#a work of magic

[beyondthetemples-ooc]

Oh, this is fun!

Because I was on fanfiction.net looking at my story stats, I couldn't resist taking a peek at the reviews people have left on them.

There was one reviewer for AWoM that admired a lot of things about it. They liked the way I wrote the interactions among the Pokemon, the way I don't "translate" what they're saying into English but show what's happening by describing their body language and tones, which is something I pride myself on! They complimented the poetic descriptions and the use of perspective in the story's first few chapters.

But there was ONE little nitpick about the way I ended one of the scenes with the phrase "The only sound was a slight breeze rustling the trees' branches." They would've preferred if I'd said "rustling the branches on the trees".

But here's the thing! I intentionally try to cut down on prepositional phrases in my writing! Especially in recent years; having too many "in"s and "on"s and "around"s and "of"s de-emphasizes the IMPORTANT things in the sentence (WHAT'S in or on or around the thing?) and it also leads to "read fatigue", at least the way I read my stories back. The sentence sounds a bit rambly and lost and adds to the amount of time it takes to read the sentence, get the idea. It slows the pace and dulls the emotion you get from using vivid, specific words instead of relative words.

Which can be GREAT in the right context! A contemplative scene like a romantic outing, or a character taking their time making observations.

This scene had a character panicked, desperately trying to find someone. I wanted INTENSE, not contemplative!

Prepositional phrases are GREAT for descriptive writing, but not every single detail needs to be described, and in fact it can take away the "hit", the impact, that hard knock of Intensity that you get from a simple sentence.

For example: If I wanted to describe Dove falling down suddenly, I can say "Dove tried to hold onto the rail, but her hand slipped from the hold she had on it and she fell to the ground."

(Prepositional phrases: "onto the rail", "from the hold", "on it", "to the ground". Notice the sentence repeating concepts so they're redundant and extraneous; readers can probably guess that if she falls, she hits the ground.)

Instead, I could write: "Dove tried to hold on, but her hand slipped and she fell." This version cuts out the prepositional phrases, reads faster, reads SMOOTHER, and hits with a faster beat and more intensity.

(There's a middle ground with only using one or two prepositional phrases, but for Faster Pacing, generally the less addendums, the better! I'm trying to make a point here.)

So what I'm saying is, I was going for a hard-hitting emotional realization with that chapter ending! "The only sound was a faint breeze rustling the trees' branches." It also more directly ties the breeze and branches, and if you ask me cutting out the extra words makes the remaining words paint a picture that much more vividly. :}

(( Hi Miguelzinho, if you see this I really appreciate you leaving the review! I just think we disagree on what sounds more poetic, is all. ;}P ))

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

I love you Safety Wizard.

(Inspired by @keroascrazy)

[mamaangiwine]

I don't think many people realize how much they've been turned into a bunch of casually cynical jerks.

Someone may come to their parents and say "I want to write a book" and their parents will say "it's really hard to get published".

Someone might confide in their sibling and say "I want to sell my art on "x" platform" and that sibling will say "do you know how many people you'd be competing with? Do you know how many shops are even on that platform?"

I know a kid who once told his best friend "I think I wanna start a dnd podcast" and the friend was like "do you know what the word "oversaturation" means?"

Personally, I don't know why any of that matters? And even if it did, perhaps your response should be "Do it! Do it and see where it goes!"

[clarissasbakery]

princess celestia human ☀️ my FAVORITE princess ofc

[teaboot]

"I don't believe Tarot is real, but it does work"

Expand on that, king (genuinely curious)

I feel like…

okay, so it’s a lot like conceptual art, or like introspective meditation, at the risk of sounding pretentious

Like. It’s not so much about “the cards are a portal to a higher wisdom that knows more than me” thing- it’s more of a, “given the symbols drawn, could I interpret them posing a question or possibility or suggestion?” Followed by, “is this applicable to my current context? COULD it be?”

Like.

I don’t lay out á tarot hand and say “ah yes, the devil and the tower, I am about to be betrayed”

But I MAY lay out a hand and say, “okay, devil and the tower. Something treacherous and danger. Am I approaching a treacherous or risky situation in my life? What might be a tipping factor? Am I being deliberately reckless? Maybe I should spend some more time working on X project I’ e been thinking of before spending money on it” or “you know what, I HAVE been kind of uncomfortable with X thing, I should say something” or “yeah okay I KNOW Tom from work sucks to work with, I KNOW, yeah maybe I should consider ways of handling that”

Less of a magic oracle, more of a tool for doing literary analysis on real life. Like simplifying everything and laying it out flat so I can gain some distance to untangle my problems without in-your-head crap like projected feelings and social obligation getting in the way and muddying the waters.

So like. I don’t think tarot cards can legit tell the future, but I DO think that self-reflection, mindfulness, and consideration sometimes allow us to predict and calculate our own circumstances.

So, IMO- It’s not real. But it works

If that makes sense

[l0verseyes]

long distance gfs for pride 👭

[samarajethwa]

[owlpero]

I never wanted to go to a school dance until you showed up.

[fisherrprince]

it’s not necessarily that I hate the themes most prevalent in fiction set in the real world and it’s not necessarily that I don’t like stories revolving around real people or relationship drama or interpersonal issues it’s more like im a dog who doesn’t recognize that a pill is still a pill if it has peanut butter on it. I need like the little peanut butter spoonful that is aliens or robots or monsters or time travel or something fantastical and not at all down to earth real life so that you can approach me and be like “this story is about how friendships can deteriorate over time and also how this guy feels bad for being a bad friend and causing his buddy problems with their girlfriend” and then look at me making a face at you and be like “AND! they’re all aliens who are doing all that across spacetime” and I’ll be like OHHHHHH OKAY YAY (shlop shlap shlup the sound of a dog horking down peanut butter pills) wow what a poignant story

[harryzroze]

but like, what even is a star beam, ya know?

before n after render oh god

[infinitelystrangemachinex]

The stewards of the old world are always keen to give you a glimpse of their might... According to legend, the ancients built specialized chambers to seal away false prophets.

The Arcane is waking up.

[mochasucculent]

Was looking at refs and since Viktor has two different leg braces I was wondering, do we think he wears them simultaneously?? The refs don't perfectly line up perspective-wise so it's hard to tell but parts of the one he wears during the Hexcore scenes look like they could maybe line up with the brace that he wears over his clothes, but also some parts really don't and look like they'd be super uncomfy. Also HOW does he take these on and off. Experts weigh in

[eliounora]

quickly drawn king arthur and his royal sorcerer for those who may need it

[the-faultofdaedalus]

magic system where “dark magic” and “light magic” are literal terms - dark magic consumes photons, making an area around the spell visibly darker, sometimes to an Extreme extent, and light magic releases photons.

because of this most dark mages tend to work in very brightly-lit areas (either artificial light or outside in the daytime) to fuel their spells and wear and use lightly coloured clothes and tools so that they’re easier to see in the dimness their spells create, whereas light mages wear heavy, sometimes leaden robes (depending on the work being done) and the magical equivalent of welding masks to protect themselves from what can be an extreme amount of light, and sometimes other kinds of electromagnet radiation!

needless to say this is incredibly confusing for anyone unfamiliar with the culture

[kidokear]

Imagen how entertaining it would be if these 2 interact. And I'm a fan of possessive/jealous/protective Stolas (Which I don't see enough of <(＿　＿)>)