#ive started writing a book

[hootyhoowoo]

A little 15 min doodle but first post of the year has to be Bingqiu!

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

looking around my bedroom like "damn i really did manage to cram books into every spare inch of this space, huh"

[hanzajesthanza]

i don’t mean to jump the gun on witcher 4…

but it’s slowly sunk in for me over the past few months that ciri will be the protagonist of this new game, a new face of the brand, with an updated, witcheress design for her character

and i know the shift for her character design ignited outrage in misogynists across the internet, and i don’t mean to give credence to their arguments by saying that ciri does look different, she has changed

i don’t think it’s legitimatizing their complains by acknowledging that the character design is indeed different, the voice actress is different, it’s a new concept for ciri

and i feel the opposite way about it that they do…

because … holy shit, we’re going to actually have a GNC, not traditionally feminine female character as the very face of this new witcher trilogy, and it will be her trilogy and her story

like actually

asides from the jokes about how “she’s so gender” and “i want her”

i feel like mainstream fantasy right now (and perhaps forever) has always emphasized feminine women, and obviously i’m not against that, insert “i love femmes” meme here, i’m a man (gender-neutral term) of good taste, i can appreciate womanly women :)

but what i mean is that it is sometimes very difficult to see a space for GNC women in fantasy (… as also in society)

despite when they can “fight like men” or “just as well as men,” even when they can dress “like men” or “as a masculine dress”…

like consider even ciri in the witcher 3; she is a powerful witcheress and skilled swordswoman, but she still has to wear a shirt that exposes her collarbones or an armor piece that shows her midriff, and her face is often smiley and pleasant, even when she cries (… not saying that some of this isn’t in character for book ciri—she had the face of a perennial girl)

but watching the witcher 4 trailer over, seeing her expressions, her skin texture, the dirt and sweat, looking at the armor design they’ve given her, the ripping and tearing, the messy, dirty work of a witcher, blood and grime and magic and steel…

maybe i have a very low bar, but when most “women of fantasy” right now look like ballgowns, pristine makeup, fighting in high heels…

(and i’m not saying that there hasn’t been GNC women as protagonists before in gaming and in fantasy. ciri’s braid even reminds me of kassandra from AC)

and when to be “a woman in fantasy” or “interested in fantasy” means that you often have to conform to these gender expectations, aesthetics, which are mostly plastic and mass-manufactured anyways, no matter from what side

like just look at fantasy booktok and what it means to be a woman on fantasy booktok. i’m happy for these women and i’m happy for them genuinely enjoting their interests, but it’s like the farthest thing that i’m interested in, in fantasy, and it feels weird to be lumped together, it feels like there’s an expectation to be a certain way, to fit in with what is consumable and feminine, ascribed to my birth gender

and considering ciri who was a princess, who was raised for ballgowns

you know—and again, asides from the story implications and book lore—seeing ciri redefined for this title, given such a real, witcher design, not altered because she’s a woman, it means something.

because it’s not just one trailer, it’s going to be the whole game, she’s the protagonist, in every cutscene, there’s going to be different armor, animations, it’s going to be real. she’s going to be in the stream of pop culture, people will know her and her image, and this will become part of the contemporary fantasy genre, of the public perception, of women in fantasy, just as much as a court of fae and fuckall is

like this 👆 is a woman too. deal with it. enjoy it. bcuz i will be

[neige-leblanche]

the crazy thing abt "the literary canon is inaccessible" argument is that. it is quite literally some of the most accessible literature out there. depending on the format you prefer, famous books in the public domain are often available for free. if you're having trouble understanding a book, there are almost always discussion and literary guides that you can also find for free. if you genuinely still find old books too difficult but want to get into them, keep shopping around for authors and genres. if the topic interests you then you'll have more passion for a book and i guarantee you not all 100+y/o authors have confusing writing styles. and once you get into a groove it gets easier and easier, & more and more fun

[old-skyguy]

Look.

Ace Attorney fandom.

I know why people don't like Turnabout Bigtop. I am among the people who dislike Turnabout Bigtop.

But I GET why people like the case. I'm not going to be one of those annoying people who just blindly dump on it because I hate those mfs too.

Thing about Bigtop isn't that it sucks. Thing isn't the weird grooming stuff (though that is a huge part of it). It's not that it could've been good.

