#and one in which perspectives and experiences are almost all unique to individuals

[quarantineddreamer]

Hi, idk if you're doing the ask game still but if you are, could we get rebelcaptain for number eight?

Hi, anon, thank you so much for the ask 💜 Confession? I read the prompt wrong a bit wrong and got through this whole thing before realizing it was things you said when you were crying 😬 but I'm going to argue that in this they both cry at points, so I hope you'll forgive me my error (and I really hope you like it!!)

things you said when you were crying

It took all of Cassian’s concentration to command his left foot forward, hands gripping the bars on either side of him so hard it hurt–though not nearly as badly as the rest of him. 

Every muscle in his body was on fire, every bone sharply aching. 

Not even ten minutes into today’s session of physical therapy and he was drenched in sweat, hair plastered to his forehead, shirt stuck to his chest, the salty taste of it on his lips, stinging his eyes. While he glared down at his feet, a large bead of it–containing all the grace of a raindrop and none of the beauty–dragged down his nose and fell to the floor.

The next step hurt just as bad as the last, and the one after that took twice as long and left him trembling, teeth practically rattling from the effort. 

But he was determined, eager to heal. The Rebellion needed him. Already he felt like he’d been away for too long. Months spent in and out of surgery, in and out of consciousness, he refused to let any more time go to waste.

Cassian squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, fighting a wave of exhaustion, pain, and nausea that threatened to drown him; they were sensations he had grappled with more times than not since Scarif, and he had quickly learned that each was tortuous in their one unique way. 

“Take a break if you need to, Captain,” the medic told him. “You have a long journey ahead, so pace yourself.”

Screw that. He opened his eyes again and, biting back a shout, forced his foot forward again. 

But the toe of his shoe slid in a pool of sweat–all of his own making–sending his leg sliding out from under him. He tried to catch himself with his arms–to brace his weight on the bars framing either side of him–but his palms were too slick, making his grip precarious, and he crashed to the floor, the intense agony of his injuries hitting him all over again. 

“FUCK!” he shouted, because what else was there to say when you could remember taking down stormtroopers without so much as a blink and now a single step had turned you into a humiliated tangle of limbs, sprawled across the ground. 

Fighting for breath, he used what little energy he had remaining to reach up to the bar above his head and pull himself upright, clumsily positioning his back against the wall.

But following that act, he had nothing left with which to defend himself against the frustration, the hurt, the fear that fell upon him, predators on wounded prey–devouring, consuming–until he’d forgotten himself entirely and all he knew was the dark wash of anguish tearing him to shreds from the inside out.

“Cassian, Cassian.” A hand caught his own midair, preventing him from smashing the floor with his fist again. 

The touch grounded him, bringing reality surging back to his frayed mind–he found himself wishing it had left him alone. 

No…not now. He didn’t want her to see him like this. Couldn’t bear the look of disappointment he expected to find on her face. “Jyn…” He caught her knees on the floor beside him out of the corner of his vision, made himself look up at her, her image swimming before him.

 “Let me–”

“What the hell are you doing here?” He tore his arm free from her hand.

“I came to check on you, I wanted to–”

Cassian did all he could to turn away from her. “Don’t,” he said sharply, loathing the tears that were cutting lines down his cheeks. 

Before Scarif he had been better than this at controlling his emotions, hiding them from others, but the regiment of medications he was on created a fog so thick he discovered his own thoughts betraying him all the time. If it wasn’t his short-term memory in shambles, it was his temper–forcing everything to be felt with a heightened sensitivity. The perfect storm of conditions under which he was dealing with perhaps the greatest challenge of his life. 

It was hell. 

“Will you please look at me?”

“Leave, Jyn. You don’t have to be here, this isn’t your problem. Leave.” His head fell back against the wall and he watched as Jyn’s face darkened, her fingers curling into tight fists where they rested over her thighs.

“Is that what you really want?” she asked quietly, fixing him with a hard stare.

No… A strand of her dark hair was hanging across her face and he wanted to push it back–maybe would have if he’d possessed the strength to do so. Force, her eyes were beautiful.

He was on the floor crying from pain and exhaustion; what must she think of him? Weak, pathetic.Yes, yes I want you to leave… 

But she wasn’t looking at him like that, no, he wasn’t quite sure what her expression was saying, but it wasn’t that. I don’t know… 

“What if I told you I’m not going anywhere?” Jyn murmured, reaching a hand tentatively towards his face, wiping a tear from his cheek with surprising gentleness. She caught his eyes again, still waiting to see if he would offer a reply.

“I’d say it’s just like you not to listen,” he finally sighed. 

“It does sound like me doesn’t it?” she teased, lips briefly twitching upward. But her voice was serious, expression intent, when she said, “Cassian, why are you asking me to leave?”

I don’t deserve this… I don’t deserve you… At his best he’d been a mess–so used to playing whatever part the Rebellion needed that he’d half-forgotten himself–what could he possibly offer her or anyone else now? It wasn’t clear yet if he’d ever be able to walk well again, much less run or fight. He would only slow her down, burden her–and Jyn had carried enough in her life as it was without adding his weight to the equation.

But Cassian didn’t know how to put those thoughts into words–or maybe it was that his voice was betraying him as much as he felt his body was–so he just shook his head, looked across the room to where the medic was standing in the distance, awkwardly trying their best not to encroach despite the need to hover.

“I’ve pushed people away before,” Jyn said softly, pulling his gaze back to her face. “Usually when I needed them most… I did it before they could do it to me, because I thought that’s how it always went, that there was no other way that life could go.” Her hand returned to the side of his face, thumb gently brushing over his cheek. “But it’s not like that with you… I said horrible things to you on Eaudu, but afterwards, when I needed you, there you were.”

“This isn’t like that,” Cassian murmured. 

“Isn’t it?”

“You can’t help me with this,  I might not get better. And then what?” his voice broke on the question, the first time he’d dared to voice the possibility aloud. If he considered the notion for too long he thought it might take life, form the shape of a black hole, a yawning void that would threaten to swallow him alive. Where would I go? What would I do? What now? 

Jyn blinked at him. “You think that’s a reason for me to abandon you?”

“I’m not the person I was–I might never be again.”

“Neither am I,” she replied fiercely. “Neither is Chirrut or Baze or Bodhi–any of us. How can we be? After everything we went through? And besides, it’s not the first time any of us have changed–I know you know that. ” He opened his mouth to speak but she held up her hand. “No, listen. I know you’re going to say it’s not the same, and you’re right, it’s not. This is a big change, a hard change. None of it was your choice, and I can’t even begin to understand what you’re going through. 

“But if you’re trying to tell me that your ability to ‘get better’ is what determines your worthiness? I’m going to…” she took a deep breath, “to have to fight very hard not to strangle you, because whether or not you know this right now, you're worthy no matter what happens next.

“However you have to show up each day, however you’re feeling, the good, the bad, I’m with you. Same as…same as I know you’d be for me.” She cleared her throat, blinked back a watery shine that had fallen over her eyes. “Okay?”

He leaned his head into her palm. “Okay,” he breathed, because even though he knew he might not believe it tomorrow, he believed it for the moment–and he had a feeling if and when he changed his mind, Jyn would do all she could to bring that belief back.

She wiped her tears from her eyes and offered her hands to him, “Can I help you?”

It still wasn’t easy. He still felt some embarrassment, he still held anger and frustration for it all. He still hurt…

But together, they slowly rose to their feet. 

[y-rhywbeth2]

Lore: Half-elves

Disclaimer and Lore Index

OK, here's the half-elf lore dump I said I would finish. It's... long. An overview of the history of half-elves (such as it is) and the societies they're found in, with a mention of dark and sea elven half-elves; their physical traits/capabilities and aging; and then a note to some unique inclinations and perspectives often seen in half-elves regarding religion.

Cha'Tel'Quessir; Half-Elves. The most common and most accepted of the human hybrids by miles (unless you've got drow heritage). More conventionally attractive than half-orcs, with a more socially acceptable non-human parent, they are not treated with the same hate and disgust. Their fey heritage is more palatable than the fiendish heritage of tieflings, which causes the planetouched to be viewed with fear.

They are the offspring of a human and an elf; two half-elves; or the very, very rare case of dormant elven genes suddenly resurfacing in a human family with a distant elven ancestor.

They are only common when compared to the other mixed races of Faerûn, and are "scarce in number and widely dispersed across the face of Faerûn". They are most populous in the Eastern state of Aglarond, with the Southern nation of Dambrath formerly hosting the world's second largest half-elven population. The half-elven society of the Yuirwood makes up 30% of the overall population of the larger region of Aglarond. Until 1385 DR - people of mixed human, elven and drow heritage named the Crinti made up 15% of the population of Dambrath. These guys would need their own posts.

Historically, half-elves were known during the heights of the elven empires, but barely. In the last days before their fall, the empires of Illefarn and Cormanthyr had their own half-elven minority due to the growing number of human settlements that had been brought under elven crown authority, but by 714 DR these half-elven minority cultures had disappeared.

They are most commonly found where elven and human populations live together - which means that almost every single half-elf is a moon elf.

The city of Silverymoon is a melting pot founded on the basis of bringing all of the divided peoples of the region together in cooperation and has an unusually high elven population as a result. It has a population that's 40% humans, 21% elves and 12% half-elves, quite comfortably living together - making one of the only places in the Realms half-elves can live surrounded by both their cultures within the same city, instead of one culture only really being present at home.

Neverwinter (Eigersstor to the Northerners, who speak Illuskan), is another Northern city, was founded by elves and humans, and while the population is largely human in appearance and culture in the modern day, they have elven heritage. Half-elves are not an unusual sight.

In much of the world, half-elves are completely unremarkable or at the very least will not face much hostility, simply because few people have much, if any, experience with elves to judge them by.

In lands where humans and elves have a history of conflict such as Sembia and Tethyr, half-elves are both rare and viewed unkindly. Half-elves in these regions usually don't encounter other half-elves who they can relate to, and those who don't migrate elsewhere usually keep to themselves. They tend to be seen as elves by the humans (untrustworthy and dangerous otherworldly fey creatures) and they usually feel unwelcome or out of place with the elves that remain in these lands, who often lazerfocus on their human heritage.

