#it's hard sometimes

[imhereforheadcanon]

Have you ever received the question "what are your favorites anime/manga?" And then you pull moriarty the patriot, bsd, black butler, dr stone,gachiakuta,saiki k, gintama and then they say they don't know those masterpiece or they don't like it and then you question yourself but you remember they only watch classic like the big 3 but you still asking yourself if you are really into anime or not

[youchangedmedestiel]

So far chapter 5 of that fic only has 1k words, but I felt like writing a scene for chapter 11 today.

Life of a fanfic writer.

[catcas22]

I'm curious, you said that your views on Marika as a character had changed since you started writing Prince of Death. How do you view her now?

Hi, thanks for the ask!

This is going to be a bit unfocused, just warning you up front. I suppose it would be best to start with my initial impression of Marika.

On my first file I was going for the Ranni ending, so I spent a lot of time in Liurnia and got most of my lore from Ranni and Turtle Pope. My initial sympathies were very much with Ranni and Rennala -- so my initial takeaway was that Marika was a tyrant and Radagon was a zealot who chose his religion over his family.

As I gathered more information, I softened on Radagon a bit. He seemed to be an okay father, when he was around. His Liurnian family was clearly devastated to lose him, and Radahn and Rykard still held at least a modicum of respect for him. He was also apparently quite close with Miquella, so he can't have been all bad. As my perception of Radagon shifted from "heartless" to "spineless," Marika slotted neatly into a sort of "Lady Macbeth" role. At this point I assumed that the aims of the Greater Will were synonymous with Marika's aims, so I had the vague idea that Marika had called Radagon home because he was more easily controlled and less of a potential threat than Godfrey.

As I progressed into Altus, I learned about Morgott's childhood and heard Marika's "amounting only to sacrifices" quote from Melina. This solidified my view of Marika as a ruthless queen who saw her children as expendable pawns. While her shattering of the Elden Ring implies that she did feel a degree of attachment to Godwyn, abusive parents do typically have a favorite/golden child. At some point I also absorbed the theory that in calling the Tarnished, her aim was for Godfrey to kill the other shardbearers (or kill their killer) and then free her.

By the time I learned that Marika had been actively working to subvert the Greater Will, I "knew" based on the sacrifices quote that she must be doing it for selfish reasons -- someone who views her own children as expendable surely would never take such a risk for altruistic reasons. That's more or less where I was when I developed the premise for Prince of Death -- i.e., Marika seeking to free herself from the control of the Greater Will, and willing to throw anyone under the bus to ensure her own freedom.

Some time later I was talking lore with @maranull, and she pointed out that the sacrifices quote could be interpreted as a warning, not a threat. In other words, Marika isn't necessarily saying "Remain useful to me or I'll cut you off." She could also saying "Don't mess around with Outer Gods like I did, they'll throw you away as soon as you stop being useful."

This ambiguity opens up a myriad of new interpretations of my Marika data-points.

Was she working against the Greater Will out of pure self-preservation? Genuine remorse? Fear of her children getting chewed up by the cycle she had perpetuated?

Was she the one pulling Radagon's puppet strings? Seems less likely the more I learn. Was Radagon the heartless extremist I originally saw him as? Was he a weak-willed follower, but under the thumb of the Greater Will rather than Marika? Was he a handler meant by the GW to curb the increasingly rebellious Marika, or were they both forced into it?

Did Marika banish her omen sons willingly when the Crucible fell out of favor? Did the Greater Will order the purging of omen, and the best Marika could do was negotiate banishment instead of death for her sons? Did Marika purge the followers of the Crucible for strategic reasons, but couldn't quite bring herself to kill Mohg and Morgott?

Did she banish Godfrey because he was a threat, or because she wanted to preserve a potential weapon far beyond the reach of the GW? Was she already plotting to overthrow her own Order that early in the timeline? Did she know that potentially using Godfrey to slay the Elden Beast would necessitate the deaths of the other shardbearers, her children? Was that her plan all along, or a desperate last resort?

I'm still not sure where I land. She's certainly more complex than I originally gave her credit for. I think there's still a valid reading where Marika is working against the GW for her own sake, seeking to free herself before the cycle turns once more and she goes the way of the Fire Giants and the Ancient Dragons. I think there's still a valid reading where she played favorites with her children, discarding some and loving others only conditionally.

