#times' historical blorbo strikes back

[timesthatneverwere]

Vicente Palmaroli (Spanish) - Escena musical o Juana la Loca en Tordesillas (Ca. 1884-1885). Museo del Prado, Madrid.

[mangofresca]

a toast (to our ghosts)

The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees. The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas. The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor, And the highwayman came riding— Riding—riding— The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn-door. —“The Highwayman” by Alfred Noyes

“Would you kiss me tonight, cariño?” Antonio asks, that smile just as cutting, just as blinding as it always is. Lovino scarcely manages to hold himself back from whispering yes, yes, from breathing, from admitting to the stars what his blood already knows, has always known, deep within. Oneshot, Spamano.

Words: 3,366, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Hetalia: Axis Powers

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence, Major Character Death

Categories: M/M

Relationships: South Italy/Spain (Hetalia), France/South Italy (One-Sided)

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Historical, Inspired by The Highwayman - Alfred Noyes, Semi-Graphic Depiction of Death, Angst, Angst and Tragedy, that damn vicious cycle strikes again dont you just hate it when that happens, happy pride!!!!!!

its about time i killed the blorbos tbh, as is apt for pride month. my half of an art trade that i hope doesnt disappoint.

[notasapleasure]

@stripedroseandsketchpads ahh with the caveat that everyone works differently, I'll try to describe how it works* for me! :)

*when it works

I guess I'd say the key thing is to start with the story you want to tell. That's got to be the anchor throughout - details may change and you might add episodes in or take them out or change the order, but you've got to hold fast to what it is you want to do with your characters and plot.

You've started from a point of imagining a scenario that is plausible in the setting you've chosen, or plausible enough to work with a little tweaking of the setting or background, or even a little handwaving to get going. Your blorbos are ready and waiting in the storyworld you've chosen, and it's up to you to invite your readers into said storyworld and keep them and their belief there.

Maintaining that belief is a combination of sticking to a good pace and providing a rich setting - so your research should be coming in here to help you make the setting work.

Personally I don't find it helpful to think of research as a separate phase - I want to be constantly pushing ahead with the writing. Sometimes that means skipping a scene or doubling back, always re-reading what I have, always going over what I expect to happen next, even as I research questions that come up along the way. Sometimes it's small things to help a scene (hang on, let me remind myself of what that landscape looks like or how these people dressed) sometimes it's something bigger for down the line that I try to chip away at from different angles - i.e. I have a vague idea of how [x] works in this setting but I'm not sure how it'll fit in my plot so I'm going to read things about it and contemplate it some more. Sometimes it's a small thing and I just go 'do I need this detail/to describe this or is there a way of paraphrasing that saves anyone having to think about it too much'.

Thinking in terms of that post about historical door hinges going round recently - how attached are you to the idea of the door 'swinging' open? Can you rephrase things so someone enters the room suddenly and dramatically without describing the mechanism that lets them do so? Yes? Then you don't need to spend hours researching the history of the door hinge (maybe you want to, but you have to accept at that point you're not writing, you're just procrastinating on the internet). Do you feel it's really necessary to know your character would make that door swing open and slap back against the wall with a sound to startle the whole room? You're going to want to do enough research to make sure that's plausible!

(though be aware that many people do not notice such things at all! My boss was always complaining that there were tomatoes in The Liars' Gospel; you'll also have seen the post about many many published authors not seeming to have a clue about what parchment actually is - you will have ahistorical and inaccurate details in there, it's pretty inevitable, but most of the time no one else is going to know they're inaccurate either, especially if they're not things that play a big function in the story you're actually telling. Obviously having a beta or someone to ask helps, too - you'd expect anyone with passing knowledge of the setting to point out the tomatoes and parchment issues, which is why they're so egregious, but door hinges are probably less likely to make a reader stop and double-take.)

Notes....I feel I should mention notes. With the caveat that many notes I have for many of my settings come from you :')

I'm a bit of a pantser with notes because I'm writing fic, not an actual novel, so it's more important to me to be internally consistent and have fun than it is to have a folder full of notes to rival my PhD thesis. But notes are important because you don't want to have to do your research twice :') so in the name of striking a balance I'd whittle it down to the essentials: 1) take down your source accurately so you can find it again (book title and author and PAGE NUMBER/URL) 2) photo pages/screenshot or copy and paste relevant quotes where you can with like. A one word/sentence summary of content - it's quicker than paraphrasing and you're not writing an essay, you just want to be able to check back on the details when needed; points that really make your brain go ZING go in your working file/plotting file reduced to their most essential elements (possibly also with a URL for quick double-checking).

I always have a scrappy tail at the bottom of my draft with dialogue I want to get to in rough form, bullet points of things that need to happen in a certain order, and odd bits of research to come back to.

I generally prefer to work with the research fresh, though - most often I look stuff up as I write, and if I don't get the answer I want within a couple of searches I set it aside and think of a way to go round/skip it for now. If I do get the answer I'm after I incorporate it and move on (I would recommend taking down at least a URL at this point, which I very rarely bother to do). Mostly what I'm saying is, if I want to write I write, rather than thinking about writing, which is kind of what research is when you spend hours on it thinking about how it could affect your story without actually putting it to use in writing your story...💀

Anyway, I think that's my rough guide? But I have mutuals who are actual published historical novelists so they might say I'm wildly off the mark! Bear in mind I have 0 creative writing training I just like words a lot and using them to make my blorbos kiss, and much as I enjoy it, very few readers seem fussed by what I do, so I may be doing it totally wrong! :)))

But I am having fun and being myself :))))

Oh ALSO another caveat because I remembered we're talking Dunnett fic: do not try to be Dorothy. She spent decades living every moment she could in the BL before writing Lymond. You are not writing Lymond. You are writing fic. You want it to be believably in the same storyworld, but you don't have to have a grasp of every detail the way she does seems to.

One of my best tips for research and writing of any kind actually is to have a handy example of when someone is very Wrong about something that you can always go back to - as a reminder you have an argument to push back against, or just to take an idol down a peg or two. If you're spiralling about a particular detail then just think of the time Dorothy didn't understand sixteenth-century dress accurately and use that moment to extend both her and yourself a little grace. :)