Half-humans in elven lands often find themselves struggling. While they can be found in the elven priesthoods, and be trained in any elven tradition, it seems that elven society only begrudgingly lets them do so. Individual elves may be anything from hateful to wholeheartedly welcoming them as kin - some even see half-elves as a sign of a hope for a better future for elves in the larger world, but as a society they seem to have issues.

For example, the Evereskan College will only train a half-elf in elven combat and magical arts with the sponsorship of an elven parent "of sufficiently exalted parentage."

They are not exactly welcomed to the elven refuge of Evermeet, though at least one half-elven wizard has a permanent place there - possibly because he's invaluable to the magical defences of the isle. It is entirely possible that he's the sole exception though.

Half-drow are exceedingly rare and face heavy prejudice and occasionally fetishization, if their heritage is obvious (which it usually is, dark elven genetics are dominant). -- If born into Lolthite society, they are despised and considered second-class citizens (and treated accordingly). Such half-drow do not have pleasant backstories. -- Many are the offspring of Eilistraeean or Vhaeraunite drow, as these are the two drow gods that encourage drow to leave the Underdark and interact peaceably with surfacers. -- Eilistraeean half-drow may be born of loving relationships between the Dark Maiden's followers and those rare humans who will take the risk of giving them a chance, instead of writing them off as evil/killing them on sight. -- The birth of half-drow is encouraged by Vhaeraun in order to spread Vhaeraunite drow culture and genetics through the surface, and in order to secure his people a place in surface societies safely outside of Lolth's influence. -- Of course it's entirely possible for these children to be the result of a simple consensual fling, too.

Half-aquatic elves are an exceedingly rare minority within a minority. For starters, one of their parents lives on land and the other at the bottom of the ocean. Not to mention that sea elves can only survive on land for a matter of hours before it starts to kill them. Half-human offspring have a slight webbing between their fingers and toes that makes them excellent swimmers. Sea elves do not have the "willowy" build that is often seen on other elves, and so their half-human offspring never have it either. Unlike their parents, they cannot breathe underwater and are forced to remain on land to be raised by their human family, usually only seeing their elven relatives for short visits. Much like their elven parent they have an instinctual longing for the water, and cannot stand being away from the shore.

-

Half-elves may inherit any physical features from either parent, and might show a mixture of traits or pass entirely as a human or elf to onlookers. The offspring of a half-elf with a human will be considered a human by the game rules, and likewise a half-elf having a child with an elf produces an elf. Despite game mechanics, these children still have a mixture of genetics, and it's possible to see a human with pointy ears or a moon elf with brown eyes. Half-moon elves sometimes have a faint tinge of blue on their chin and ears, framing their face.

Half-elves reverie and do not need to sleep, and cannot be forced to sleep by magic. However, they may chose to sleep and dream as a human, if they want to.

They can see perfectly in low light conditions, and their hearing and vision is superior to a human's - although not as sharp as an elf's. Half-drow can see in complete darkness perfectly.

Their human heritage does not stop magic that affects elves from affecting them. They are harmed by magic intended to harm elves, and they have access to magic meant to be wielded only by elves. In reverse, the same also applies for magic that singles out humans.

A half-elf has a soul more akin to a human's than the fey spirit that is an elf, they will not reincarnate the same way.

They will age slowly, with a natural lifespan reaching over 100 but under 200 years, retaining their elven vitality all the way. While they may go grey, a half-elf is much livelier and sprier than a human of equivalent physical age. From a human lifespan's perspective, this is like having your grandma - who goes on hundred mile long runs every morning - pinching your cheeks when you're an ancient grandma yourself. From the elven perspective, this is watching your child wither and die in a time period where they should be being welcomed into adulthood.

And on a slightly NSFW note; as with elves, half-elves may well find that the tips of their ears are erogenous zones. (The rest of that information also suggested that the neck, palms of the hands and backs of the knees count to a lesser degree, so I'm taking that particular bit of information from Ed Greenwood with a pinch of salt in case he's joking. Still, I guess you could use it.)

-

In terms of religion, half-elves often favour the gods of love and beauty - the elven god/ess Hanali Celanil and the human goddess Sune, who they thank for bringing their parents together.

Half-drow migrants to the Yuirwood brought the worship of EIlistraee with them, and her worship became popular with half-elves of other lineages all over the place. She's particularly popular with half-elven bards as a goddess of dance and music.

Half-elves are known to revere the elven pantheon, but tend to hold the elven aspect of Mielikki - Khalreshar - in special regard. In elven tradition she is the daughter of Hanali and the Faerûnian wilderness god Sylvanus, making her the only half-elven deity.

Half-aquatic elves often worship the sea elven deity Deep Sashelas or the human god of sailors, Valkur. Like all who live by the sea, they all pay homage to Umberlee. The sea goddess herself seems to enjoy tormenting them in particular.

[arcane-abomination]

This is a post a long time in the making. Typically when I read about experiences with plants and death magick its done from a perspective of plants being treated more like any other tool. Inanimate objects more or less. As a practitioner of druidism, animism, and shamanism within my chaote label, this kind of disheartens me to a large degree. As I’m in belief that everything has a soul, there’s nothing more unique than a plant soul within death witchcraft.

A Plant’s Death

The trickiest question to answer here is when exactly is the moment of death for a plant. Because they don’t have vital organs the way animals do, it can be difficult to ascertain such a moment. Is the plant dead as soon as is picked? Is its death reflected as it wilts? We can’t completely be sure. For this reason, it’s probably safe to say, that many don’t use a plant’s spirit in death magick that often for this reason.

In truth, a plant’s time of death can’t be interpreted the same way an animals can. Their makeup is far too different. That’s where the problem lies. We struggle to interpret something by rules we set forth not understanding that, that which we seek to understand is, by nature, outside of those rules. Thus, we have to look outside the box we’ve placed around ourselves.

The truth is that a plants death isn’t as simple as the moment the soul leaves the body. It’s quite possible their death has much more nuance than we think. Where the exact moment of death for us can be measured in a second, it’s quite possible that a plant’s can not. Making their death something far longer and more advanced than ours.

What is a Plant’s Soul

Another interesting thing to consider is how a plant’s soul works, but therein lies another problematic nuance. What is the plant in comparison to a singular body? Is each individual flower its own being? Or are they one being since everything is contacted at the root? In my personal experience I would answer that it’s a mixture of both.

One can almost compare things to that of the triple goddess or the idea of epithets. One singular being exists but from that being several other beings take form. They often are comprised of more specific energies that coincide with the master soul. But appear to have their own unified personalities and makeup. This is how, in my opinion, some plant’s work. A tree for instance has one soul and one soul only. But some flowers may have multiple. One singular soul dwelling within the roots but as singular stems sprout from the roots connected as one only beneath the surface, may give form to epithetic souls in connection to the master soul. That’s why sometimes each flower can feel like it has its own unique energy in comparison to the others in its colony.

The Astral Form

When working with plant souls it is important to recognize that they don’t communicate naturally the same way as we do. That’s why connecting in astral can be so important. Spirits in astral can form themselves as they see fit and plants often take on alternate forms that the person can connect with and understand better. Therefore, it’s best to be aware that the spirit you may see when connecting to a plant in death work, may not appear at all plant like. If unsure…simply ask.

Death Energy of Plants

The death energy of a plant spirit can often have a different vibration to it, but it can work very similarly to regular spirits. Just as we may use a bone to attract that animals spirit or go to a grave to call on a human’s spirit, so do we use the plants body to call on them. Their dried flowers, and leaves act in place of bones. While their seeds act like the souls of children. Young souls, that can be rather mischievous. And just as you treat those bones and grave sites with respect, so should you treat those plants with respect. They may not be bone but they are just as important as them. Disrespectful use of a plant’s corpse that you wish to utilize can result in a disconnect, and essentially an empty vessel.

In Conclusion

It’s important to recognize that plant spirits are a very unique factor to utilize in your death craft journey, but they can be very splendid spirits too well worth. They can offer different tales on a situation and inspires you may not have thought possible or even considered. Remember, they are very different from us and will often have perspectives from angles we can’t properly see.

[theproverbialpen]

Musings from a Hazbin Fan and Hotel Employee

Yeah, that's right—I'm posting to this blog for the first time in years because I got into Hazbin Hotel of all things. Not only did I get into this cursed fandom, I'm writing fan fiction for it. Fan fiction. I think the last time I wrote fanfiction was...2012? 2013? And I only ever told 3 people about that one. Now here I am posting on main. The brainrot truly is unquantifiable.

If you're one of the few people that survived the purge of those I know IRL, congratulations. Please don't judge me lol. Anyways, actual musings are below the cut!

So I’m writing a fun little fanfic on AO3 and after someone left a comment (if you’re reading this, still genuinely one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me about my craft), it occured to me—as a Hazbin Hotel enjoyer, I have a pretty unique perspective on the series as an IRL hospitality professional. So! Thought it would be some cute bonus content to talk a little bit more about my life at an actual hotel and how it’s impacted my experience with Vivziepop’s hit series. 

Please note: this is written purely for shits and giggles. I don’t actually have any issues with the setting of Vivzie’s narrative or how it plays into the stories she and her team want to tell. I fucking love this show, to a potentially unhealthy degree, and I haven’t had this much fun with a series since like…okay well my hyperfixations change like every few months, but still. Point is, this isn’t actually critique, or satire, or anything with negative or critical intentions. TLDR; this post is for funsies, get off my dick.

So Who TF Am I, Anyways?

A little background on myself, for context. I’ve been employed at my hotel for almost a year now, and it’s my first hospitality job. I work in the Sales and Events department and I’ve come to learn that Group Business is actually integral for keeping a hotel up and running. When your average person (read: me before this job) thinks about hotels and traveling, you’d think it’s all about the families, bloggers, and individual travelers when it comes to guests and revenue. But in actuality, most of a hotel’s revenue—at least in the market I work in—will come from contracted room blocks and events. 

