#very poetic narratively

[clfixationstation]

The only thing I dislike about Eren's death is that he's always felt trapped, and in the end his only freedom was death. Like, that's depressing as hell for any person that could feel similarly...

[nights-at-crystarium]

The Allag was so influental that you can't take two steps without stumbling into something related to it. Emet made it. The Garlean Empire? Emet. Aetherytes? Emet. Even the catboy you're railing, NO EMET DIDN'T MAKE HIM BUT you get what I'm trying to express.

[recent-rose]

intrigued by the idea that jayce dooms viktor to become the herald because he loves viktor too much to let him die. but mage!viktor could also choose not to save jayce from the storm in order to save himself from that fate, and yet he too loves too much to let go of jayce. endless cycle only broken by their choice to go together.

[tae-shimura-is-my-wife]

Yeah you favorite character may have died, but they weren't a super powerful and interesting character that got wasted and forgotten by the narrative to then appear again and die to a piece of wood because the author wanted to develop a couple in an ACTION SERIES

[danmeichael]

both ad lib lovers and the summer hikaru died to something really interesting wherein they take typical genre conventions and set-ups of BL and place them into a genre other than romance, while still portraying the romantic undertones. where the summer hikaru died does this with horror, ad lib lovers does this with comedy.

as opposed to hikaru's focus on horror, in ad lib lovers, jealousy, desire, and a fear of inadequacy and loving someone more than they love you is portrayed through the lens of improv. this accurately depicts that having a crush on someone as an adult is humiliating.

[miodiodavinci]

oh thank god i actually found a good video essay

[pleasantgirl2000]

shawty got that protestant work ethic and catholic shame combo call that a christ complex

[theogony]

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[honeyboyfelix]

sometimes i think im a little crazy/pushy when trying to romance npcs in dnd and then i remember that half of all times ive interacted with this one dude has been the dm popping him out of fucking nowhere and another player has made *at least* 30 memes about him and im like oh.....we are all actually crazy about this particular npc actually

[listen-to-the-inner-walrus]

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[physalian]

How to make your writing sound less stiff part 2

Part 1

Again, just suggestions that shouldn’t have to compromise your author voice, as I sit here doing my own edits for a WIP.

1. Crutch words

Specifically when you have your narrator taking an action instead of just… writing that action. Examples:

Character wonders/imagines/thinks/realizes

Character sees/smells/feels

Now not all of these need to be cut. There’s a difference between:

Elias stops. He realizes they’re going in the wrong direction.

And

Elias takes far too long to realize that it’s not horribly dark wherever they are

Crutch words are words that don’t add anything to the sentence and the sentence can carry on with the exact same meaning even if you delete it. Thus:

Elias stops. They’re going in the wrong direction.

I need a word in the second example, whether it’s realizes, understands, or notices, unless I rework the entire sentence. The “realization” is implied by the hard cut to the next sentence in the first example.

2. Creating your own “author voice”

Unless the tone of the scene demands otherwise, my writing style is very conversational. I have a lot of sentence fragments to reflect my characters’ scatterbrained thoughts. I let them be sarcastic and sassy within the narration. I leave in instances of “just” (another crutch word) when I think it helps the sentence. Example:

…but it’s just another cave to Elias.

Deleting the “just” wouldn’t hit as hard or read as dismissive and resigned.

I may be writing in 3rd person limited, but I still let the personalities of my characters flavor everything from the syntax to metaphor choices. It’s up to you how you want to write your “voice”.

I’ll let dialogue cut off narration, like:

Not that he wouldn’t. However, “You can’t expect me to believe that.”

Sure it’s ~grammatically incorrect~ but you get more leeway in fiction. This isn’t an essay written in MLA or APA format. It’s okay to break a few rules, they’re more like guidelines anyway.

3. Metaphor, allegory, and simile

There is a time and a place to abandon this and shoot straight because oftentimes you might not realize you’re using these at all. It’s the difference between:

Blinding sunlight reflects off the window sill

And

Sunlight bounces like high-beams off the window sill

It’s up to you and what best fits the scene.

