#publishing categories

[thereadingmoon]

the best plot twists of the locked tomb are when it unapologetically fucks genre over and over again—it’s a fantasy story in a sci-fi setting, it’s a whodunnit meets battle royale, it’s a coming-of-age romance at the forefront of a colonial imperialist dystopia, it’s a psychological thriller and a ghost story bubbling in a stew of homosexuality and queerness, it’s a ball of literature references wrapped around memes and pop culture, it’s a slice of life in a cake of political intrigue, and turns out it’s ultimately a climate fiction horror story on steroids

[bomberqueen17]

On the way home from work I was thinking about Rochr and Iorveth in your fic and remembered a question I had for you: there is this scene in which Roche gives an overtired and insomniac Iorveth a blowjob in a secluded room, there are knives involved, I think Breniriel is guarding the door? Anyway, Iorveth finally falls asleep and it is implied that Iorveth has been adapting poorly to feeling save and thus somehow feelt safe enough with Roche to fall asleep but not his friends /family?? I don't think they were even talking at this point in your fic, what did I miss?

Have a nice evening /day!

Well, so like, that's the premise of the fic. I'm not saying this to be an ass, this is a genuine response, because it is sort of an honor to have someone thinking about your work beyond even the time it takes to read it, but: That is the premise of the fic.

And either it works for you, or it doesn't. That's just... how fiction works. Do i think that in real life two traumatized people would actually hit it off just like that? Do I think it would work? Do I think it would be healthy? Do I think it would lead to long-term happiness for either or both of them?

I won't answer that, I will just leave that to sit for a moment. My answer is immaterial anyway, because the author's intent is only marginally relevant in some circumstances.

This is fantasy, critically, more broadly than fiction (is it a broader category? I think so). Like... one of them is an elf, and has a shapeshifting dragon as his leige and protector. Some other fantasy elements are even less realistic, but the idea is that they're plausible, for the purposes of fiction.

So this is kind of how fiction works, and fantasy in general. Do you accept the premise of this story? Do you find it plausible, for the purposes of this fictional exercise, that, to bring it specifically back to this story, two characters who have long been enemies, would find something in common like this? Two people who have been on opposite sides but were in the same conflict, who went through many of the same things, who, crucially, commanded others during this awful cataclysm of violence, who had to warp their own moral centers not only to survive but also to potentially damn others by their tragic, inevitable actions. Who have in the past bitterly fought, physically injured one another, murdered one another's comrades, and worse... but in this new peacetime, find, strangely, unexpectedly, compellingly (precedentedly, in reality!) that their former foe is the only one who truly understands what they've been through. And they can trust this former foe the way they can't trust others, because this foe gets it, because this foe knows what's at stake, fully understands what happened, has the same sense of both the fragility of society and the preciousness of its little contracts. Iorveth knows Roche would stab him in the face, not the back, and that is a kind of trust. The whole underpinning of this ship is that in the video game there's a scene where one can best the other, and in each decision tree the loser says unhinged shit about how if they have to die they're perversely glad that at least it was the other who is doing it. Because that other understands what it's worth, and is a worthy foe.

That's it, that's the ship manifesto, LOL.

So-- that's the exercise of the story, trying to draw the reader along to find this as plausible-- I did not say realistic! Plausible-- as possible. The art lies in underpinning it with realistic detail here and there-- including that after many wars in real life history, the veterans of the conflict have found more in common with their opposing veterans than with the civilians of the side they fought for-- and so on and so forth. To make it vivid, to make it relatable, to make the fantasy compelling.

And if the premise doesn't work, then the story doesn't work. That's fine, not all art is for everyone. But that's how it is. Either you accept the premise, and it works, or you don't, and you go find something else that works better for you. This is no judgement on anybody, you or me or anyone, that's just how fantasy works. A reader brings as much to it as the author, and takes as much away, and while there's an element of skill on the part of the author, a large part of it is just going to be the reader's response. Things will or won't work for you and there's nothing wrong with that, it's just another of the ways fantasy works.

(I don't know if you've missed anything, I haven't reread that scene in quite some time because I'm still working on sequels and that takes up a lot of my energy and time; same reason I rarely respond to comments, I just don't have time to both do that and make new works. I do think the blowjob with knives is a separate scene from the passing out with knives but I don't recall exactly either. It's kind of a long story. If you think you missed something, try rereading it? But if that doesn't compel you, then it's really no skin off my nose if you don't! It's fine! I'm not offended, I just don't know how else to answer that question. I don't remember the scene that well. I wrote it like a year ago or more. But I'm well aware the premise of it doesn't work for everyone, which is why there are so many people writing so many different stories.)

