#and you’re engaging with her in her favorite thing and growing in leaps and bounds!!!

[wallyaxiom]

task 04; journey of the featherless

❝ He wasn’t like Wally. He wasn’t this ray of sunshine that turned assholes like Jafar into decent people❞

Describe your character; How do you see your character in your own eyes and not based off the bio. How have you developed this character into your own?

SO A LOT HAS CHANGED SINCE THE LAST TIME I WROTE THIS LMFAO. How do I even describe Wally??? He honestly means so damn much to me for many reasons mostly because he’s the character i‘ve had the longest. I’ve had him for maybe 8 years??? and he’s truly come leaps and bounds from where he once was. Wally is the actual human form of sunshine. He just emits light and love wherever he goes. He has one of the biggest hearts around and sometimes that gets him in trouble. He sees the good in everyone (except maybe auto but you know auto’s a d i c k). Wally has really come into his own these past few years. He’s learned to love himself, like, genuinely love himself. That has always been wally’s biggest struggle. All his life he was told he was nothing and treated like absolute trash by the BNL gang and the axioms. when he first came to walt he was this stuttering insecure mess, basically austin. He was scared of his own shadow and afraid to be loved, even touched. Now that’s not the case at all. He’s genuinely happy. he’s very confident with himself. Now that i’ve played wally long enough i’ve gotten to explore more bits and pieces of him and he’s quite feminine and he’s not ashamed of it he embraces it. He doesn’t feel like he has to hide who he is anymore because he’s married to one of the most understanding, supportive and loving men ever. Wally is a fighter. He’s come so damn far and I am proud of my little bean. 

What’s your favorite thing about your character? what’s your least favorite?

There’s so many things about wally that I love, I love how carefree and spirited he is. I really love how fucking sassy he is. like my boy has SASS. But really my favorite thing about Wally is his ability to love just about anything and anyone. Which is one of his down falls as well, because he just sees the good even in the worst of people and Wally just wants to fix the broken. I would say that i don’t like how he still has a lack of faith in himself. He doesn’t hate himself as much as he used to but he doesn’t believe in his capabilities. also he’s a fucking tease like rip oliver spade. 

What are some of your favorite relationships your character has formed? (Friendships, relationships, yada ya)

omgomg I love wally and silvermist. she’s the little sister he’s always wanted (before he knew marjoire existed rip me!!) and they’re just so pure and cute. I also love his relationship with Aurora. They’re both hopeless romantics and becca i’m so sorry i’m trash with replying but like their friendship has to flourish even more because they’re very a like and wally adored her. his relationship with donicia is so sweet too like omg they rot my teeth.

i’ll throw in next gen too because do i REALLY want to make more posts than I need to??? the answer is no. 

HELLO I LOVE SAD BREAKFAST CLUB THEY ARE MY LIFE. THEIR DIIFERENT PERSONALITIES AND DYNAMICS MAKE MY HEART SO HAPPY LIKE IVE ALWAYS WANTED A SQUAD AND NOW I GOT ONE AND EVERYONE IS JUST SO PERFECT AND WODNERFUL AND FUCK WIL I EVER GET MY OWN SAD BREAKFAST CLUB IRL??

cyrus and austin??? binch I love them

fucking daisy and austin are the cutest, purest ship i’ve had and god i love them so fucking much like when 2gen rolls around i’m always so pumped to have them like I love them that much i miss them when we’re not in next gen world i just love them so fucking much it’s fine i’m fine ya’ll wanna see pics of their kids in the future?? they CUTE

allison and remus oh my gOD they hurt me but i’m so excited to see where they go like allison totally likes this boy and remus, god bless his soul, deserves so fucking good already in his life. they’re gonna hurt me i know this they’re going to kick me in my feels but I am ready for the pain ahead

bee, you already know i’m pumped for nina and nikki. my lil gay heart is thriving. can their ship name be spaqueen??? lmfao. listen it’s hard to come up with a ship name for them lET ME LIVE.

dj and kennedy are silvally 2.0 and i cry about it on the daily. 

