#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.

[owtenen]

okay but now that joel and jimmy have like the way lowest times if jimmy’s cursed first permadeath is WITH joel doing stupid shit…. i would be happy. then falling off some building together and permadying first at the same time would be so poetic and i would write about it forever

[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.

[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

[sneakerdoodle]

hmmmmmmmmm.

the Job thing -> Aziraphale coming up against a decree by Heaven that he cannot force himself to be okay with, subsequently plunging himself into an existential crisis by falling prey to doubt and questioning and going as far as lying to an archangel, thus irrevocably corrupting his soul and no longer feeling 'holy' anymore

the Elspeth & Morag thing -> Aziraphale having a morality crisis over the intricacies of the human life and the net good of objective wrongdoings, attempting to paint things in overwhelmingly simplistic strokes that would fit things into the neat binary of 'good-bad', uncritically upholding the unhelpful sentiment of 'the blessings of poverty' but eventually being led to direct and powerful transformative action, and not the type that would truly take anything away from him, the entire conflict hinging on the fact that he had to overcome his internal misconceptions in a way that deserves to be written down, reflected upon, brought up again later in life

the??? finale for some reason??????????? -> "We're the good guys". "We're the good guys". "We're the good guys". "We're the good guys". "We're the good guys". "We're the good guys". "We're the good guys". "We're the good guys". "We're the good guys". "We're the good guys". "We're the good guys". "We're the good guys". "We're the good guys". "We're the good guys". "We're the good guys". "We're the good guys".

[miodiodavinci]

oh thank god i actually found a good video essay

[mistwalkers-menagerie]

TRoP Season Finale spoilers under the cut

Fuck this show.

If this was fanfic I'd gobble it the fuck up but these people are writing official Tolkien stuff. Half-assed bluster poetics ain't really gonna cut it for me even though I'm not a Tolkien purist.

Rest in peace Adar, you would've loved the Tragedy of Julius Caesar (not)

[pleasantgirl2000]

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

[zeawesomebirdie]

Realizing just how autistic i am via reading a cookbook thats written more like a novel than a cookbook

[theogony]

.

[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]

.

[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---

[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.