It's that - in my personal OPINION - it could have been *great*.

I think it had the potential to be one of the best third cases in the trilogy. It had everything; a fun and goofy setting fit for a pretty dang goofy lawyer game - where the environment itself had jokes and quips and one-liners and mishaps and tomfoolery written all over it, it had the previous case introducing a very interesting and important plotline that gave background for one of the more well-loved characters while also introducing an equally fucked up and lovable new one who was a child forced into a shit childhood of naivete in a CIRCUS with another character who was very naive and childish - whose interactions could have been funny and cute and reflective of said shit from the previous case (seriously she becomes such an important character in the 4th case, WHY would they not include her in this one for some character development? How did they fuck up letting a CHILD explore a CIRCUS?? That would have made the interactions flow MUCH better).

They had a pretty good, sympathetic killer imo, a morally dubious victim, an asshole of a client (who was pretty flat admittedly in-game, but I like his weird, topsy-turvy reasoning for it in the anime. Also, I think Max being kinda a dick would have bode well for the themes of Farewell since most of his clients up to this point have been like...nice? Not nice, but sympathetic, but him having to defend someone who's innocent but a prick would have shown him that just because someone is an asshole, doesn't mean they deserve to suffer for it and that they have the potential to grow as people, which is almost a complete foil to what Matt was. Ultimately, I would have loved the contrast of them as clients and I think it would have also served as character development for Phoenix, especially with his low-empathy tendencies).

They just didn't think that far ahead. They just didn't execute it well enough. They just decided to make three of the adult characters fight for the hand in marriage of a teenage girl. (Bat's part of the story was actually kinda good if he was just YOUNGER, I think him doing that for Regina would have been a stupid thing someone in the circus would do to impress their crush. Damn you Ace Attorney and your weird treatment of underage girls!!)

It just flopped and that's ok.

Even though it kinda sucked, it can still mean something to me.

Also I'm a Moe Curls apologist. I liked him, shut up.

[screamingfrenchfries]

bless google scholar because i just KNOW if i searched "psychological abuse in relationships" on normal google id be put on some sort of watchlist when i'm just trying to do research for an essay on some silly little cartoon guys

[thatneoncrisis]

disability as a deterrant aside, it is Really interesting to me how many people who want to get into writing just. do not want to read. at that point you have to ask yourself do you actually want to write, or do you just have a story in your head you want to get out, because there are multiple different mediums for that. you could do black out poetry honestly

[raineandsky]

#110

tw: implied violence

For the first three seconds, the villain is absolutely certain the hero is dead.

He’s just returning from a dart across the city and isn't even 100 metres from the little front door when he spots the hero. Who on god’s green earth has left a hero on the floor, out in the open? The villains are meant to be trained better than this. They’re practically begging for attention, and on their literal doorstep. Someone’s getting a good talking to about this.

The villain approaches tentatively, leaning down to hold a hand in front of the hero’s mouth. Okay, so they’re alive. He’s not sure if that makes the situation better or worse.

He pushes the hero over slightly to try and see what on earth got them here—and whether the villain needs to worry about any split-second, lifesaving decisions—and earn an incoherent groan in response. He almost drops the hero in surprise; alive, clearly, and somewhat conscious.

“[Hero]?” The villain can’t say why that’s his first port of call. The hero’s barely awake, let alone in any state to reply. He carefully brushes the hero’s hair out of their face; he’s not sure why. “I’m gonna try to get you inside, alright?”

Another halfhearted noise. The villain punches the code into the door, shoves it open, and, as gently as no strength and an ingrained sense of apathy will allow, drags the hero into the bright white of the villains’ hideout.

No one’s around, thankfully; he’s not about to take the flak for someone else’s mistake. He dumps the hero on the floor half-gently, abandoning them there momentarily to grab a first aid kit. Villains come back in pieces more often than not—they’ve learnt to keep ways to fix themselves within arm’s reach.

The villain hurries back, kit in his arms, dropping it and himself to the ground without a care next to the hero. He’s opened the bag and shoved his hand into it before he realises he didn’t hear the door shut behind them.

His gaze snaps up to the doorway. A figure is stood there, her foot holding the door open, her eyes roaming curiously. “Hm,” she says brightly, “nice little hideout you have here.”