Do i really need to get into walliver tho? Like we ALL know they’re story. They’re soulmates. I love them. they’re my longest ship. they my first married ship w/ kids. They make me believe in love and i’m pissedt and that I haven’t found my oliver yet. universe wyd !!!

Has your character changed you in any way? Or do you yourself in yourself in your character?

Wally’s changed me a lot. If anything. I’ve played many characters, and my biggest problem rping is that I can never connection with a character. I don’t see a story. There’s only one other character i’ve connected with the way I have with wally, but in all honesty Wally is the character I hold closet to my heart. Because I think there’s a bit of wally in all of us. We want to be loved and give love. We want to have hope in something that’s bigger than ourselves. That there’s this light at the end of the tunnel in whatever we’re searching for. We’re all just dreamers and I guess that’s the best way to sum up wally. He’s a dreamer and a believer. I give Wally a lot of praise, but it’s because he’s the thing i’m most proud of. He’s apart of me, and he’s as weird as it sounds, he’s help me grow as a person. Sometimes I wish I was more like Wally. I wish I could be happy about life and enjoy the little things and just love everything and everyone as much as he does. I’ve been told i’m sunshine before so I guess wally and I are a lot a like. So wally’s a big part of me and always has been. Like I said, wally’s just a good person. He’s the good in me I wish I had more of to be honest. or at least showed more of. 

Do you think your character has had a big impact on Walt? Is it a good impact or bad?

I think Wally’s had a good impact. In all honestly, I didn’t think people were going like wally, or like, not really pay attention him. Yet this fucker’s impacted a good chunk of people. I just, sometimes I cry about it that so many people like him and that he does effect so many characters. It makes me all warm and fuzzy inside that I finally did something right with a character and it only took years of roleplaying. aye.

Favorite thing your character has done and worst

FALLING IN LOVE WITH OLIVER MY GOD THAT’S THE BEST THING HES DONE. listen to me when I say wally STRUGGLED for years to come to terms with his sexuality. and when he finally fell in love with Oliver oh my god it was the most freeing experience ever for him and he found his best friend and soulmate. The worst thing he’s done?? lmfao the fucking coma. That story arch haunts me to this day. 

What is some progress you hope to have with your character in the future?

I want him to finally give acting a chance

What is one thing you would tell your character?

Honestly, i would tell him i’m proud of him and how far he’s come.

What has been YOUR favorite thing about walt?

My favorite thing about Walt is just how much it’s grown. When we started this roleplay, I was so afraid it was going to flop and people would be like 'oh it’s just another Disney school rp big woop’ but I was proven wrong because over the past views year. sure we’ve had or ups and downs. we’ve had drama that we DON’T speak of or speak of whomst but  walt’s grown into something that I never imagined it could be. we’ve all became a huge family and that’s just…it’s my favorite knowing that. So thank you guys. Walt wouldn’t be what it is without you.

Has your experience been a positive one? (BE HONEST YO.)

I’ll be real sometimes I get stressed out about everything. I’m always doing a million things at once rp and in real life. but i do love this place and all of you and i want to give you all the best roleplay you could ever be a part of. i’m not a perfect admin or rper for that matter but i’m trying. 

Got a favorite memory? Share it!

walliver’s wedding or when they got engaged. I waited fucking YEARS for them to finally be married and now that they are has me shook on the daily. kaitlyn truly left me in the dark and knocked me tf out with their engagement. Like I remember that day so vividly. I was actually crying and screaming because it finally happened. Then I had to wait a damn YEAR for them to get married. a  y e a r.

What are you looking forward too in the future?

More bios, more members, more ships, more everything because I love you all.

Have you had a favorite event? Favorite plot? Share it right here

fucking next gen is my jam ya’ll already KNOW. I also really loved the superhero and 50′s event and i’d love to bring them back one day. also 3gen??? i want that. maybe it’ll be a thing but it’s my jam too. 