Sometimes there’s more power in not being poetic, just bluntly explicit. Situations like describing a character’s battle wounds (whatever kind of battle they might be from, whether it be war or abuse) don’t need flowery prose and if your manuscript is metaphor-heavy, suddenly dropping them in a serious situation will help with the mood and tonal shift, even if your readers can’t quite pick up on why immediately.

Whatever the case is, pick a metaphor that fits the narrator. If my narrator is comparing a shade of red to something, pick a comparison that makes sense.

Red like the clouds at sunset might make sense for a character that would appreciate sunsets. It’s romantic but not sensual, it’s warm and comforting.

Red like lipstick stains on a wine glass hints at a very different image and tone.

Metaphor can also either water down the impact of something, or make it so much worse so pay attention to what you want your reader to feel when they read it. Are you trying to shield them from the horror or dig it in deep?

4. Paragraph formatting

Nothing sticks out on a page quite like a line of narrative all by itself. Abusing this tactic will lessen its effect so save single sentence paragraphs for lines you want to hammer your audiences with. Lines like romantic revelations, or shocking twists, or characters giving up, giving in. Or just a badass line that deserves a whole paragraph to itself.

I do it all the time just like this.

Your writing style might not feature a bunch of chunky paragraphs to emphasize smaller lines of text (or if you’re writing a fic on A03, the size of the screen makes many paragraphs one line), but if yours does, slapping a zinger between two beefy paragraphs helps with immersion.

5. Polysyndeton and Asyndeton

Not gibberish! These, like single-sentence paragraphs, mix up the usual flow of the narrative that are lists of concepts with or without conjunctions.

Asyndeton: We came. We saw. We conquered. It was cold, grey, lifeless.

Polysyndeton: And the birds are out and the sun is shining and it might rain later but right now I am going to enjoy the blue sky and the puffy white clouds like cotton balls. They stand and they clap and they sing.

Both are for emphasis. Asyndeton tends to be "colder" and more blunt, because the sentence is blunt. Polysyntedon tends to be more exciting, overwhelming.

We came and we saw and we conquered.

The original is rather grim. This version is almost uplifting, like it's celebrating as opposed to taunting, depending on how you look at it.

—

All of these are highly situational, but if you’re stuck, maybe try some out and see what happens.

*italicized quotes are from ENNS, the rest I made up on the spot save for the Veni Vidi Vici.

[kingsofjersey]

Tumblr isn't letting me reply for some reason apologies gjdkg

@mecub the theory's basic premise is that the Axolotl has bill reincarnated into stan! It originated in 2016 (og post https://www.tumblr.com/dubsdeedubs/148072136190/a-time-pirates-theory-spoilers-now-same-coin) after the axolotl's poem was revealed (specifically regarding reincarnation And time (a different form a different time)) and looked at similarities between stanley and bill throughout the series, as well as certain aspects ab stan that seem unusual compared to what we know ab the mindscape etc. Bob and the website feels like (imo) its given more credence towards the theory which I'll talk ab in its own post :]

Okay but like can i talk about same coin theory can we please talk about same coin theory please---

[comicaurora]

Hello! As a thorough enjoyer of Overly Sarcastic Productions and also a rabid fan of The Dragon Prince… was there anything that you did like about S7 or thought was especially well done? Obviously it’s not everyone’s cup of tea and there were certainly parts of the show that were disappointing, but I’m curious to see what you might have enjoyed. (If there’s not anything that’s fine too!)

I think the premise of Aaravos's zombie army, "any soul that died with unfinished business is fair game," was a brilliant way to constantly gutpunch the audience with surprise heartbreaking cameos from tragically dead loved ones. I was not expecting Zombie Avizandum, but it made perfect sense - he died in terror for his wife and son, desperately reaching for them! Of COURSE he got to be a rage zombie! Sir Sparklepuff, Betrayed Revenant? Poetic justice. It's just a shame Viren wasn't there to see it.

Ezran having complicated feelings about the guy who killed his dad? Good! Let the paragon process messy feelings like grief and rage! Even if I thought the execution was made awkward by looping it into the Magic Nuclear Deterrant arc, I thought letting Ezran confront Runaan directly in the end was excellent and well-earned.