That’s where folks in my department come in. We work with clients to negotiate contracts and secure occupants for our hotel year round. Simply put, if we don’t do our jobs well, then no one else gets hours. So as much as the anti-capitalist in me will sometimes hate being a cog in the machine, it is really fulfilling to be able to help clients meet their needs while also making sure my coworkers are able to put food on the table. 

Speaking of being a cog in the machine, because of my role in Sales, this means that whenever I travel or think about hotels, I’m always thinking about the revenue side of things. I also work more with the Events team, so operations are also on the forefront of my mind. Which leads me to my principal quandary for this little blog post:

How in the Hell does the Hazbin Operate?

I have a laundry list of questions. A laundry list that’s almost as big as the actual pile of dirty laundry that is currently plaguing my bedroom floor. I will summarize (which is a generous word given how fucking verbose I can be) below:

Issue #1: Revenue Generation

Okay listen, I know Charlie is the Princess of Hell. I know she probably has unlimited capital, whatever that looks like in the HelluVerse. And I know the Hazbin is literally there to help rehabilitate people so charging them to stay would be counterproductive.

But my dude…do you understand how much money would be needed to run an operation of this scale?

At the end of Season 1, the new Hazbin is huge. Like it easily looks as big, if not bigger, than the hotel I work at which has nearly 500 rooms. Do you know how much revenue our team has to generate to keep this place running? Do you know how many millions our target goal is set at for each quarter? How many hundreds of thousands my coworkers’ individual quotas are set to? And sunshine in a bottle over here doesn’t charge her residents anything????? 

How does she get all those decorations? How does she order food or inventory? We know Hell has an economy, like Angel literally says he needs to save money for drugs in his first appearance. Is she…does she even pay her staff???

It is utterly appalling that Charlie is able to operate a hotel of this scale, both because of how it doesn’t make sense from a business perspective and because there are IRL billionaires that could probably do the same thing and solve homelessness overnight. 

Speaking of scale:

Issue #2: The Hazbin’s Systems, Or Lack Thereof

Okay so, yes, there’s only like…one official resident of the hotel, maybe two if Cherri moves in and doesn’t become a staff member (RIP Pentious, you would have loved living with Cherri Bomb). With the staff the way it is, that’s a solid 5:1 ratio, which is beyond ideal. But—and I touch on this in the fic—I feel I must reiterate: the new Hazbin is fucking massive. And you know what that means? It’s going to be able to hold a lot of guests. Guests that will need staff to take care of them. Let’s review:

Charlie is the owner and mostly teaches classes. Vaggie is the co-owner and kind of acts as the Executive Assistant to Charlie’s General Manager. I guess Alastor is the Hotel Manager? I’m gonna be honest, I have no idea what he does, but generally speaking he’s supposed to be the jack of all trades and manage the rest of the staff. Niffty handles Housekeeping and I guess would be the director of that. Husk is the bartender but like canonically only really eats pub food so he definitely can’t be the Food & Beverage head. 

Let’s say we scrap the Sales and Revenue Departments because clearly they don’t need income, but we keep a Marketing position so that Charlie can get the word out about the hotel. That leaves us with the need for Engineering, Front Desk, Rooms, and F&B staff. And like, not just one person—that would fucking suck—but proper staff. And given their track record of organization and managing the hotel…let’s just say, I would not be applying to the Hazbin Hotel anytime soon. Honestly, it sounds like that job would qualify to be the new tenth circle of Hell. 

What Does the Hazbin Get Right About IRL Hospitality?

So yes, clearly the world of the Hazbin Hotel leans towards the more fanciful—it is a story about Hell after all. However, there have been some moments that have made me chuckle as a hotel employee, things that are relatable for us in the hospitality world. Allow me to highlight them for you below:

Everyone is Bat Shit Crazy

Hospitality professionals are weird. So weird. Before I started my job, I was terrified of the level of professionality I would need to have. When I first got hired, I was given a whole packet on dress code and appropriate conduct. As you can probably tell from my writing style, this was concerning: I can be professional when I need to be, but I cannot maintain that guise for extended periods of time. Call it my toxic trait.

I also already had this impression of poised and put-together hotel staff from my previous experiences with travel. All the Front Desk agents would be in these clean and wrinkle-free clothes with kind yet business-forward attitudes, office workers would be walking around in full suits, and occasionally you’d see the hotel management on the floor if you were looking. Let me tell you now—it is a facade. An act. An incredible stage production unfolding in real time where all the staff do their absolute damndest to make you feel like you are in an organized and professional institution. Not unlike a certain hit animated musical.

My direct supervisor, the literal Director of Catering and Events, once told me that being a liiiiiittle crazy was a prerequisite for working in our department during the hiring process for a new Sales Manager. She was wrong—the prerequisite is not “a little” crazy. The prerequisite is being bat shit insane. And it’s not just our department, oh noooOoooOo, it is every department. Downstairs in our little basement dungeon, we make out of pocket comments, scream at random intervals, and swear way more than we should (that one might be my fault…according to my partner I swear more at work than at home and apparently it’s rubbing off on my colleagues), but that behavior is in no way restricted to just the Sales Team. 

I process the checks that are sent to our property and our Director of Rooms makes me say “can I get a WITNESSSS” before she signs off on the drop log (Charlie-core). If I don’t say it high pitched enough or with enough vigor, she makes me do it again. I once watched a guy in Engineering climb a tall step ladder balanced with two legs on a platform and a third leg balanced on a wooden plank his coworker was holding steady. The fourth leg was over the open air. Let me reiterate: the open. Fucking. Air. Tell me you can’t see Angel Dust and Cherri doing that shit.

Speaking of Engineering, you wanna know what dumbass thing happened just this morning? The Regional Director of the department—regional meaning he manages teams all across our area, like top level type shit—told us about this cursed ass Instagram trend he found where allegedly, putting ketchup on a Kit Kat tasted like fudge. So right there and then, him, myself, and two other coworkers decided ‘why the fuck not?’:

I would never seek it out willingly again, but I honestly didn’t hate it. 

The point of all of this is to say—the antics the Hazbin crew get up to? Totally realistic. I could see my coworker Robert throwing me into an active battlefield against my will. We have deadass done the role playing thing Angel and Pentious did during our trainings, and it was just as unhinged. Every day some shit happens at this hotel and I’m just like, “Yup. That could happen in Hazbin.”

“Call Now! Or Don’t! I Don’t Care! We Still Don’t Have a Working Phone!”

I would like to preface this section by saying: if you happen to be a Front Desk associate, I’m sorry. This is not directed at you, this is directed at your managers and their communication skills that may or may not exist. If you are somehow a manager reading this, uh—first of all, cringe. Second of all, I hope these next few paragraphs don’t apply to you. If they do and you’re offended: that’s a certified you-problem, babes. 

There are three certainties in this life: death, taxes, and miscommunication from your fucking managers. Tell me why in this past week alone I have been in 5 different email threads regarding fuck-ups and complaints from guests about things that we had clearly communicated. Tell me why in these email threads, people were attempting to throw me under the bus or shift the blame to my team. Tell me why I have gone to every single individual office in my department complaining about this. Tell me why this isn’t the first time this has happened.

Another hotel tidbit: across the board, Q1 (Jan-Mar) is supposed to be slow, for all of hospitality. It’s the time to get the metaphorical phone lines working, ya know? Our Q1 was stupidly busy, so I get it, people were slammed and short staffed. But like… we had time. Time to iron out our communication, time to create systems and processes that would ensure we’d be all set when things got busier. Yet here I am at the start of Q2 with an entire fist shoved up my ass being puppeted around to fix other people’s mistakes. 

It’s times like these when I go back to rewatch Hazbin for the like 26th time and I watch Charlie and Alastor run the hotel and I’m just like “whyyYyYyYyYyYy”. Like I KNOW Vaggie has had days where she’s like, “what…what am I supposed to be doing right now? Like what is my job, what… What?” 

It’s not just Front Desk either. It’s every department, even my own bosses. Like the call is coming from inside the house, sweetie, why did you tell this Sales Manager that I was taking care of all her commissions but you didn’t tell me this. Why am I blocking a room for an Orientation the following Monday at fucking 5:45 PM on a Friday. Why am I JUST finding out about a VIP guest when I have been asking you if you had any notes for me for the whole week.

I touch on it in my fic as well but like…pretty sure Charlie just, decides to host her classes day of. And that drives me insane. Like I…there are processes. Things that need to be done so that everyone is on the same page. You don’t just wing this shit, that’s how you end up with Susan calling your Director to tell her that you’re a useless waste of space not even deserving of the air in your lungs because you didn’t give her her fucking breakfast voucher. 

As a character, I love Alastor. If I were ever in the same room as him, I’d probably hate him. But if there’s anything relatable about that Geneva Convention Violation on Legs it’s his absolutely done attitude in Episode 1’s opening commercial.

Charlie Loves Helping People, and So Do We!

Alright, I’ve complained for enough paragraphs, let’s be positive for a second. The thing that is by far the most true to life in Hazbin Hotel is how much joy Charlie gets from taking care of her guests. Like…that’s our bread and butter in the hospitality world. Well, maybe just the butter; we need that bread in the form of cold hard cash (or direct deposits, whatever works best). But as much as I will bitch and moan about the difficulties of working in a hotel, there’s nothing quite as fulfilling as a guest telling you that you made their entire trip better. The butterflies I get reading reviews where my coworkers are mentioned by name and a guest writes about how we completely turned around their bad day are an absolute delight. It just means the world knowing that you can have that kind of impact on someone, even if it’s just in the little things.

In Episode 2, when Charlie and the crew are welcoming Sir Pentious and she just starts vibrating with excitement is exactly how I feel when I get to meet a client that we’ve been working with for months and finally welcome them to our property. When they sing “It Starts With Sorry” and just get to have a moment of empathy and compassion together, it reminds me of the clients and the phone calls I take where I get to ask them about their goals and help them feel like they’re supported and heard. In the grand scheme of things, is a nice phone call or interaction with some hotel employee going to change your life? Probably not. But for those few moments when their burdens seem lighter is why I love my job.

