#also a lot of 'oh you're interested in glazing then' bc a lot of people in the club do pretty understated glazes

[rowenabean]

Look how cool this kiln load! Literally every piece is my new favorite, even the two that are only glaze tests (good ones! I will do that again!)

[noficbyhalves]

Okay, this is something I've had percolating in my brain for a bit, and I've finally had the impetus to turn it into a post for some reason I blame finally trying to catch up on cards' podcast while running errands and also unemployment turning my brain into soup earlier this year. Rambly bullshit incoming.

So everyone and their mom has an opinion on first/third person perspective in fiction. Which is better, which is easier, which is more suited for different applications, etc etc. Especially in fandom spaces, where you often have a higher-than-average concentration of new writers feeling insecure about their skills (and genuinely looking for resources to improve, while also justifying their own choices with all the nuance that tumblr is known for /s).

(Second person isn't really relevant to this discussion, bc it only really works if 1. you're writing fic in a fandom where it's an established convention which is just a real pretentious way to say homestuck tbh or 2. you are deliberately playing with themes of dissociation from ones own identity or somesuch. Either way, no one stumbles ass-backwards into second person, nor is anyone willing to go to bat for it being the one singular correct perspective, which is actually a shame. Not because they'd be right, but because it would make for an interesting thread.)

Third person is a frosting, first person is a glaze

...Alright I'm gonna need you to bear with me here

So aside from the bit about people preferring different things everyones preferences are valid blah blah, I do mean this as an actual baking metaphor.

If you've ever seen those videos where they turn a cake into an intricately shaped... like a strawberry or a shoe or something? Usually they're using frosting (often topped with a layer of fondant but that's not relevant to the metaphor). Generally there's a crumb coat (smoothed base coating), topped with more intentional shaping like piping to make a specific shape or texture. As such, there's often a pretty thick layer when the cake is finished, which hides the shape of the original bake pretty thoroughly. If there are cracks, or the cake crumbled, or the top isn't perfectly level, the baker can just patch it over with frosting and no one will notice.

In contrast, glaze molds very closely to the shape of what you're pouring it over. Not to say that it can't also be gorgeous or intricate (look at galaxy mirror glaze cakes they're so pretty oh my god), but a glaze will not cover imperfections in your bake. You will see every lump and uneven surface, and that's just a fact of how glaze works.

Back to the writing metaphor, I hope you see where I'm going with this. Third person will - generally speaking - work to camouflage your weak points at least a little, because of the level of distance between the reader and your POV character(s), even in limited. First person will put your sins on full display. Which is not to say that first person is bad, or even that you shouldn't start out writing it (start by writing what makes you excited! Always!), but that pulling it off so that it hits with your intended audience is orders of magnitude harder, even for experienced writers. Because you are so entrenched in your POV character's head at all times, your conveyance of emotion and characterization and tone needs to be constantly on point, with no breathing room. Your POV character cannot take a backseat for part of a conversation, or to set a scene, or give exposition. We're trapped in their brain, and every sentence in your document needs to be colored by that. Also, if you end up with a "I can't stand the MC but I love the villain/snarky sidekick/love interest" situation your readers are wayyyy more likely to bail, for aforementioned "trapped in this asshole's head" reasons. (This is part of the reason that some people dismiss first-person fic out of hand, because fic is a medium with a lot of inexperienced writers, and first person can be like taking a highlighter to that inexperience. Personally I'm more of a "first person is a red flag but if you can pull off your first 100-odd words I'm still listening" kind of person, but I totally get where those people are coming from.)

To be clear, these are all problems that can show up in third person, but as the writer you have the option to pull the camera back when that emotional breathing room is needed. You can switch to a different POV character for pacing reasons, and your readers do not enter with the expectation of knowing every single thought in your MCs skull. Not that these flaws will never exist, you can just control where you put the frosting on a little thicker, and sometimes that really does make the difference.