Runaan's arc going from accepting his death to tearfully embracing his life? Excellent! Runaan immediately being ride or die for his daughter's cringefail human boyfriend? Hell yea! Runaan taking continuous L's all season? Honestly kind of hilarious jfc let my man live

Prince Karim is another very interesting villain whose death I think is cool but whose absence from the story I think will broadly strip it of much-needed depth. Karim thinking he's so profoundly important to the story, clearly convinced he's the tragically betrayed rightful heir, utterly nonplussed when reality fails to cooperate with his vision - fascinatingly narcissistic in the most classical sense. He's infatuated with his own story to the point that he doesn't realize he's not even a player.

Every time Aaravos does one of his Count of Monte Cristo style monologues where he reveals horrible secrets to an old enemy he's about to kill it's extremely fun and rad

Rayla being forced to confront the nameless cannon-fodder moonshadow elf assassins who died offscreen back in season 1 was a nice way to narratively reaffirm how difficult, painful and courageous it was for her to make the call to spare the princes and save the Dragon Prince. It cost real lives, and she's deeply regretful of that, but not of the choice she made which ultimately united the kingdoms and ended the war. Also I feel like Rayla didn't get much else to do this season so it was nice to let her actually confront some emotional stakes.

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Poetic Genres

Whereas a poetic "form" defines the way a poem arranges sounds, rhythms, or its appearance on the page, a poetic "genre" is something like the poem's style. Many poetic genres have a long history, and new poems almost always seek to explore a new aspect of the traditional style and thus to redefine the genre in some way. The following list is a selection of the major genres of poetry.

allegory A narrative with two levels of meaning, one stated and one unstated.

aubade A song or poem greeting the sunrise, traditionally a lover's lament that the night's passion must come to an end.

ballad Broadly speaking, the ballad is a genre of folk poetry, usually an orally transmitted narrative song. The term "ballad" applies to several other kinds of poetry, including the English ballad stanza, which is a form often associated with the genre.

blason A Renaissance genre characterized by a short catalogue-style description, often of the female body.

cento A poem composed entirely of lines from other poems.

dirge A funeral song.

dramatic monologue This might be called a "closet soliloquy": a long poem spoken by a character who often unwittingly reveals his or her hidden desires and actions over the course of the poem. The "I" of the dramatic monologue is very distinct from the "I" of the poet's persona. Robert Browning was a master of this genre.

eclogue A short pastoral poem; Virgil's eclogues are one of the first examples of this genre.

ekphrasis Originally a description of any kind, "ekphrasis" is now almost exclusively applied to the poetic description of a work of art.

elegy This genre can be difficult to define, as there are specific types of elegiac poem as well as a general elegiac mood, but almost all elegies mourn, and seek consolation for, a loss of some kind: the most common form of elegy is a lyric commemorating the death of a loved one. Greek elegiac meter, which is one source of what we know as the elegy today, is not normally associated with loss and mourning.

epic A long narrative poem that catalogues and celebrates heroic or historic deeds and events, usually focusing on a single heroic individual.

epigram A brief and pithy aphoristic observation, often satirical.

epitaph A tombstone inscription. Several famous poems end with the poet writing his own. (See, for example, Thomas Gray's "Elegy in a Country Churchyard" or W.B. Yeats's "Under Ben Bulben.")

epithalamion A song or poem that celebrates a wedding.

fable A brief tale about talking animals or objects, usually having a moral or pedagogical point, which is sometimes explicitly stated at the end. Aesop and la Fontaine are perhaps the most famous fable-writers.

georgic The agricultural cousin of pastoral, a georgic is a poem that celebrates rustic labor.

hymn A song of praise.

invective A personal, often abusive, denunciation.

lament An expression of grief.

light verse Poetry that is mostly for fun: this can mean anything from nonsense verse to folk songs, but typically there is a comical element to light verse.

lyric This genre encompasses a large portion of the world's poetry; in general, lyrics are fairly brief poems that emphasize musical qualities.

masque Courtly drama characterized by elaborate costumes and dances, as well as audience participation.

occasional verse Poetry written with reference to a particular event.

ode A long, serious meditation on an elevated subject, an ode can take one of three forms.

paean A song of joy or triumph.

palinode A recantation or retraction, usually of an earlier poem.

panegyric Poem or song in praise of a particular individual or object.

parody A comic imitation.