The villain’s on his feet immediately. He has to be—it’s not like he can deal with the hero with a stranger wandering about. “Who the hell are you?”

The stranger’s gaze finally falls on him, part intrigued, part humoured. “Ah, I suppose you wouldn’t know me,” she says wistfully. “It’s been so long since I was in the field.”

The villain’s been in said field longer than most. He squints in an effort to place this random person acting like she belongs here, his hand against the sharp bump in his coat like a comfort. “That doesn’t answer the question.”

A bright smile, like the sun is invading this room and trying to blind everyone in it. “I’m [Superhero].”

The villain’s dagger is in his hand before he can even think about it. The superhero takes a half-step inside and lets the door shut behind her.

“Got your attention, didn’t it?” She nods her head to the hero on the ground. “I know you villains love your heroes… weak.”

The villain tightens his grip to stop the blade from shaking in his hand. The superhero looks mildly amused by his apprehension, as if she belongs here, as if she always has. She hums a laugh, turning her gaze onto the hero still laying on the floor. “Consider this my résumé.”

The villain’s gaze flits to the hero as well. They haven’t moved. Time is short. “You want in with us?”

The superhero positively beams like he’s solved an age-old puzzle. “I’m sure a bunch like you could find some use in an authority like me.”

The villain has to believe her. He tucks his knife back into his belt and kneels down to the hero. “Dramatic change in career path.”

“Who’s to say this wasn’t always the plan?” The superhero watches as the villain unravels bandages from a well-used roll. “You wouldn’t take me in as a novice, so I’ve made myself valuable. Wouldn’t you say so?”

A superhero genuinely being on their side is undeniably, colossally valuable. The villain carefully wraps the larger of the hero’s wounds in the dressing. Wounds the superhero has inflicted, for what? Personal gain? To prove something? Where’s the line in what she wants?

The hero makes some incoherent noise of discomfort from the floor. A smile teases at the corner of the superhero’s mouth, like this is right, like this is exactly what she wants.

The villain’s attention is so focused on keeping his hands gentle against the hero’s pain that he takes a second too long to realise the superhero is inviting herself further inside. 

“What—” is halfway through coming out.“Might as well meet my future coworkers, huh?” She laughs again, like this situation is highly amusing. Like she holds the cards and she knows it. The villain hates it, but she does. “I bet they’ll love me. Everyone always does.”

[souptm]

I wanna show off my comic book collection! I'm really proud of it guys

It's not a whole lot, but it took me awhile

I also have a few comic issues too :)

[sunflowercider]

Me: "Man, why has my full fic script been lagging lately??"

Google: "please note, documents over 200 pages may struggle to load properly"

Me: -glances down at current page, page 203-

Me:

[crvida]

do i write a fic in past tense just so i can directly quote from crooked kingdom the moment right before the fic diverges…

[vincentsleftear]

Question for the culture. How important is it that I read the main Wheel of Time books before I start New Spring?

[shouyuus]

Have you ever had the problem of admiring and loving someone's writing but the more you read of it the duller it seems to turn?

I'm not sure if it's the hyper fixation leaving me or if i over-ate on their stories...

yes and no -- i think that for me, like with my favorite authors and poets, i try to reach for their stuff less normally, and more when i know i'll be really into it/really need a good "kickstart" so i "save" my fav writers/poets for when i really feel like i need it haha

i do think that "overeating" happens too! or that a hyperfixation is leaving, i would just give it some time/distance, and tastes change!! ukno? and writers change -- maybe this writer used to write things you really resonated with, but they don't anymore, or maybe their writing hasn't changed, but you just have changed as a reader. all those things are normal and plausible and perfectly okay -- i know it kinda feels not great cause ur like oh i used to feel this kinda way about this but it doesn't illicit the same emotion, but give urself permission to change ur opinion about stuff like that! we're not locked in to the way we feel eternally ahaha

[unacctmango]

Do I like Sidon? Yes! Enough to make a custom bjd of him?? Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jurassic-cunt]

lately ive been writing on paper instead of on my laptop and honestly if you're not writing by hand you should if you can because there's just something about watching the words appear on the paper in your handwriting and having the writing physically in your hands

[flythesail]

Do you ever have a fic idea and it's like what if this is too... good for copyrighted characters