[amakumos]

illusion － park sunghoon (teaser).

synopsis: living with the reminder that he is only just an abandoned vessel of a god, sunghoon is fueled with hatred and anger, deciding to destroy the 7 gods of teyvat with his own hands. but when you cross paths with him, he feels an emotion he isn't supposed to be able to feel - love. little does he know that you're one of the 7 that he's vowed to destroy. genre: angst, fluff, genshinverse au pairing: scaramouche! sunghoon x geo archon! gn reader word count: est. 5k - 7k, teaser is 500 words warnings: major character death, violence, mentions of creepy abandoned puppets. readers eyes are amber and sunghoon’s are purple (for the sake of plot) authors note: I HAVE BEEN WANTING TO WRITE THIS FIC FOR AGES. scarahoon scarahoon!!!!!!! theres a lot of spoilers for scaramouche / balladeer’s lore in this fic. i am so excited to post this . but also this fic is So. hard to write bc how r u supposed to explain emotions that a Mechanism (with no heart btw!) feels... but Oh em jay this will be posted in the next week Eek . as usual send an ask if you would like to be added to the taglist ! pls specify if it’s just for this fic or all my works tho :,) hehe enjoy this teaser permanent taglist (send ask to be added) : @soobnny @c9tnoos @ja4hyvn @jaywon @shinsou-rii @sqnwo @seeuntonin @primorange @ryuflix @bearseulgs @baekhyunstruly @jalnandanz @yanqsfairy @yizhoutv @acciomylove @w3bqrl @yenart @woniedaze @missmadwoman @floverful @fairyofriki @annoyingbitch83 @itzxvaxella @wonjaems @oreoisa @soobzao @son9oi @ily-cuz-i​ @lumixen @hakuyeo @yubinism @hiqhkey @ferxanda @soobin-chois @heelvsme

link to the full fic is here!

The winds are roaring louder than usual today.

Sunghoon sits under a tree, clutching onto his hat so it doesn’t fly off his head. He curses out the God of Wind under his breath, and it’s as if he can hear Sunghoon, because the wind slowly calms down.

There’s a glaze lily planted next to the tree, and Sunghoon rips it out of the grass harshly, staring at the flower with blue and white hues. These flowers seem to be more rare to see compared to when he last came to Liyue a hundred years ago, he thinks.

He tears a petal off the flower, and the wind picks the petal up, drifting off in the air as Sunghoon follows it with his eyes. “You could’ve sold that flower for a good price,” he hears a voice.

Sunghoon locks eyes with you, and amethyst meets amber.

“Who are you?”

“I was just passing by,” you say. “I couldn’t help but notice how you aggressively ripped the glaze lily out of the grass.” Sunghoon’s eyebrows furrow at your words. “Rarely anyone comes here anymore. It’s the home to a lost civilization.”

He’s right. All that is left are ruins, but not many people know that, so the young man knowing of the lost civilization intrigues you.

You visit these ruins often. It allows you to remember memories that you’re afraid to forget.

“I was just passing by - I’m heading to Liyue Harbour,” you lie. “What about you?”

“That’s none of your business.”

You’re taken aback by his sudden attitude. You’ve roamed the world of Teyvat for hundreds and thousands of years, meeting many people, but this young man with vibrant purple eyes that remind you of flashes of lightning piques your interest, and when you’ve met many others, it’s quite hard to do so.

“I see,” you hum, letting out a breathy chuckle. A strange feeling blooms in Sunghoon’s chest when he hears the sound, and he isn’t sure what’s happening. He doesn’t even have a heart. He’s not supposed to feel human emotions - it’s already surprising enough that he can feel anger.

Sunghoon thinks he’s only ever felt anger.

He notices you clutching a spear in your left hand. “Spar with me,” he blurts out suddenly, and your lips quirk up into an amused smile. “Why should I?”

“Do you have anything better to do?” he asks, getting up from his spot under the tree. His eyes meet yours once again, and Sunghoon doesn’t know why the colour of your eyes are so mesmerising to him. He’s never met any mortal with the same coloured eyes as yours, and it’s intriguing.

Sunghoon then realises he wants to know more about you, a stranger who he only met five minutes ago.

“I suppose I don’t.” you respond, and Sunghoon smiles. The corners of his lips quirk up, but his eyes are void of emotion, you notice.

“Are you any good?” he asks, and you shrug. “Depends.”

You lie to the stranger once again. You have purged gods, monsters and demons with the exact same spear clutched in your hand.

“Oh, and… what’s your name?” you ask him, and he smirks.

“I’ll tell you if you win.”