This goes for guests, and for my fellow coworkers. I’ve been very blessed to start my hospitality career in an unusually supportive work culture. Yeah, we can be some right petty bitches sometimes, but overall everyone is so encouraging and so quick to help lighten each other’s loads. Like in Episode 5 (best episode btw, for obvious reasons) when all the Hazbin Crew are working together to prepare the hotel for Lucifer’s arrival, that shit made me so giddy cause like- that’s us! Look at us go! We workin together so hard, we’re so cute! Like when Niffty and Pentious are baking and she looks up at him all excited n’ shit—that’s literally been me working with our Director of Restaurants on new food menus or promotional material. 

There’s something about being in an occupation where your whole purpose is to take care of people that really brings out the selflessness in you, and I think that’s what makes the hotel such a great setting for Charlie’s mission of redemption. I didn’t realize that until writing this paragraph tbh, but yeah, it just kinda…works. When your job is to make sure other people have a good time and feel supported and you’re surrounded by people that make you feel the same way, it’s a lot easier to want to choose to do good, to do right by the people around you. So as much as I have some silly little nitpicks…yeah, I can admit—I love that this show is about the Hazbin Hotel specifically.

Anyways, if you made it this far, thanks for reading! Next update for Life is In Redemption will be out in the days to come, just thought this would be a fun addition while I work on some of the content with my friends. This upcoming chapter is going to have a co-author, so get hyyyyyped :)

[resonancewitness]

astrology app for clowning purposes: interaction (post 3)

this is the third post about running birth dates of two amazing gentlemen through the astrology app called TimePassages

I don't take astrology too seriously, mainly i use it for generating "possible character cards" in my creative writing exercises, to think outside the box of my own habitual thinking

but of course i am curious. and i ran the option of analysing the potential for interaction between two persons, that this app offers. and copied parts of the text, not adding my own interpretation

what's about this connection?

they are coming together for some serious mutual healing, they can expect intense emotions and the exposing of their most cherished and unknown secrets through this relationship, perhaps unknown even to their conscious mind 

there may be a feeling of being together for some karmic purpose 

they have come together for some serious life purpose that can heal themselves and others, although everything this deep requires passage of time and reflections of higher awareness.

accepting, respecting and loving the woundedness in each other 

each provide a loving and compassionate mirror to each other

there is a sanctuary for them both in this arrangement

home, family, business and romance are all supported

may feel a psychic bond, as though connected from some ancient, and perhaps unconscious, past experiences together

almost telepathic communication with each other 

the expansion, growth and development of each of them activates work with public and world karma for the other

cooperation between them can be extremely fulfilling when they employ proper balance and discrimination

alike but different, getting along with similar styles and interests

can complement each other well

a terrific basis for communication in relationship, a great potential for teaching and learning, a happy connection productive of joy and wisdom 

sharp and witty exchanges, and many interests in common

mutual exchange and quickening of their goals and visions together

love travel, movement and exploring ideas together

work together well, with room for inventive fantasy as well as practical understanding, enlivening loving approaches and shared purpose

planning and organising together is beneficial for them, with agreements strongly and clearly made

enjoyable sharing of eclectic ideas

their unique individualities ignite into mental gymnastics to stimulate practical innovation and vital exchange of ideas between them 

ability to travel and work together, to understand and work with humanitarian and cultural perspectives

awakening of the mind brought by this partnership, stimulation of the individual uniqueness of each of them

together they are likely to enliven others with their gifts and understanding 

strong and beneficial connection with each other

an idealized connection 

an instant emotional rapport with one another

an intuitive sense of friendship and similarity

feel comfortable together, with a sense of commitment to mutual goals

the feeling is of desire to help and supply and to care for each other 

feel a heightened response and receptivity for each other, partaking together of the nurturing side of life

a truly compassionate consideration of the partner’s needs in genuine loving surrender that may border on sacrifice

spiritually inspired love, friendship and mutual respect 

loyalty is strong between them, with devotion maintained, and long-term practical sensitivity aligned with shared goals. 

they help each other, feed each other and emote together in mutual acceptance, with warmth, affection, and a strong show of positive feeling, which is likely to be felt and shared by others

in a romantic context, this represents a supportive and feelings-oriented relationship, a powerfully symbolic statement about bonding, nurture, and loyalty for each other

protective toward each other

easy companions and enjoy living together, and sharing the same spaces

comfort and nurture each other, being natural emotional allies that together can forge a comfortable and safe home environment that keeps away the harsh realities of the mundane world 

can lead and act boldly, have a willingness to be present with and enjoy each other, with strong attraction and liking

this aspect is good for the child in each of them, with a strong friendship, and warm caring comradeship, and harmony of response, an unusually good aspect for play and entertainment

enduring emotional sympathy 

receptivity and congeniality, nurturing of each other in a rapport of peaceful feelings and sensual enjoyment, relaxing in trust and exploring the loving nature of life together

the older one will value and lend support to the emotional needs of the younger one, who in turn will nurture and encourage the aesthetic sensibility and values of the older one 

the empathy and support of the older one are appreciated by the younger one, who also provides solid ground for the older one, at times either financially or in some creative form

the softer side of each of them is explored, along with the desire for artistic satisfaction, financial growth, and pleasure in general

welcome and embrace all forms of worldly enjoyment together with loving grace

jewelry and the arts play an important part in this relationship

beneficial acquisition of things together, as well as the simple pleasures of sharing

their relationship may involve music, dance, art, spirituality, and areas of service

they will likely share feelings of elegance, grace, and charm just being around each other, and take pleasure in natural settings or the enjoyment of the artistic events together

there is search for more and more experience in general

in a romantic context, they are in for happy times, romantic pleasures, playfulness, intense desire, expansive sexuality and creative lovemaking

there is a challenge or obstacle of some kind in this relationship, especially in the background macrosocial factors, related to working with masses and/or larger sociopolitical influence 

[mysoullanguage]

Hi!

Any notes on aquarius venus at 0 degree??💙

Thnx in advance!

this is a very naive love placement, as it is in 0°, and also in aquarius. this suggests that, in the past, you must have reached an important lesson in love and this lifetime you are challenged to “reboot” your way of thinking in love. let’s look at your placement below;

0° — any planet in 0° will have a new way of thinking, contrary to how you may have thought or acted in your previous lifetime. this is a rebooted planet and whatever sign or planet you have in 0° will project behaviour that is naively true and accurate to your sign. it will mostly manifest in good traits, though not always. because the sign or planet has no previous ° experience, it will be blind, naive, and will have no insecurity around it. as the ° ascends and continuously reaches other key °s such as 12-16°, 18°, and so on...

aquarius venus — a rebellious lover with a different perspective on love and a very unique way of loving. they are very independent and love giving their lovers independence. they see their partners as their best friends and can even bond over being loners, outcasts, or simply different from society, though this is applicable if their partner has a similar placement, such a gemini, libra, or aquarius placement also, or any of these influences elsewhere. this is a very spontaneous placement and it can fall in love easily... however in love you may be, they respect personal space, and believe it's essential to have a relationship that is strong. there needs to be no overwhelming presence over them, or the burden of someone who is overly attached...

your aquarius venus in 0° causes you to be naive, unconventional, and very different to others, in almost every way. venus is not only a love planet, but also a planet of style, taste, and aesthetics. you may have a style that changes often or is very unconventional/different to those around you. in relationships (any type, platonic or romantic) you tend to trust easily, to fall in love easily, or have many crushes or interests. on one extreme you may fall in love too easily and you may give your all to people because you are inexperienced and lack fundamental knowledge in relationships such as respect. boundaries are not built, there is a wobbly self-esteem, and there seems to be no individuality. you give your everything; your person, your personality, your devotion, your compassion, your heart. this is easily exploitable by people, though it is necessary to go through these situations because they give you experience - which is what a 0° is looking for. on the other extreme, you may be so inconsistent in relationships you don't know what you actually want in love, and it may cause you to jump person to person because you have a "shiny object syndrome" where anything new sparks your interest. take what resonates to you personally.

this may be a love dumb placement, though the nature of your venus is not because of aquarius as much as because it's in 0°... degrees play a more important role than the sign from what i have seen, and the interpretation of the sign can come much later after analysing the degree and planet affected...

the karmic lesson for this planet (or goal) is to reboot its way of loving, of minding relationships, of communicating, of initiating. there is a love for art, creativity, and style. love may be overly romanticized or it can cause you to be more open-minded... for example, you may notice you like things much more unconventional to others, such as polyamory relationships. or there may be a part of you do unused to love you imagine love as something more than it is. you imagine love to be more spectacular than it is, you over-idealise love to the point of delusion. you will learn boundaries within this life - what you like, dislike, and the personal rules you will abide by. through experiencing friendships, romance, and conversations with others, you will learn more about yourself, what you like, and what you want out of love. for now, however, you are learning through experience, so let it flow...

[oliveroctavius]

"the loss of the long form serialized storytelling in comics in favor of writing for the trade has done so much damage to character relationships"

Yeah, but also:

Almost all Marvel/DC writers are still paid by output on a project by project basis. At ~$100 a page, that's $25,200 a year for a 21 page monthly book, no benefits, very rarely royalties for book sales. The incentive is to work on multiple titles as fast as possible. Any back research for character detail is a labor of fan love: that's unpaid work, and dealing with maybe 2-3x as many back issues as a writer in the 80s would have.

The (few) salaried writers are "exclusive": they can only write for that publisher's books. If their bright idea doesn't fit into an existing character's arc, they can either pretend it does, or pitch it as something new which (if accepted) will be company owned intellectual property. The "best" industry jobs are the ones with the least creative control. Forgive me if I don't believe the best creative minds end up there.