Favorite character that’s not your own and why

i have a lot of characters to praise people on so please don’t freak if you’re not on here bc i’m gonna be biased as fuck as always (since it’s wally and he’s my fave bc again biased) and say Oliver. Ya’ll know how much I love oliver spade. I’ve been kaitlyn’s best friend and ship partner for years so i’ve grown an immense love for Oliver. There’s so many layers to him like I always say. He’s a shit head but he’s such a good person. he cares so much about his family and only wants the best for them. he puts others before himself and often forgets to do something for ollie for once. he’s such a hard worker and uhm ya’ll wally’s mans is hot as fuck. have you seen him lately??? like damn. I just love oliver spade with all my heart. Like i can’t even put into words how much i love him because i’ve said it so many times. Oliver has a special place in my heart. 

Ideas, shoutouts, request, dedications, questions? Put ‘em here!

why the fuck am that binch. someone explain.

[jam2289]

An Email About Writing, and a Reply

A friend sent me an email recently asking some pertinent questions about writing.

Here is part of the email from Sharon.

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Have you ever coached a fantasy writer? How silly do you consider this genre?

I have this dream to finish my story before I die and that’s not looking as good as it used to! Years go by really fast as it turns out.

What’s a good first step for this process? Or, do you have a series of essays on how to get off your butt and just write?

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Those are good questions, and hard to answer questions. Here is my response.

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I quite like fantasy.

My writing coaching has just been on the skill rather than on projects, so I've mostly played with tiny little stories that we make up at the time.

There is no correct process for writing, and no correct writing time frames. Patrick Rothfuss worked on his first book for 14 years before it came out. Stephen King took 30 years to finish the Dark Tower series. J. K. Rowling had all seven books planned in detail before she began the first. Her planning took 5 years by itself. C. S. Lewis just did it one book at a time. George R. R. Martin has a general idea of where he's going, but no detail.

Writing only requires writing. So it's whatever works for you. I only really make progress when I'm doing articles for the blog where I'm going to publicly post them soon. I just happen to like that. If you can block out a certain time to write, do that. If you can set a goal of writing a certain number of words a day, do that. None of that works for me, my conscientiousness scores are just too low to handle it. But, writing in little bursts of inspiration has worked for many people as well.

It's whatever gets you going. If you feel like writing detailed plans and that will get you putting things on paper or screen, then do that. If there's a scene you're excited about, then write that. Gabaldon writes her books completely out of order just based on what she feels like doing at the time, and then arranges the scenes later. Robert Louis Stevenson made a list of chapters and then wrote Treasure Island chapter by chapter, and read each to his family by the fire that same night. When he wrote Jekyll and Hyde his wife awoke him in the middle of an inspiring nightmare and he wrote it in three days. When she didn't like it he burnt it and rewrote the entire thing again, all while being on doctor prescribed bedrest.

As for fantasy being silly, it is no more silly than any other genre. A western can be silly or serious. Fantasies are communicating personal and collective archetypes, patterns of interpreting and acting within the world, just as all narratives are. The Emperor Has No Clothes is an important work detailing deception, self-deception, authority, social structures, the value of innocence, fraud, and more. The Chronicles of Narnia is a Protestant religious work, and The Lord of the Rings a Catholic one. Harry Potter has an almost unlimited number of important subjects, not the least of which is the exploration of the good and evil that divides us all within ourselves, how the evil within being incorporated into us protects us from the evil without, and how by dying unto self we may be reborn. So, fantasy is not so silly. It allows us to have fun while confronting subjects of the utmost importance, and maintaining enough distance to allow us a less reactive perspective on emotionally engaging topics.

Finally, writing does require a leap of faith. That's why it's an adventure in itself.

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Letter writing is a lost art. But I like it. I'm reading the letters exchanged between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson right now, along with the letters between John Adams and Abigail Adams. They offer some of the best insights into history, and into people, that I know of. And, fictional letter writing as in Johan Wolfgang von Goethe's "The Sorrows of Young Werther" and Ovid's "Heroides" give you a different feel than that of other literary works. (Technically that's its own field of study called epistolary writing.)

Emails are not letters. But sometimes they start to feel like that, and it feels good. Here is a slightly edited reply from Sharon.

