#mal's musings

[tracingpatternswrites]

Writer ramblings under the cut

I've not posted anything in ages (by my standards), and I've been a bit... reluctant to start posting my new WIP because I know I have stuff coming up and I don't really know when I'll be able to finish the whole thing and I'm torn about that.

I keep thinking that I need to have it finished before posting it but... people post WIPs all the time whether or not they know if they're going to finish it.

And, look, it's a bit embarrassing to admit, but I'm starting to crave the endorphins of posting and I'm not sure I can go this whole spring working away on stuff that won't be posted for months. I'm joining the Wolfstar Big Bang and the Prongsfoot Reversed Bang and neither of those post until after the summer.

Anyway - there is no point to this post tbh. Except that I think I might start posting the MAFS WIP even though it's not finished.

[al-luviec]

Morro design + a ton of notes.

[supermallorygalaxyart]

(originally posted on instagram on 8/2/24)

rip roman sanders you would've loved Never The Muse by Madilyn Mei

[littlequeenies]

March 22, 1974 - May Pang, John Lennon and Mal Evans attend the Los Angeles premiere of 'The Rocky Horror Show' stage musical at The Roxy Theatre.

[marigoldendragon]

Thinking about the reason I prefer platonic Malleus stuff over romantic (aside the fact that I don't really care about him) is that that's what he wants and needs the most. A friend.

[drinkyourvillainjuice]

screw it Mal's wearing a cocktail dress to this club

[und-dann-war-es-fast-gut]

Mir ist gerade so richtig bewusst geworden, dass das jetzt doch der dritte Film ist, den Noah auf eine gewisse Art und Weise für Colin dreht.

Also genau so wie Colin es prophezeit hat*:

1) Teil 1 - der Werbefilm für den JC400 offiziell: mit Julia, einem menschenfressende Stuhl und explodierenden Gefühlen -> in Colin und Noahs Welt aber auch: das Kennenlernen, das Näherkommen, die ersten Gefühle

2) mit noch mehr Action - „Undead love“ für den JC400 offiziell: mit Patrick, Julia und einer Zombieliebe, der bzw. die ins Wasser fiel -> aber auch: der Kuss, die Liebe, der Streit, Colins Weggang

3) die sanfte Rückkehr - die Schatzsuche-Doku für den Workshop offiziell: mit Team Maxi und Joshua, die beide den Schatz wollen und alle in ihre Streitigkeiten hineinziehen -> aber auch: die Einsamkeit, Trauer und Wut, das Zulassen der Gefühle und das Bewusstsein, dass beide (eigentlich) das gleiche wollten, der Weg zum Wiedersehen und später: Colins Rückkehr, die Versöhnung, das Happy End

*und wir vor einer Weile schon spekuliert hatten, wegen des Filmplakats, das ja aber dann doch ganz anders war

[orwillidrown]

instead of watching santa claus is going to high school crossed, i’ve decided to see how far i can walk into the witchwood without feeling physically ill to prep for the camping trip i guess i’m going on

if this is the last thing i ever post, the ape-man got me

[taintedlxve]

Young Mal

[aguavivia]

Musings on the night

But how you'd please me, night! without those stars Whose light speaks in a language I have known! Since I seek for the black, the blank, the bare!

Charles Baudelaire, Flowers of Evil: A Selection

Arkhip Ivanovich Kuindzhi, Moonlit Night on the Dnieper (1882)

But it so happens that I hear the night weep in my bones. Her immense teardrop raves mad and shouts that something has gone away forever.

Alejandra Pizarnik, The Last Innocence: The Lost Adventures

J. M. W. Turner, Fishermen at Sea (1796)

[tracingpatternswrites]

Just got to my parents for Christmas and I'm sat in the living room, editing the final chapter of Patchwork before posting while my brother is watching television and my parents are fussing about, and it's honestly as if I'm 16 again.

[rbchild]

Das Fic ist fertig!

Ich mach jetzt hier mal einen auf Leo und Adam und gönne mir einen wohlverdient ruhigen Abend.

Ich hatte es ja echt total unterschätzt, wie schwer es sein kann, aus einer bestimmten Sicht auf die Figuren wieder rauszukommen, wenn man so lange im Rahmen eines bestimmten Universums geschrieben hat. Da dann wieder auf Canon zurückzusetzen ist mir schwerer gefallen, als ich es gedacht hätte.

"Schreib doch einfach mal ein kleines Case-Fic, um wieder rein zu kommen. Da hast du doch ein paar Ideen rumliegen, und ein paar Tropes, die du noch verarbeiten wolltest." 🤣 Ich bin eigentlich schon viel zu lange in Fandoms unterwegs, um mich noch selbst so zu verarschen.