For the last couple of decades, there’s been a particular model to sustainable careers in comic book writing. First you do work at some of the smaller independent publishers to get the attention of the Big Two (DC and Marvel), then you transition into writing for the Big Two and work your way up the ladder to the highest profile book you can muster, and then you use your larger platform from your superhero work to draw folks back in to your independent work, often using the money from those big superhero books to subsidize your own books before they turn a profit. (James Tynion IV on Substack in 2021)

Miniseries/TPBs have serious upsides to those who can't afford to be continuity geeks. It's a graphic-novel sized contract guaranteed to get your name in front of a lot of eyes. It's a low risk gig that can still offer a rare level of arbitrary creative control.

"the main universe is meant to be a collaborative front"

Well...

The first and foremost thing the Marvel or DC universe is "meant" to be is a marketing tool. Creators who care have done beautiful and interesting things with the concept, but the fundamental unit of story in the MarvelDC model is the (copyrighted) character.

It's really the IP that sells. I'm the ultimate example. I came to Marvel with little experience as a writer in the early '70s and replaced Stan Lee on Spider-Man. It didn't hurt the sales. (Gerry Conway to Business Insider in 2021)

Henry Ford couldn't be happier: creative workers swapped out like cogs without disturbing the story-producing machine. A comic is more like a novel than a movie or TV show: a creator can do it solo, if given the space and time. The unique and fun "collaborative" element of superhero comics are a well-executed coping mechanism for decades of exploitative labor practices.

In the above case, Gerry Conway had a single decade to catch up on and was coached by the previous writer(s) directly. The weight of publishing history on individual writers is always growing heavier, TPBs or no.

If TPBs really are are giving creatives the control to screw over the IP for their own short term interests... that's sad from a fannish perspective but from an industry perspective, uh, yeah, screw 'em. If "playing super nice with continuity" was meant to be standard, then deadlines and compensation should represent the work that goes into that.

[whilereadingandwalking]

On October 4 at the Newberry Library, Lauren Groff (Fates and Furies) and Rebecca Makkai (The Great Believers) came together for a conversation about craft. The event was part of the Writers on Writing series presented in partnership with StoryStudio Chicago.

Groff is currently on book tour for The Vaster Wilds, which she says is a historical fiction triptych made up of three books “singing in different registers about how we got where we are.” In 2019, she threw all three books into her editor’s lap and “ran away crying.” She wanted to “send three books across time, sort of skipping a stone,” all in their own ways examining women in religion and nature.

For both writers, each book is purposefully very different from the last. Makkai even feels that she has to almost detonate the last book with the new one, shift completely. Themes might emerge from their books, but it’s not something they actively push for—you tell a story, and the bigger vision will appear. Groff tries not to over-intellectualize her books for risk of “killing” them. As long as you “write into your urgencies,” she says, patterns will inevitably appear across your work.

Groff has a unique drafting process, which she attributes partially to her OCD and the need to work both with and around it. To break her perfectionism, she writes her drafts long-hand, straight through, no editing. She can’t read her own handwriting, so there’s little rereading: when she’s done, she puts that draft in a box, and starts over. What she remembers is what will be important—what she cuts provides a meaningful backbone to what she keeps. “By breaking, I’m building,” she says. Each draft builds on the last.

Makkai noted that Groff scatters omniscience throughout her books, using it in unexpected moments. “For me,” Groff explains, “omniscience is a way of disrupting the linear timeline.” If a protagonist lives step by step, an omniscient voice breaks through vertically, like spikes, shaking up the storyline, reminding the reader that the character is just one person in a big world. 

Omniscience isn’t a popular point-of-view these days, and Groff has a theory about why. “I’m attracted to omniscience always, and I actually think it’s because I was raised in a Godly family,” she says. People are afraid of God nowadays, and their secular distrust and faith in the individual experience lead them to believe that 1st person POV is the most stable, truthful one to use.

Makkai’s students nowadays are drawn to polyphonic, multi-person perspectives in their novels, incorporating more and more voices. She wonders if, to Groff’s point, as we as a society decide that only the individual can faithfully transmit their own experience, and we work to privilege more and more voices, if students are attracted to including as many voices as possible rather than shift into what they might feel is a more prescriptive 3rd person POV.

Sometimes, writing a book itself can be a religious experience. Every time Groff writes a novel, there’s a point when “the world is sort of shrinking into the book, and then, the book blooms outward”—and suddenly everything you see is part of the book. Makkai says that she knows her book is ready and good when she’s clearing her mind during yoga, letting all thoughts go, and what’s left is the book. 

[harlronica]

psychic/intuitive astro placements for the planet Jupiter (pt. 1)

In Astrology, Jupiter is associated with the principles of growth, expansion, healing, prosperity, good fortune, and miracles. A Starseed origin in alignment with this planet illuminates the power one carries during this incarnation. This origin would hint at the grail line you're tied to the most. This would be the aspect of your oversoul and your higher mental masculine plane. 

Jupiter is where we seek wisdom, wish to expand, and where we often have a lucky card to play. Dangers here can come from recklessness or an over optimistic attitude- wishing to get away from the routine of mundane life- where we want to experience something in its fullness. An interest in Law and Justice over the houses themes can also be found in the area of Jupiter. Mostly, this house will be full of positive vibrations and will.

*Psychic/Intuitive Astrological signs for the planet Jupiter* "I Grow"

Gemini: those born with Jupiter in Gemini can always be found at the center of any conversation. They have an impressing and captivating way with words along with listening skills and the ability to absorb information. These people have the ability to see different sides and perspectives of any argument or given situation. They're very open-minded individuals with the ability to receive vast amounts of information (especially if you find a fixed stargate to Orion here.) With Jupiter in Gemini you are intuitive, spiritual, intellectual, open-minded, and very absorbent in gathering information.

Cancer: those born with Jupiter in Cancer have their energy focused on compassion. They are extremely empathetic- having their way with feelings and emotions- they easily know what others are going through and are able to process others' reactions in a deeper way than most of us. Very intuitive, sensitive, and emotional (especially with a fixed stargate to Sirius or Hydra here.) Having the planet of higher knowledge in alignment with Cancer, although extremely caring, these people are not easily deceived by others as they are gifted with the ability to see through any deceiving nature. Extremely psychic!

Sagittarius: Jupiter functions best here being in its home planet. These people are very inspiring with a strong faith in any spiritual or religious matters in which they choose to pursue. Being the luckiest placement for Jupiter, this could be considered a spiritual blessing. They were born with the gift of almost anything working out in their favor, and hold a pro-found, deep, spiritual knowledge. The position and house placement of Jupiter here will determine whether this knowledge is held consciously or subconsciously. Very intuitive, prophetic, and inspirational people! (Especially if in alignment with a fixed stargate to Shaula or Lyra.)

Aquarius: this is a similar placement to Jupiter in Sagittarius. One of the luckiest placements for Jupiter, those born under this placement are smart, unique, and interesting with a creative and unique energy. These people have an individualistic trait to their personality and are very open-minded with an unusual, yet innovative way of thinking. They are intuitive and hold a divine wisdom in which enables them to use their higher mind for guidance (especially if in alignment with a fixed stargate to Andromeda.)

Pisces: those with Jupiter in Pisces are blessed with a soft soul that is full of compassion and love along with a vivid imagination. They feel very connected to the collective with a deep understanding of others that allows them to sense their feelings without the need for words. They are visionary, intuitive, spiritual and extremely psychic (especially if in alignment with a fixed stargate to Andromeda which runs along with Aquarian/Pisces degrees.)

Note: not all zodiac signs are listed. If your Jupiter sign is not listed that does not mean that you do not have other intuitive/psychic indicators in your chart. To be fair, everybody has intuitive and psychic placements to one degree or another in their astrological chart. This is why it is important to refer to the entire astrological chart as a whole! <3

What sign is your Jupiter in? Mine's in Gemini :)

For business inquiries please email harlronicareads@gmail.com ! I'm currently offering Full Starseed Origin chart readings for $30 and basic Starseed Origin chart readings for $20 which is a shorter reading than what you receive with the Full Origin reading. I accept paypal/venmo and do not require payment until after the reading.

Sadly, I have discontinued the Twin Flame Synastry readings as they were becoming too hectic and people were not happy with their results. It's always important to remember that no reading you ever purchase can fully determine whether or not you are on a Twin Flame Journey as that is something you will always have to learn for yourself. Any reader who tells you that they can accurately tell you whether or not you are is lying. My work is very important to me and I will always have the buyer's best interests at heart which is why I felt as if it was time to discontinue this service.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

hiiii I wanted to ask you amh, why don't you write headcanons anymore? :00

It’s a combination of not having enough time and energy/motivation for it. I have to prioritize taking care of myself and also tend to real life obligations.

(I’ll go into more detail, but it’s sort of dull and somewhat personal so I’ll slap it under the cut!)

After 2 to 2.5ish straight years of posting almost every day, it kind of wore me and my spirit down 💦 This is especially true of headcanons, as they often involve multiple characters (as opposed to imagines, which mainly involved 1 or 2 characters as the centerpiece and the rest as brief supporting roles) and taking the time to think long and hard about their unique perspectives and reactions to sometimes highly detailed situations. The format of headcanons themselves also just does not align with what I like to do the most; it usually doesn’t allow for extended dialogue or fun canon character interactions (most headcanon requests involve self inserts, meaning more reader-canon character interactions than canon-canon interactions).

Each of the characters is unique, and I want that to be reflected in my works. I’m of the mindset that my writing should be such that you can’t swap out a character’s name for another’s without it losing meaning. A character should be able to act and speak in a distinctive manner; they cannot be easily replaced with another person. A large part of this, of course, also stems from my own perfectionism working against me… so it feels like the stress is really coming from all kinds of places 🥲

Something I realized after taking writing requests for so long is that I wasn’t able to write what I personally wanted to. There was an unspoken pressure to constantly put out new content, as well as communication I received that left me feeling immensely uncomfortable. As a mild example, I often received requests that disregarded my rules and/or involved subject matters which I found to be invasive or icky, things which I explicitly stated to NOT bring up to me; it was clear that some (some, NOT all) people cared more about getting free content over respecting an individual’s boundaries, and didn't even spare a few minutes to do me the courtesy of reading my rules and staying within my comfort zone. Sometimes I just got the impression that writers or content creators in general were just not being respected. I didn’t want those frequent enough bad experiences to seep into and taint a hobby that I love so much, so… I had to limit the frequency of writing requests for my own good.