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Wow Jeff this is such a great email, you should post this to your blog as is!  It’s very motivating just reading about how other authors work. I usually imagine them as tirelessly holed up in book laden studies writing away for endless days.

I know it took Tolkien about 20 years to finish LOTR etc. and I often think maybe that is why it is so good.

The thing that has gotten me writing finally is that I just tell myself no one will ever see this...

Constructive criticism I take VERY well but someone saying “wow this is just a piece of garbage” I’d have a hard time with.

And everyone knows that “no filter” is sort of the new norm.

Thanks social media.

I guess I will just jump in and do whatever and see where it goes.

How are you enjoying isolation?

Feels pretty normal to me, I kind of live in a pumpkin anyway!

Have you written a book yet? Or mostly essays?

- - - - - - -

She has a lot of good points in this email. I've had the same concerns.

I wrote an article about other writer's writing processes a couple of years ago called "The Write Process", and it did help give me a well-rounded perspective on the reality of writing. There are many interesting ones that could be added to the list, like Michael Crichton writing scenes on 3x5 cards until he had a shoebox full, but just knowing that a dozen famous writers all disagree on almost every aspect of writing is quite helpful mentally and emotionally. Here's that article: http://www.jeffreyalexandermartin.com/2018/01/the-write-process.html

Then there's the whole can of worms on being on both ends of creating and criticizing. One important realization is that critics and creators aren't writing to each other or for each other, they are writing for a public, otherwise it would be in private correspondence. I wrote about that idea more in "Critics and Creators": http://www.jeffreyalexandermartin.com/2019/02/critics-and-creators.html

My last response reflects some of those ideas.

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Lol. I was thinking the same thing about making that an article.

I agree that it's very motivating to see how other authors do it, and to realize that they all completely disagree. For instance, Shonda Rhimes is a prolific television writer known for Grey's Anatomy. She says that if you write every day you're a writer, if you don't you're not. Her favorite writer is Aaron Sorkin. He wrote The West Wing and various movies. He says that 90 percent of a writer's time is not writing. When he's writing a movie he usually thinks about it for about 18 months and then writes it in 6. So, by her definition Shonda Rhimes' favorite writer isn't a writer.

If keeping your writing close to the chest works for you, do that. Social media is crazy. I've even gotten some death threats for my political article on Antifa. I've had a number of insults for my writings on grief, where I'm developing an original theory. But, I've also had a lot of good compliments and people sharing my work. I'm certain that by this time my article on suicide has saved a few lives because of the circles that it's been shared in.

Isolation isn't too big of a deal for me. I teach English online and spend most of the rest of my time reading, writing, watching, and meditating.

I've written over 300 articles. Which would come to over 2,000 pages in a book, but no book yet. I'll probably make some article collections this year.

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In addition to the over 300 articles I also have notes for more than 200 additional articles. I'll never run out of things to write, I'm guessing that the more I write the more I'll fall behind in comparison to the ideas that I have yet to write. I've been urged to write books about my adventure traveling out west mountain climbing, and my couple month road trip, and my near-death misadventure in Africa. Those would all be interesting, but I lived them, so it's not that adventurous for me to write about them. I do have some major works that I want to tackle in this lifetime though.

Out of all of the projects that I have started and have in mind there are two that would compromise major life works. One is a philosophical work creating a new structure connecting epistemology, ethics and morality, and political economics in a better way. The other is a literary work to compliment "Prometheus Bound" by Aeschylus. I do not know if I can accomplish either of those in this lifetime, they both still feel a little out of my reach in terms of mental insight and writing skill. But, there are other projects that have been growing which are unique and could contribute quite a lot to society, such as my original theory of grief, a new literary analysis method, work showing the emergent nature of morality in art, the historical pattern of abolition, my unique experiences and insights into meditation, and some of my current work in applied politics. So, my work has just begun.

Whenever we set out on a new venture doubts and concerns spring to the fore. Those are the things that make us stronger in overcoming them. And throughout history, letters have contributed to the overcoming of many such obstacles. Just maybe, it's helped in this case too.

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To read more from Jeff go to JeffThinks.com or JeffreyAlexanderMartin.com