Das 'kleine' Case-Fic (ich kann das noch nicht mal schreiben, ohne vor mich hin zu kichern) hat über 90.000 Wörter. Davon wird was im Edit wegfallen. Aber ich kenne mich, da wird im Edit auch noch was dazu kommen.

Da kümmere ich mich dann ab morgen drum. Und ab nächster Woche kann dann gepostet werden, denke ich.

Aber jetzt erst mal ist Feierabend.

[a-cloud-for-dreams]

What are your thoughts on Mal's route in Blades 2?

OOOH this is such an interesting question! Tbh I'll probably have a different answer by the end of the book but in short, I think that the idea was interesting but the execution was flawed. I feel like that could be said about most of the love interests but it's very prominent with Mal.

First, taking this route with Mal isn't out of the question. I always saw it like this: the other LIs have one barrier (getting them to open up to us). However, Mal had the additional barrier of having a ~facade~ hiding his vulnerability. It's one of the reasons the finale of his route in B1 was so satisfying. Simply put, it would be harder to reach his true self because it becomes a two-step process rather than a one-step process. I'm not trying to reduce people's complicated natures to numerical values, it's just a metric I'm using to explain my thought process.

I bring this up because MC's disappearance reinforces Mal's belief that prevents him from getting too close to anyone. That wall that he's built around his heart that has slowly fallen? It's back up now and even stronger. If MC of all people, the Savior of Morella, left him, who's to say they won't leave again even if they've returned? Case in point, I'm not super upset if they did this for the sake of the plot, but they didn't give this part of the story enough weight, which makes it harder to take seriously. This leads to my biggest problem with Blades II so far: its pacing issue.

Personally, they didn't balance the ratio of plot to emotional development as well as in the first book, which had a clear goal in each chapter that drove the plot forward and gradually expanded on the relationships between characters without the paywall. From a reader standpoint, it feels like they had too much and not enough story for a second book, if that makes sense. This makes B2 feel almost stagnant. In fact, it feels like there is a ratio of filler episodes with a plot-heavy episode every few chapters which is kind of frustrating?? I do want to emphasize that I am grateful for Blades coming back and I don't wanna seem like someone who is complaining for no reason a new book is better than nothing in this case but I wanted to bring it up because it's clearly affecting the LI routes. They weren't given enough time to emotionally process what happened, nor did they address how that negatively impacted them, they just ignore it.

Basically what I'm saying is it would have been different if Mal was apathetic and it was addressed in the story in a way that doesn't feel like a casual side effect. Personally, if I was him, I would be too worried to have MC out of my sight lol.

Idk if that was phrased well but yea <3 I'll make a post about my final thoughts on Blades II so consider this post a preview to that.

[mad-hunts]

i just realized i haven't really talked about what barton is like while he's in arkham and/or what it's like for him. so... let me start by saying barton is probably among one of the inmates at arkham that has caused the highest number of incidents. and i don't mean small ones all the time, either. because barton will go so far to make himself sick just so he can go to the infirmary and steal scalpels / ANY sort of object he can cut people with (specifically the doctors.) now, of course i'm not trying to say that this is justified because of this, but he has also has a history of being treated very badly in there (though that certainly isn't an uncommon thing for anyone in arkham unfortunately) ... and i just feel like that's important to note because his behavior could very well be partially in retaliation to this.

however, i can imagine that the staff in arkham typically don't care about considering things like this since it is a SUPER corrupt place. and thus... i hate to say it, but whenever he is compliant, it's usually because he's drugged up to the point where he's drunker than a skunk. or loopier than a pot-holder. because it is DEFINITELY not normal for barton to not rebel against them in any way. he's also refused to eat in there several times and wellll — that probably didn't vibe well with them, either. so basically what i'm trying to say is barton 'acts out' a lot while he's in there, which could be attributed both to his circumstances AND to his very altered mental state

[drinkyourvillainjuice]

Hey what's soft Mal doing in this writing, that wasn't part of the deal.

There's no frustration on their face. No cruel smirk. Instead they're regarding you softly, a subtle smile curving their lips. "It's fine, $!{aka2}," they say, voice so gentle it barely carries over the music.

(also ft. one of... five different name variables for MC, lmao)

[lingeringscars]

I really love the differences between mal and alina. Both were soldiers, but alina was a cartographer. Mal was trained to be a weapon, and he dedicates himself as such. He's a weapon for alina to use (I am become a blade), and alina tries and tries to turn herself into a weapon, but she's never as good at it as mal.

When Sergei betrays them and they have to adapt from their plans, alina searches for and fights for her people. They are all concerned with getting alina out, but alina puts them in front. Mal is beside alina and willing to die for them, but he's fighting and focused on shooting his target.

Alina looks for stigg; mal says there isn't time. Alina thinks about all the losses; mal (tries and fails to) pushes them from his mind. Alina thinks about how she needs to keep moving and fighting and can't let their emotions get the best of them, but alina is all emotion.