The TWST fandom is just the kind that is eager and hungry for fan content (especially considering the relatively slow output of canon content in the actual JP game). Unfortunately, that has the side effect of killing the joy of creative writing for me 😔 The demand was so high I couldn’t keep up with my supply and I burnt out hard. Think of a star—it burns so brightly in the night sky, and one day it will just have nothing left to give and just… go out.

I decided to drastically scale back my writing requests (the majority of which were headcanons) and to mainly focus on writing what I find interesting and what makes me happy. Talking about lore, theories, and putting out only a few (2-5) imagines every month has been very chill. I think I’m in a much happier and less stressed place now! ^^

I do want to get back into writing headcanons and doing writing requests in general, but only when I personally feel like it and most likely on a smaller scale/at my own comfortable pace. Creative writing is a cherished hobby of mine, and the instant it starts feeling like an obligation then… well, it’s no longer a hobby and it wouldn’t be very fun for me anymore. “Having fun” was the whole reason I first started this blog, so I want to stray true to those roots.

[k00295632]

Animation

Reinvention in story telling

Three Blind Mice, Epic/Historical, Space Age (1957-present)

Week 3, 22-28/04/24

Monday

Did a zine workshop during the morning, I made a sad little zine with some bits of rough potential visuals for the project.

I then jumped straight into creating concept art and trying to figure out how to combine natural cave formations with architectural features. What I ended up doing that day was creating this rough pencil of some stalagmites and drawing arches and doorways on top of it.

Using this as a starting point I went off and photocopied it a few times, which I then cut up and collaged together on a page to gain a rough idea of what this metropolis could look like.

This is what I ended up with. I love how the buttresses came out but the perspective of the piece looks completely wrong, making it look cluttered without purpose. I tried colouring parts blue and pink to separate it a small bit, but I think the main issue is that all of the structures are the same size even at a distance, in future I'll have to make the ones in the back larger and more hazy looking whereas the ones in front smaller and more detailed. This was just an experiment so its not too important.

Later that evening I did a colour study of scenes from Akira to develop my understanding of cel shading, I also watched a few videos on the production of Akira. It ended up being very useful and I found myself very surprised with Akira's colour palette. I quite literally colour dropped the colours from the scenes and and did rough drawings of the scenes using them, I was really surprised to see that the colour I dropped was the same as the one in the scene. It was absolutely fascinating.

Tuesday

I further looked into combining architecture with cave structures by doing a quick study on Antoni Gaudi's building designs and did a study on different stalagmites.

Looking at Gaudi's designs was interesting as he uses lots of organic shapes that almost look like they're melting in a way, and in other works like the Sagrada Familia he has lots of towers with unique features.

I tried combining these features to the stalagmites I studied to gain unique structures that would be believed to have belonged to an underground metropolis. I ended up with some nice designs, I worry a small bit that they might be too detailed but overall I'm happy with them, I still think these designs would have to be further developed but I don't have the time to do so.

At the moment my plan is to individually recreate these digitally and then photoshop them together in different ways to gain the illusion of having more designs than I do.

The photo is a small bit fuzzy but this was the first structure I recreated digitally. This took me around 6 hours to do, which was mainly because I've never done a proper digital piece before, so it took me a bit of time figure out what worked best and what short cuts I could take. I actually drew on top of a picture of my original paper sketch instead of redrawing it.

I created this solely using the air brush tool, and I love how it turned out, it looks so drippy. The only thing I can say really is that I wish I got it done a bit quicker, and that the values were much darker on my personal monitor.

I used the background from Akira as a reference for the colours.

Thursday

I made 4 more structures, significantly much more quicker too. While I spent too much time on the first one it gave me the experience needed to bang these ones out quickly and more efficiently. These were also done using the airbrush tool. For the backgrounds we actually made it a point to solely use airbrush as a way to commemorate the animations from the 70's/80's.

Since most of my pieces were done I got started on piecing them together. I tried making the buildings further back bigger and transparent and the ones closer to the viewer bigger. This was as far as I got on Thursday. If I'm being honest I'm not happy with the layout. I was using the Akira background as a reference but then realised it wouldn't work as the light source in the background is from behind, in my background the light source is from the front. I knew I definitely had to redo the layout.

Friday

We did a pitch workshop with Paul and Yvonne and then as a team discussed how we would go about our pitch . We discussed who would say what, what we thought a funder would want to know before investing in a project, we worked out costs, how many episodes, how many animators it would take to animate it in a year and ect...

We also did a few rehearsals in the studio improvising our lines and timing ourselves to get a feel for it. We decided that I would open and close our pitch, introducing our Nursery rhyme, genre, & time period while also setting the scene for our animatic.

Before work I managed to redo my background, I thought this one turned out way better. The perspective looked way better than last time too. I feel like with more time I could develop this further but I don't have that time so this is what I have and I'm happy with it.

Sunday

I made the presentation for our project, and the team went on call to rehearse our pitch. We did this twice.

[onlyswan]

ARTTT HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! we already starting it off with a bang with that new drabble! You are literally iconic and your words have struck such a deep cord in me i think they’ll always be ingrained in the essence of who i am for years to come. seriously sometimes i’m just going about my day and something happens and before i react i think back to something you said in your works and i think it’s beautiful how i’m learning and growing through reading the things you’ve written. idk i just think writing is kind of a love language on it own and it’ll always hold a special place in my heart❤️❤️

our in which couple is literally the epitome of romance to me. it lowkey makes me sad when i look around at people’s perspectives of relationships today and see how it all just feels lackluster in comparison to them 😭 like seriously what happened to romance these days it’s not romancing like it should n oc n jk just quell my anxieties about having a beautiful relationship in the future. they’re really my hope. which brings me to one of my two questions. when writing them as individuals and together are there any pieces of yourself and your experiences that you give to them. i know jungkook is your muse for writing his character and honestly that man is everything one could want n more in a muse what a beautiful beautiful soul my heart aches thinking about him and it aches more with the character you’ve created (men written by women are 🥹🥹) but with oc they’re just so… so… so… painstakingly ethereal and unique and their essence alone and thoughts and habits and just everything is so wonderful and i just love them and i can’t imagine you’ve created that sort of person from nothing. there must be some things you’ve taken from yourself to add to them and whenever i read i cant help but to imagine that there are glimpses of you also in these drabbles.

question two, would you ever write a drabble of their first time together? being physically intimate that is… i know you said before you don’t write smut and i understand n that’s not really what i’m asking. i just think with your way with words and how you describe the intimacy between them that’s it’d be heart swelling to read about what that step in their relationship was like. did jk plan out how he’d go about it, was it a romantic night on the town or did he set up something special for them indoors, the nerves and butterflies, was there wine tasting and silly little tipsy giggles that lead to not so innocent touches, the barring of their souls and bodies to each other in a new way, oc realizing just how different it all is compared to their past experiences. the act of what it truly means to ‘make love’ with someone not just have s*x because of lustful feelings.

okay that’s it!! thank you so much for reading if you do! i hope this year is a beautiful one for you and everyone who happens upon or frequents your page ❤️❤️❤️ ~🦢

my sweetest swan anonie 🥰 wishing you the happiest new year !!!!! you always know the right words to say that will make me cry :"( i’ve always hoped even a little piece of any of my writing could stay with those who read them just like how many authors did for me. thank you so much for making that dream come true 🥹🥹🥹 you have a very special place in my heart!

seriously what happened to romance these days it’s not romancing like it should lmaoooo this sums up my disappointment with almost every romance and almost romance i’ve had for the past few years 😭 the shit people get away with are so… please never let anyone treat you horribly and make you believe that you aren’t valued !!!! 😡

hehe of course my experiences also come into play at times, but tbh that was mostly at the beginning of the iw!series. as time went on jk and oc’s love story and them as individuals evolved on their own in my brain and it became out of my hands. they write themselves atp 🤷🏻‍♀️ most especially oc !! my goodness. of course i love love love and adore jungkook 🥺 the bestest muse ever 🥺 but oc has definitely become a character i have sooooo much respect and fondness for. oc exists with fragments of myself, but also oc is a person that i really, really aspire to be. so thank you so much for loving them 😭🫶🏼 it truuuuly means the world

oh yeah and their first time together… i’ve been outlining something since y’all want it so bad haha it might turn out to be one of my favs if it ends up the way i’m planning it to be 🫣 i don’t know when it’s coming since uni is already starting again for me next week but sooooon! definitely… lots of butterflies in this one 🥹🦋

i always read an ask a couple of times before answering so of course i did :P i love youuuu and i adore you and your mind and your heart 💞💞💞 please spend your days happily and healthily!

[bandhyukoh]

[Hypebeast] Essentials: Oh Hyuk

Disclaimer: This interview belongs to Hypebeast. November 26, 2022. By Yonghwan Choi. (Original Korean version)

For our latest installment of Essentials, Hypebeast Korea speaks with South Korean multi-hyphenate artist Oh Hyuk. As the leader, singer, and guitarist of the indie band HYUKOH, he has had a tremendous impact both locally and globally through cross-boundary collaborations with various artists and individual projects. Oh Hyuk is also a member of 다다DADA多多, a creative collective and label that has been developing a variety of playful collaborations across apparel and F&B. Inaugurated into HB100 back in 2017 as an individual artist, he appears in Hypebeast 100 once again this year as a member of 다다DADA多多.

Behind Oh Hyuk’s multifaceted career is an intriguing personal history. He was born in Korea and grew up in China where he graduated from an international school, making him trilingual in Korean, Chinese and English. He then entered the Department of Arts at Hongik University, the most prestigious school for arts in South Korea while working retail at Vans.

Oh Hyuk decided to become a singer at an early age but his parents were against his dream. In an effort to convince them, he auditioned for the most prominent music agencies in South Korea and got accepted by them all, but ultimately declined them all due to creative differences — going on to form his own band. Having shown a keen sense of fashion in many different ways, he eventually captured the attention of the iconic designer, Virgil Abloh, leading to a number of collaborations.