LOL I have more to say on this topic because I got a faintly ridiculous comment on a story recently on kind of a loosely related concept, but this is getting long and I should address it separately. Suffice to say, you got a long reply here because I have been spending some time thinking about fiction, what it is and isn't, and how it works.

[loverofstufflof]

Dreamt last night that I went to a bookstore and tried to buy Prison of Plastic, but it was categorized as “for ages 11” and the lady wouldn’t let me buy it (cause I’m not 11).

So I tell her that it must be shelved incorrectly cause this book has enough trauma to make a grown person sob.

She doesn’t believe me

She takes the book to the back

She comes back 12 hours later with tears down her face

I get to buy the book

[wlwvampirism]

When you’ve read none of the books on the goodreads choice awards

[bluedalahorse]

As someone who is currently getting a degree in writing YA (and children’s) literature, why are there so many people on the internet who throw around the term “YA fiction” without actually knowing what YA fiction actually is?

[pollyna]

They published my first article, it took two years, I don't remember writing it or what was about in the specifics or if it was like good or anything but,, my name is on a printed paper now??? I'm so trying not to scream or make weird faces rn it's embarrassing

[ruindunburnit]

How's Knitwear Club going?

Well, I'm reaching the end of Ch. 14 (over 50% of the way through) and have already surpassed 100 pages and 70,000 words.

Let's hope the literary agent is open to a big debut novel, maybe?

[feysandfeels]

As if having "young adult" as a literary genre wasn't detrimental enough, now I have to deal with the legitimasation of "romantascy" as a thing. God forbid women can write in fantasy and have it be that, fantasy.

[chibitorra]

There should be a website like "Rate my Professor" for jobs. Something like "Rate my Boss/Company" that doesn't have the ability to have company pay out for good reviews, or punish bad ones, perhaps completely anonymous reviews or something... just honest opinions of the company from the workers so people know what they're getting into...

[stillsolo]

ROLEPLAY HISTORY post characters you’d like to roleplay as, have roleplayed as, and might bring back.

CURRENT MUSES

han s. — star wars ( canon/eu )

anakin s. / vader — star wars ( canon/eu )

luke s. — star wars ( canon/eu )

obi-wan k. — star wars ( canon/eu | discord only )

WANT TO WRITE

it takes… a lot for me to pick up a primary muse lol

PAST CANON MUSES ( primary )

john shepard — mass effect ( ot canon )

kaidan alenko — mass effect ( ot canon )

kurosaki ichigo — bleach ( canon )

grimmjow jaegerjaquez — bleach ( canon )

PAST CANON MUSES ( secondary / casual )

dr. henry walton / "indy" — indiana jones ( ot canon )

elka solo — star wars ( fc | canon/eu )

astri solo — star wars ( fc | canon/eu )

chewbacca — star wars ( canon/eu )

leia organa — star wars ( canon/eu )

lando calrissian — star wars ( canon/eu )

padmé amidala — star wars ( canon/eu )

assaj ventress — star wars ( canon/eu )

wedge antilles — star wars ( canon/eu )

biggs darklighter — star wars ( canon/eu )

ARC/CT-8080 / liner — star wars ( oc | canon/eu )

urahara kisuke — bleach ( ss canon )

kuchiki rukia — bleach ( ss canon )

david anderson — mass effect ( ot canon )

WOULD WRITE AGAIN

primary muses never leave me! e.g: han harassing me for like 10 fuckin' yrs

TAGGED BY: @valorums omg thank you for thinking of me!! TAGGING: @techniiciian @sgterso @desiccation @jedibattlemaster @strcngered @fcalty @debelltio @vibraea @red-flight @reawakcn @cnlyluck & anyone else who wants to do this! pls link me if you've already done it 👀

[humming-fly]

im not even trying to be a hater but im sorry your job poll is genuinely so bad bc so many jobs fall into 2 or even 3 categories its not even funny

i made it that way to fuck with you specifically anon <3

[artemistorm]

I am hyperfixating extremely hard on my original steampunk story. Decided I wanna turn it into a manga (it was always the plan to make it some kind of comic or graphic novel as opposed to a text-only chapter book) so I've been watching lots of videos on how to make manga and reformatting some of the plot to be manga compatible. It's a lot of work but it is fun!

[obeetlebeetle]

ok sure the books arent ya but it's not bc of the vocab or the pov or literally anything happening in the content of the books. you sound so fucking condescending rn.

[skyward-floored]

Alright lads, poll time

[dyrewrites]

It has been just long enough since I published a thing that I am over here agonizing over categories.

[discoreptile]

Beasties of Greenhollow soundtrack! Some tracks on this are from older projects like elphame but all of them have been reworked in some way. Most of them are entirely new. Enjoy!