pastoral Originally a poem that depicted an idealized singing competition between shepherds, "pastoral" has come to denote almost anything to do with a rural setting, although it also refers to several specific categories of the genre. Associated genres of varying synonymity are idyll, bucolic, eclogue, and georgic.

psalm A sacred song.

riddle A puzzling question that relies on allegory or wordplay for its answer. Riddles are often short, and often include an answer to the question posed, albeit an unsatisfying one. The riddle of the Sphinx, which Oedipus solved, is a particularly famous example: "what walks on four legs in the morning, two at midday, and three in the afternoon?"

romance An adventure tale, usually set in a mythical or remote locale. Verse forms of the romance include the  Spanish ballad and  medieval or chivalric romance.

satire Ridicule of some kind, usually passing moral judgment.

tragedy This genre originated in ancient Greek verse drama and received extended treatment in Aristotle's Poetics, which made the downfall of the main character one of the criteria for tragedy. The genre has since expanded to include almost anything pertaining to a downfall.

verse epistle A letter written in verse, usually taking as its subject either a philosophical or a romantic question.

If these writing notes helped with your poem/story, please tag me. Or leave a link in the replies. I'd love to read them!

More: Word Lists ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

[hauntedradiotower]

I think it’s so beautiful that in some continuities, Earth is Unicron. Like this has the potential to be handled SO poetically and Transformers Prime actually did a pretty good job (compared with the movies (though if you ignore what the writers were actually going for you could argue those told a poignant and very different type of story in spite of themselves (Autobots and humanity are pure evil, the horrors of empire, etc. (but im four parentheses deep now so I’d better quit while I’m ahead). ). ). ).

Where was I? Ok, imagine you’re an Autobot, homesick and war-weary, but you’ve landed on a planet that isn’t half bad, and you’ve bonded with the natives of this planet more so than most planets in the cosmos. They look nothing like you, yet you click. They even drive around in vehicles that look like you (or that you can turn into, depending on continuity)! How did they know?

You always click with the earthlings, over and over and over throughout time and continuity. Like brothers from another mother.

But they are small, and weak, and have little capability to defend themselves against the greater weapons and forces out there in the cosmos. So you pledge your lives to defend this planet and its species. Earth becomes your home away from home; the Earthlings become your allies, your friends, your families.

And then you discover that the core of this home away from home is FUCKING UNICRON?! The devil from the Bible, greatest enemy of Primus, core of your homeworld???

The Earth’s inhabitants, your family, are by extension Unicron’s children. Oh yeah and suddenly all these human-built constructs which only serve to hurt the majority of their species suddenly start making a whole lot of sense. All their history? Starts making sense. And you realize you’ve let Unicron’s children into your spark and home. What does this mean for you and the future of your species? Do you still trust them? Are they by default pure evil, or is there hope for them? How do you separate them from their evil creator, the very core of their planet?

Naturally, this is the part of the narrative where fucking Unicron starts waking up and we don’t have time to have a crisis of eschatology right now, we’re rather busy trying to postpone eschatology another hundred years.

And the humans seem to be helping us put down the furious waking core of their own planet, hmm, maybe they’re not 100% evil. Maybe the line of good and evil is not so clear cut in this species. Thinking about Primus’ children as pure good does seem rather silly now that we think back on the centuries of war we’ve had.

Idk I just think there’s a lot that can be said here and I have only managed to scratch the surface of THE THEMES in this post. Every time media portrays the core of the earth as alive, it fills me with such a weird, thrilling feeling of meaning. The fact that transformers made it evil adds layers to the meaning. Idk what I’m trying to say yet. Just know that if I were in charge of directing a transformers movie, Unicron would be the slumbering earth’s core, and he would be hungry

[tobuo]

ppl complaining abt capitano ~dying~ like it isn't the most thematically appropriate end to his story. none of the actions we've ever seen from him have been for personal glory or gain. it's perfectly in keeping with who he is to sacrifice himself for a cause like this. it was his choice, on his terms, with the added poetic justice of spitting in the face of the very being who cursed him and all the other khaenri'ahns after suffering for hundreds of years.

like............. yeah it's sad that he's likely never gonna be playable, but honestly i think his storyline was so narratively satisfying and a really gorgeous, fitting end for a really interesting character