Join us below as the 29-year-old multi-hyphenate runs us through his picks including special collaborations, personal collectibles, and musical equipment. Items such as shoes signed by Abloh and custom Matthias amplifiers show Oh Hyuk as an individual and reflect his experiences as the frontman of HYUKOH and a member of 다다DADA多多.

Maison Martin Margiela “0,10” Artisanal Military Field Jacket Tanker

This is my favorite jacket. It’s an artisanal Maison Martin Margiela piece from the early 2000s based on military field jackets. I bought it about 5 or 6 years ago at a famous Japanese vintage clothing shop called LAILA TOKIO. I carry the jacket with me whenever I travel and I’ve worn it so much that one of the four signature stitches under the neckline on the back has worn out, but I like it as it is now.

Shin Murayama x HYUKOH Face Mask

This is the work of Shin Murayama, a Tokyo-born mask designer based in New York who has collaborated with many famous artists such as A$AP Rocky and Kendrick Lamar. We worked together several times, and this mask is the first one we made together. Knowing that I like Polo, he reconstructed a Polo vintage cap into a signature mask. There are four versions for each member of HYUKOH. The design is very unique so I mostly wear it for performances or photo shoots. We worked with him again later on the outfits for through love in which Shin Murayama, Virgil Abloh, and HYUKOH worked together.

Off-White Out of Office Sneakers Signed by Virgil Abloh

The first time I met Virgil was at Coachella in 2019. I was introduced to him at the site and he contacted me later. From then on, we started working on several projects together. I remember when our EP was released, he shouted us out. We made music for the Louis Vuitton SS21 show in Shanghai and he made the costumes for our online world tour. Each project was released at a different time, but they were carried out almost simultaneously. He also gave me special gifts, and this is one of them. I heard the news of his passing while we were working on so many things together, so I was incredibly shocked and upset of the news.

Apple AirPods Max, AirPods Pro, Teenage Engineering M–1 Headphones

I usually use AirPods Max, AirPods Pro, and Teenage Engineering‘s M-1 Personal Monitor Headphones to test and monitor my music in various conditions. With popular noise-canceling headphones and earphones, I can check my music from the perspective of ordinary listeners. With headphones from a completely different style, I’m able to check the overall volume. It all becomes a reference when adjusting the sound. The AirPods Max in particular was a gift from former Apple designer Eugene Whang, a Korean American industrial designer who played a key role in designing the AirPods Max.

Teenage Engineering Silver TX-6 Field Mixer, Cables

This little mixer is another Teenage Engineering device I use. I purchased it because I was trying to make my work environment more simple and partially because it looked so cute. Considering the size, the spec is quite impressive. You can use it as an audio interface for recordings, and every function from faders, effects to EQs is available. It also supports up to 6 channels of stereo and 12 channels of mono. It hasn’t been that long since I bought it,  so I’m still studying how to use it well. I also always bring a Porter bag full of cables because I often work outside. All the cables are Teenage Engineering products too.

Apple iPad Pro

I carry an iPad instead of a laptop as a way of simplifying my work environment these days. Since the introduction of the M1 processor, the iPad is enough for most of my music works. I can do MIDI work without difficulty and even sample-based work is more intuitive and easier because it’s touch-based. I mainly use three programs: Cubase, Pro Tools, and Ableton.

Tom Sachs MacBook Bag

As I do design work at 다다DADA多多, I study a lot about fabrics and materials. While researching, I discovered a fabric called Dyneema which is flame-retardant, waterproof and used for ballistic armor and fishing line. Soon I found a bag made of Dyneema on the Tom Sachs website and purchased it. These days I only bring my iPad, mixer, and headphones, and they all fit compactly in this one bag, so I carry it around often.

Busan International Film Festival ID Card

I served as a music director for a feature film titled The Dream Songs this year. DQM, who was the cinematographer and a friend of mine, introduced me to the director. As this was my first music directing experience, I had great fun and excitement. Since I am a fan of Johnny Greenwood, a guitarist of Radiohead and film music composer and have always been a film lover, I used to think ‘this kind of music could be good in this scene’ while watching movies. I was quite proud that I could make scores for the first time and was invited to the Busan International Film Festival as a music director. I want to do it more in the future.

Sacred Card Holder, CLAUSTRUM Ashtray

It may be difficult to identify at first glance, but these are a card wallet and an ashtray. I bought the ashtray from a shop called Eliminator in Daikanyama, Tokyo. I first visited there about six years ago. The owner is so cool and her items are unique, so we talked a lot and got to know each other. Since then, it has become a regular place I visit whenever I go to Japan. The first thing I purchased there was the ashtray.

This compact metal wallet is from a brand called Sacred, which mainly makes utility items. The first time I saw it was at Kyobo Bookstore, Korea’s largest bookstore chain, and I decided to purchase it because I thought it would be great to pair it together with the ashtray which features a similar design.

Dunlop Picks, Self-made Pick Holder

The metal pick holder was made by me and a close friend of mine 10 years ago while I was a college student. I was going to buy a pick holder at the time, but the available ones were all made from plastic and I didn’t like them. I wanted a weightier metal case that fits in my hand. My close friend was majoring in sculpture, so I designed it and asked him to make it. A lump of iron was added to make it heavier. It works like a magazine. When you remove a pick from it, a new one comes up from the bottom. I use Dunlop picks — usually a 0.73mm thick pick for acoustic guitars and 1mm ones for electric guitars.

Kaweco AL Sport Fountain Pen, D’heygere Pen Charm

The pen on the left is made from metal similar to my pick holder. It’s easy to carry and I like its weight and size. The other pen on the right is a keychain made by replacing the cap of a BIC pen with a metal one. It’s made by D’heygere, a Paris based accessories brand that 다다DADA多多 collaborated with. They make unusual and fun accessories I like.

D’heygere x 다다DADA多多 Fortune Ear Cuff, Rice Necklace

These are jewelry pieces made by 다다DADA多多 and D’heygere. I think it was a good collaboration that wittily reflects Asian elements. The ear cuff is made of jade, and after the D’heygere collaboration, we made several more collaborative items with the theme of the stone, such as BE@RBRICKs and skateboards. The necklace on the other hand, is made with rice grain-shaped pearls. I find the combination of these two themes fun.

Mexican Opal Ring

The Mexican opal in the middle of the ring has a story. I fell in love with opals when I saw a picture of a large Mexican opal a few years ago, so I went around the jewelry stores and got my hands on a rough stone. I entrusted it to an acquaintance for processing, but soon forgot about it as I got busy with world tours. After 3 years, I suddenly remembered and went to look for it. They gave me another opal with a similar design, saying they couldn’t find the one I had entrusted and the opal then was commissioned to a friend who completed the current ring. It’s a ring that I’m especially attached to because of the bizarre process.

Leatherman Raptor Shears, Knipex Pliers Wrench XS

I really like tools. The one on the left is Leatherman‘s emergency scissors I recently bought. These are for paramedics who need to cut patient’s clothes or objects in case of an emergency. I haven’t been put in that situation, but I wanted to have it because the build quality was so good. The one on the right is a wrench from a German tool brand called Knipex. It’s small in size, so I usually carry it around and use it when changing guitar strings.

Custom Matthias Headphone Amp

Since we frequently record at different locations overseas, the monitoring conditions are often different each time. One time we recorded a song at the Funkhaus, which is Nils Frahm’s analog studio in Berlin, Germany. There, I found a headphone amp custom-made by Matthias. We experienced the performance of the amp and liked it so much that we asked Matthias, the producer of it, to make one for us.

We like vintage German music equipment a lot such as Neumann instruments from the pre-unification era and Matthias is an amazing analog gear engineer. He knows how to handle all of them and even restore them in detail. He also can custom-make analog equipment to our specifications. For the amp, we chose the material of the casing, the gold color panel, and the knob designs, and we also requested the numbers to be engraved in Chinese characters. Additionally, the port configuration for the amp is optimized for all four of our members to listen in at the same time.

[possiblyaworldbuilder]

Now it is Tavàr (hehe) to talk more about:

Music!

Buckle up cause this is going to be a long ride

So I’ve talked a little about this already. There are these spirit like kinda beings that connect so to say to the souls of living creatures. The name I’m currently using for them is ‘singers’ (I’m probably gonna change it at some point.) Together they make music and sing.

Which looks like this circling above everyone's head. Little more on this later.

Now it will probably become more unclear from here but I'll try my best to make it comprehensible.

Let's start with what the music is about. This is different for everyone and it is about a lot of different things, always changing and growing through life. The music and song are about the life of the person primarily and is both unique to them in lyrics and sound. This means the song sings about things that person has done or experienced in their life. In normal everyday situations this might just be almost narrating in song what they are doing at that moment. Other times it might sing about things that had a bigger impact on their lives, from single experiences like getting into a fight to longer periods of time like being around someone you like a lot. Really anything that is important to the person will be reflected in their song. Other people are very common to be reflected into someones song. When this happens it's common that for example that the other persons rhythm and/or melody shows up in their song. If this person is very important that it could become a standard part of the first persons song.

Now the music will also reflect emotions. Not only in the words that are sung, but also in the sounds or instruments, the rhythm, the melody and the volume of the song. If a person is happy, their song will sound happy. If they are really happy, their song will also become louder!

"But then everyone can hear me being very sad!" You cry (maybe idk) Well yes, but actually no. See, your song by default is only audible to you. (Yes you do basically always hear it but if you live in Yídràl you're used to it). But only if your emotions are strong, or if you purposefully make it louder will others be able to hear it.

Wait that's still an issue then if you want to be very sad without people knowing! (This, btw, is less common on Yídràl though reaching out is a lot more common there for most people in part due to the music.) Well good news! most people have enough control over their singers that they can keep them quiet if they must. This is not really that different from just hiding your emotions normally, just with an extra factor to keep in mind. The stronger the emotion, the harder it becomes, though. Outbursts in music do happen and they get very loud.