But there's also a valid reading where Marika cares deeply for her children despite her flaws, where she's trying with every means available to her to atone for her misdeeds. There's a valid reading where Marika wants to free the Lands from the GW for the sake of her children, even if that means sacrificing herself.

Honestly, I think both are compelling, and I think the truth lies somewhere in the middle. Marika was not a perfect mother, and she surely made some ruthless decisions where her family was concerned. But you have to stretch pretty hard to say that she didn't love her children, as flawed as that love might have been. Whether you choose to see her as an antihero or a tragic villain, it's the nuance and ambiguity that makes her character so compelling.

[notsofriendlyfriendlyreminder]

Javier, going to camp from hunting for the first time: ARTHUR I NEARLY KILLED THAT- THAT- THAT THING

Arthur: what thing?

Javier: YOU KNOW! The thing you always bring!

Arthur: Boar?

Javier: No! The... the uh... the fucking... the brown smaller horse that lives in the forest!

Arthur: A deer?

Javier: YEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSS

[sapphosewrites]

(forcibly holding back my own hands from the keyboard) it's not worth it to tell strangers they're wrong on the internet you're not even friends with this person it doesn't matter there are no stakes on this issue let it go-

[browneyeddevil]

Editing

question for all my writers out there. First of all, do you use Grammarly? and if so do you actually pay attention to the little tips it gives you on your clarity and stuff?

because i've noticed that especially when it's trying to convince you to remove words due to it "not being clear enough" it's usually words like; really, very, also, own, basically, clearly. words that, in my mind, improve the flow and add emphasis where needed. i appreciate that it tries to keep me from overusing words like that, but it kinda sucks when you check how ur work might read to others and it tells you that your clarity is in the bin, yk? i want ppl to be able to understand what i'm writing! idk I guess I should trust my own judgement as a writer, but it still kinda knocks my confidence. imposter syndrome is kicking in ppl.

anyways to all who don't use grammarly, I salute you, but I could never. after the way my English teacher raked me over the coals last year for my improper sentence structures and comma use, I'm too traumatised lol. but i'd still love to hear your thoughts on this.

filler words: good for flow and emphasis - keep them. or bad for clarity and bulks unnecessarily - delete them

[soft-cryptids]

.

[drafthorsemath]

This fic is going to end me

I’m writing a longer fic with two OC’s and a slow burn for Crosshair and asexual+demiromantic Tech (no clonecest) and I think I may have made this too complicated.  It was going to be like 5 chapters and I just started chapter 10 with at least 6 more outlined.  What have I done?

[anartificialsatellite]

The older I get the more I admire people who are earnestly, genuinely into whatever their thing is. I know it sounds like an annoying cliche but unless you're being cruel or hurtful there is really no need to be normal about things. The dude with the bad fake accent at the renaissance faire is having the time of his life. The people having photoshoots with their fashion dolls are loving it. The old lady with a yard unreasonably full of tacky ass lawn ornaments is having a blast, HOA be damned.

Don't waste your time being too cool to have fun, y'know?

[dovesick]

endless night

[inkskinned]

she's singing in another room and my dog is asleep at my feet. my grandma asked me why i haven't found a man yet and i laughed. oh, you know. i like my house clean.

my girlfriend is also my man is also "my partner" if i'm in a professional setting. yesterday we went to a ren faire and a man mimed at me - you're together? and at my delighted nod, his baffled, you're gay? made me laugh. a woman with rainbow hair said i love the two of you together. you're both so beautiful it's absurd.

my dad introduced my partner as my "..... friend. or whatever" the other day. he knows we're dating. in the same way, i was never able to get my sister's husband to stop saying that's gay like it's 2008. he still uses the word fa***t, and my sister's defense of him has always been well, he's just kidding.

my lover and i dance to old music in a tiny kitchen. we judge new music together and take food critique very seriously. we watch love is blind before we fall asleep and agree that if they had a queer season, it would be bloody but also make for excellent tv. of fucking course queer people would know someone for only 2 weeks and agree to get married. what are you saying.

