, and is that really so wrong??

A Knock Out where Breakdown works his way around, determinedly, to communicating 'this hurts me', and Knock Out being genuinely horrified and falling over himself to say no no no, you're absolutely perfect in every way, I love every part of you, you know that, and I'm just talking about them-- And being totally unable to see the hypocrisy there, even when it's right in front of his face.

I'm on mobile, so I think I'm going to cut it off there, but it's... frustrating. I see a lot of potential in there for ways this could be an interesting, nuanced point of character exploration (and growth?), and showing readers the contradictions in a person can be one of the most powerful ways to paint a picture of who they are. But just the description of how mscott would have written it sets off alarm bells in my head. I might come back to this, especially since I think 'low self-esteem breakdown' is an extremely wrong decision, but that'll do for now.