Hey. Still with me?

All that was just music from an individual perspective. But on Yídràl, music is a social thing! How do singers act in these social situations?

So as I said in another post, people sing and make music together all the time. Their singers will join in with the fun and add to the music being made. For example at a job with a lot of physical labour, different types shanties are very popular, and while the people themselves might be singing, their singers will add the sound of various instruments or extra background vocals. In a situation like this, singers often don't circle above their own persons head anymore but circle freely together through the group of people. When the workers from the example are done and going home, the singers will return to their own individual.

Usually this is pretty harmoniously, where everyone sings together and amplify each other. However, sometimes you have people who think they are better than others, and one way they try to express this through music. See it is possible (albeit difficult) to get other peoples singers to amplify your music similarly to singing in groups but without the others wanting to participate. This is also often done by nobility, high ranking military and rulers to show their power. Often with people with high status people don't resist and just sing along with them. In cases where people don't necessarily have higher status but just want to assert themselves people sometimes don't resist and pretend to willingly join them in the song. When people do this it is because they don't want to be embarrassed for not being able to resist, or just to avoid conflict. When people do try to resist it becomes a bit of a fight for 'dominance'. In Tèràl cultures this is a more toxic side of society that is seen as a good thing. Showing dominance that way is encouraged even. It should be noticed that this is not a gender specific thing, the Tèràl don't care that much about gender. People of any gender 'battle' like that if they want to establish dominance and this toxic ideal affects everyone.

Now this post is getting looooong so I'll spare you a little and split it up in two parts again. Needless to say I have a lot to tell about music. Kinda like it's a big thing in my world huh? Well I hope it's as interesting to you as it is to me! Thanks for reading and I'll be back with the rest soon!

Havéja!

[ellesliterarycorner]

Writing Multiple Points of View

The first book of one of my favorite wips, the Trials of Flesh and Flame has five different point of view or POV characters. I plan for the sequel to have at least five but maybe six. I’m crazy, I know. But, I love reading books with multiple POVs. I find them a lot easier to read and having a bigger cast of characters means that I almost always have at least one character that I can relate to and root for. Plus, I have a bad habit of just disliking the main characters of books because how dare they be the main character, and when there’s six main characters, inevitably, I vibe with one of them. However, writing that many different POVs can be extremely hard, so here are a few tips that helped me while I was writing!

Have a Good Reason to Write Multiple POVs

Some stories literally cannot be told in a single POV.  For those of you that have read the A Song of Ice and Fire series (my well-established favorite example), can you imagine if George R. R. Martin had tried to write those books in one POV? The story wouldn’t make nearly as much sense, and it wouldn’t have the same affect. I think that when writing in multiple POVs you need to plot things out even if you’re normally a pantser. Plotting things out ensures your readers get the chance to connect with all your characters and that you can weave all the perspectives together to create one overarching story. Otherwise, things will probably get extremely complicated. Before you start, ask yourself, ‘why does this story need to be told from multiple points of view?’ One reason many authors cite is to introduce different or conflicting perspectives. Sometimes having one POV character will limit the scope of your world and the story that you want to tell. Make sure that whatever the reason, you plan it out beforehand. 

Each POV Character Needs Their Own Voice 

This is probably the most important thing and the hardest thing about writing from multiple points of view. You have to develop each individual POV character with their own voice, so that all of the perspectives are clearly distinct from one another. In my opinion, there is nothing more absolutely frustrating than reading a multiple-POV novel in which all of the viewpoint characters sound exactly the same. Readers will feel bored or confused, and it will also disconnect them from the main characters, making them wonder why it was even necessary to include certain viewpoints at all. It can be really hard to develop and maintain an overall voice as a writer while also developing distinct voice for each POV character, but with some hard work it can be done! Everything about a character, their dialogue, actions, internal thoughts, and motivations should be used to develop their unique voice as a POV character. In one of my WIPs, people from different regions each have different sort of regional curse words. Inserting those into the story is one way that I distinct a character’s POV. You can also think about things as simple as word choice. When writing highborn characters, I normally use larger and fancier words than when I’m writing an average lowborn character. 

First or Third Person? 

I used to absolutely despise reading and writing in first person. I’m still not it’s biggest fan, but I slowly am getting used to it, and I’m slowly getting better at it. Still, though, personally for me, when writing in multiple POVs, I prefer to write in third person. For me, it’s easier to make the writing flow and to switch between POVs. No matter what POV you decide to write in, do not, I repeat, DO NOT, do a mixture of both. Having to type that makes me want to cry, but I have read books that had 1st person for one POV and 3rd person for another. Whoever first did that needs to go because that is genuinely the worst idea in the history of ever. Right when I was getting into the grove of the writing style and voice, it switched to 1st person, and that was not a fun experience. Choosing and sticking with a POV really helps when it comes to developing the distinct voice for each character we talked about above. Anyways, some people might find it easier to write each character in first person because it provides more direct insight into a character’s perspective and thoughts. But sometimes using first person for more than one character is difficult for use as a writer, and it’s easier to develop characters and plot points using limited third person. 

Don’t Have Too Many POV Characters 

I am decidedly guilty of this. Like I said earlier, in one of my wips, Book 1 has five POVs and Book 2 has at least five and possible six. It’s not necessarily a bad thing. But, as a general rule of thumb, you don’t want to pack your story too full of POV character for a number of reasons. If you have too many POV characters, some negative consequences are: 

Overwhelming and confusing readers

Making it harder for the readers to connet with characters. 

Making it hard for you to develop and keep track of all the different perspectives, subplots and story threads. 

Even my main man, George R. R. Martin, sometimes uses too many POV characters, imo in ASOIAF, but he’s such a great writers that we forgive him. Generally, sticking to between two and five POV characters is usually gonna be your best option in order to develop each character fully, tie their storylines together and keep readers engaged without confusing them. 

One Chapter per POV Character 

Writing multiple points of view can be confusing enough for some readers. When you’re writing, you need a way to clearly transition between perspectives. The easiest way is to alternate between POV characters chapter by chapter. Write one chapter from one character’s perspective, the next from a different character’s perspective, and so one. Doing that is so much better and much clearer than suddenly switching perspectives mid-scene. If you are going to switch POV character without a distinct chapter break, make sure you at least have an obvious scene break or marker to distinguish between the two perspectives. But, it’s much easier on you and your reader if you just stick to one chapter per one POV character. And, when you do start a new POV chapter, let your reader know as soon as possible so they know whose perspective they’ve now switched to. Again, GRRM does a greta job of this. If you somehow missed the gigantic chapter titles telling you the new POV, I find that within the first paragraph he normally mentions a specific character or location that only a certain POV character would know about. 

Which Character Gets Which Scene? 

Another important decision is to figure out which parts of the story will be told from which character’s perspective. Sometimes this can be a really easy decision, but sometimes it can be really hard to decide. In a lot of scenes in my book, there are a lot of POV characters in the same scene, and it’s tough to decide whose eyes you should show it in. Asking yourself these questions can help you narrow it down and decide whose POV it will be the most beneficial to tell the story from: 

Which character has the most at stake in this scene?

Which character’s perspective will have the most storytelling impact on the scene?

What do I want the reader to get from the scene and which character will help me do it the best? 

Sometimes authors will tell the same scene from different perspectives, but I actually don’t recommend doing that, especially back to back. It can make the scene feel a little redundant. If you do do it, make it obvious that you’re using the retelling of the scene to reveal new information that the original POV character would not have known!

[isobelleposts]

Frances Cha's Depiction of Korean Society in ‘If I Had Your Face’

Cover of 'If I Had Your Face' by Frances Cha

I have recently taken up exploring Asian authors and women empowering books such as the works of Mieko Kawakami and Min Jin Lee, in hopes that I can dive more into the contemporary conflicts that directly affect women daily. And as a young woman myself, still figuring out who I am or am to become, Frances Cha’s debut novel has made me ponder on several points in women’s shared experiences in society.

I’m okay. I have survived the day, again. All I need now is for these stupid fucking pills to work.

Page 192 of ‘If I Had Your Face’

This book follows the story of four young women living in Seoul, struggling to float above the drowning waters of Korea’s social norms and beauty standards, without having its readers wrestle with keeping track of each individual story that is all somehow tied down to each other.

Photography by Julia and Nic of SHSandler

STEREOTYPES

Kyuri may just be my favorite out of the four women because of the brazen truths that her character is able to state in the lines of the book, which most I have always known but never taken time to acknowledge as an actual problem—which is exactly why I love Cha’s writing.

They pinpoint where you are on the national scale of status, then spit you out in a heartbeat.

Page 68 of ‘If I Had Your Face’

Her character, working a job as a room salon girl which is one that is closely followed by stereotypes and rumors, gives way to breaking off clichés from these women who are just the same as any other, working to survive in this cruel world where the way you look and whether you pay rent monthly or annually greatly affects the course of your life.

Handmade Collage by Ewa Look

PERSPECTIVES

Another aspect of the book which I greatly enjoyed was being able to go through the different perspectives of each character and see how they view each other individually. It is with Miho and Wonna that I begin to notice that the whole book is full of thoughts that would normally be kept to oneself and is something that makes me feel closer to these women.

It hollows me out, the way that they would rather kill themselves than be born to me.

Page 117 of ‘If I Had Your Face’

‘If I Had Your Face’ consists of stories that shed light on several topics that needed to be raised awareness like social constructs, privilege, beauty, and inequality, among others. 

I will be glad when we are almost home and the scenery will turn into rice fields and farm plots, and I will be reminded of how far I have come instead of what I cannot reach.

Page 151 of 'If I Had Your Face'

Rather than being completely fictional, Frances Cha succeeds in making these stories feel so real as if they had been truly lived by people before, and also allowed me to see myself through these women in different and unique ways.

The ending, I found completely satisfying, as the author was able to introduce her characters so well that I had a vivid imagination of what their lives could go on to be like once I reached the last remaining pages.

(Click HERE for Writing Commissions)

by Isobelle Cruz, 20/07/2022