at a bar with friends, a man puts his hand on my wrist. got a boyfriend? and yes, i do have a boyfriend, she's amazing. i am texting her while i wander around a gas station named after geese. i am visiting a swing state for a wedding. in the candy aisle i overhear: she's actually like a lesbian it's disgusting. two teenage girls with packaged sandwiches in their hands, giggling. no literally, like. i'm not, like. okay with her being there while we're all, like, naked and changing.

my girlfriend and i tailgate, drink gin and cider out of cups. from the frat group beside us, a man corrects himself with one of his friends: bro, i mean, nonbinary entity, and it makes everyone around him laugh, myself included. he razzes his friend the same way i would have killed for at 19 years old - like nothing happened, he continues: you apply sunscreen like an alien. he does a little sassy (and fairly accurate) dance interpretation of the motion. his friend is laughing so hard they're crying.

i am lucky, i live in a safe neighborhood in a safe state. my masc passenger princess comes up from DC. i drive her for an hour to where all the leaves are a violent arrangement of color. we walk along the trails, letting autumn into our blood. in this part of the state, there's a lot of pickup trucks and trump signs. when we chastely kiss before getting into the car, i accidentally make eye contact with a woman holding her child's wrist. she looks disgusted. she looks fucking pissed.

two hours later my girl and i are eating dinner on a patio, soaking in the last warmth of new england sun before the chill of winter sets in. we are giggling and trying to talk through plastic vampire teeth. at another table, i see a young woman sit up straighter. i watch her watch us. she blushes and takes her partner's hand from across the table. shy, like the taste of evening has just become something deeper.

it's worth it for this moment, i think. my lover is still humming the same song she's been singing for four days straight and i don't want to kill her for it. her guitar is beside my bed. her toothbrush is in my bathroom. in a few moments i will make us lunch. we are lucky enough to have found each other. it is lucky enough to be in love.

[platoapproved]

louis + cruelty

[goldenpinof]

everyone who goes to the last wad performances. have fun i guess. im not jealous im not jealous im not jealous im not jealous im not jealous im not jealous im not jealous im not jealous im not jealous im not jealous

[captainjonnitkessler]

The second you start talking about some mysterious "they" that are controlling society in some fashion, you are engaging in dangerous conspiratorial thinking even if you're being woke about it. "They" did not institute the 40 hour work week specifically so you would be too tired to revolt. "They" did not invent the sleek minimalist aesthetic in order to crush the spirit of art in the common people. "They" are not pushing mediocre media into the mainstream in order to poison people's critical thinking skills.

Your best case scenario after that is you talk to someone who actually knows what the fuck they're talking about and you get embarrassed because you can't answer basic questions about your own ideology because you never learned anything past "the ruling class/capitalists/politicians are making things bad and if we got rid of them the bad things would all go away!"

Your worst case scenario is obviously the woo-to-fascist pipeline and you end up believing Jews are poisoning American food supplies with GMOs in order to turn us all into beta cucks, so like . . . maybe just stop blaming "them" before you fall down that route.

Obligatory round of disclaimers: Yes, sometimes people do bad things. Be specific about exactly who is doing what instead of ascribing it to some vague group of shadowy elites. Yes, sometimes things in society are bad. Learn to identify the root causes of complex social issues instead of assuming that they're actually extremely simple to fix and we're just not doing it because of some vague group of shadowy elites. Yes, minimalism isn't for everyone. Learn that some people don't share your tastes and get the fuck over it for the love of god.

[great-and-small]

Bird identification is so fucked up in a really fun way you can’t understand until you get into it. For example, there is a type of goose called the cackling goose that looks exactly like a Canada goose except smaller and “cuter”. The cackling goose is way, way, more rare in most places than its relatively common cousin, so it’s on tons of birders life lists. Everyone wants to see a cackling (look in any bird ID group to see lots of hopeful people posting petite Canada geese). The two species regularly commingle, so sometimes a flock of those common parking lot birds will have the equivalent of a Pokémon shiny just hanging out in the middle of them.

How ridiculous and fun is that? I can never look at a big group of Canada geese without scrutinizing their ranks for an adorable little extremely rare cutie pie cackling goose. It reminds me a bit of mushroom harvesting minus the risk of death if you get it wrong