#big history nerd so the worldbuilding is intense

[canisalbus]

What if I told you that RoobrickMarine went and wrote an entire novella starring my 16th century dog couple? It's very canon-adjacent, well researched and thoughtfully put together, has inspired me a ton during these past months and it's now publicly available at AO3. I highly recommend it.

✦ Separation ✦

[when-shes-not-writing]

How to write spaceflight 🛸

Full disclosure, I’m a huge nerd. One of my favorite things about writing sci-fi is combining all of the things I’m interested in: physics and math, history and classics, and of course, ✨writing✨! My first novel placed a heavy focus on spaceflight and space combat, so I did some research to figure out how to describe it at least someone realistically, but in a way that everyone, from teenage girl to physics PhD, could understand.

🛸 Inertia! Objects are stubborn: when they’re moving, they don’t like to stop, and vice versa. That’s inertia, and it’s a pretty big thing when you’re moving at very high speeds. Often, the limiting factor of maneuverability is not the vehicle, but the person inside it. If you’re going 70 mph on a highway and suddenly stop, you’re going to jerk forwards (and you’ll be lucky if you don’t go through the windshield). That’s inertia.

🛸High-G maneuvering. Because of inertia, your character will feel some G-forces whenever they accelerate, which includes speeding up, slowing down, or changing direction. And G-forces don’t feel so hot, especially when they start to add up. Your character will feel squished, and during intense acceleration may struggle to breathe. Fighter pilots have certain breathing techniques to keep from passing out in high-G circumstances. If you want to negate the effects of Gs, you could work in some pretty epic pressure suits or inertial dampeners into your worldbuilding if you see fit.

🛸Air resistance. In short, there is none: if you accelerate to a certain speed, you’ll go at that speed forever, unless you do something to slow down. That makes certain maneuvers that are difficult or impossible in the atmosphere easier in space. Similarly, aerodynamics don’t matter, unless you want whatever craft your character is flying to operate both in an atmosphere and in a vacuum (or it’s launching from Earth).

Maybe these are things you work into your story, and maybe they're things you negate with worldbuilding. Either way, depending on how close to reality your story is, these might be some good things to keep in mind. I find that when authors take reality into account at least somewhat, it’s easier for me to suspend my disbelief and fully immerse myself in a great story.

Happy writing!!

[musicallisto]

Hi! I'd like to request ships for the PJO, Marvel and Playchoices fandoms (my fav books are ES, TC&TF and ILITW) if you don't mind! I'm a straight female (she/her) who's intelligent, hard-working, ambitious, sassy, sarcastic, determined, helpful, caring, logical and analytical, but also arrogant, bossy, stubborn, overly competitive, fussy over my friend's health (both mental and physical) and very averse to big changes. My dream is to become a lawyer because I want to use my skills to (1/2)

Help others. My hobbies include reading books, watching films and over-analyzing both. I suck at anything remotely physical but I'm rather good at all things school-related. For the song thing I'm going to choose Avicii's "Without You" because it's been stuck in my head all week xD. Anyways, thanks so much for doing this and sorry if I made any mistakes, English is not my first language 💙💙💙

I Ship You With...

Percy Jackson

there’s surely a lot of energy going on in this relationship, but even before you two were together, your friends used to say that even Mount Olympus could collapse with the strength of your passion (passion meaning ‘stubborn as HELL tendencies’, but I didn’t tell you that)

it’s honestly kind of tiring at times to be the protective, caring, and even fussy girlfriend of a demi-god who’s been the chosen one of probably 12 prophecies (and counting) and has a knack for fighting ancient monsters of legend and immortal creatures

you have to practically beg Percy for him to lay down a little so you can take of his injuries and take a nap with you, mainly because you’re so concerned about his physical and mental strain, but also for the selfish pleasure of having him only to you

“Oh come on, I’m gonna be fine, it’s really no big deal” “Perseus Jackson you have been fighting mythological monsters for two weeks straight I am COMMANDING YOU to take a nap with me”

him being the cheeky hero that he is - “well, if this is what my general commands” with a sly smile, but you can read the absolute exhaustion beneath his sea-green eyes

he never really had much interested in anything acamedic or school-related, what with his dyslexia and ADHD making it harder for him to concentrate for long periods of time on given subjects (and, you know, the occasional saving-the-world thing taking up a little of his time), but once he discovers how passionate you are about school stuff he’s tempted to make an effort and support you

when you have a big test coming up and you have to study, Percy typically sits (spins, actually) on a chair in your bedroom while you’re at your desk and randomly exclaims pop quizzes about the subject to make sure that you know everything

“what was the name of the gladiator who led a slave uprising against the Roman Republic?” “Spartacus” “correct. The gods talk about him sometimes. Jason heard he’s a fun dude.” “Percy, you’re not helping me” “I am helping you! how many students in your class have heard from Jupiter himself that Spartacus was a fun dude? you’re really gonna make a difference thanks to me.”

he just asks for a kiss in return; consider it payment for helping you pass your ancient history exam with flying colors he’s an all-around amazingly supportive boyfriend, though

Tony Stark

did you just say you’re overly competitive? oh mygod

if there is one thing that Tony Stark hates more than losing, it’s losing to you. when you get that smug little smile of yours and start prancing around the Avengers Tower like you’re queen of the world because you beat him in whatever stupid thing you were both doing and it’s !!!! ARGH infuriating he hates it. no, really, he does. totally does not like it at all. it’s only for the pleasure of CRUSHING YOU to pieces that he constantly challenges you to anything and everything.

chess nights at the Avengers Tower have never been wilder and tenser. (except for Bruce, who just enjoys the whole debacle, giggling in the background, because he can see you’re both so bad and he could have won this whole thing three rounds ago. unless you’re looking to prolong the fun?)

both of you taunting the other to give up now and save themselves the humiliation of the slaughter you’re preparing. metaphorical or physical slaughter, no one really knows, especially because it never comes. the only way these dreaded, hellish chess games end is either in blood after Natasha throws the board in utter despair, or with you both having fallen asleep in the middle of moving your knight

there is a tenderness, however, in the way you care about each other, but you don’t show it that much, as if this sudden vulnerability came into conflict with the other sides of your personality. but it is undeniable. you care about each other, deeply. it’s enough to see how whomever woke up first from the infamous chess half-night wraps the other in a blanket and gently eyes them as the sun rises slowly

how you nag him to take a break when he’s been overworking himself, fighting all the threats and taking upon his shoulders the responsibility of saving the whole universe (and more)

and how he holds you steady, close to his heart, in the dead of the night when New York City almost falls silent and there’s nothing but your appeased breathing and the faint echo of a moonlit breeze

Lucas Thomas (It Lives In The Woods)

nerd meets prep in three, two, one...

(notice how I didn’t clarify who’s the nerd and who’s the prep)

I mean, if Lucas isn’t a nerd already, he turns into a big one whenever he’s with you. how could he not? you exude radiance and positivity and passion whenever you explain in great detail whatever you book you finished last week and you’re still obsessed with. how you pick up on the character development and how clever the symbolism is and just... ugh Lucas please baby read it you’ll see it’s just so good. with a laugh, he says he’ll try to fit it in his schedule. it sounds like the lame excuse you’d give someone when you’re not interested at all, but actually the first thing he does on his way back home from school is stop at the public library and borrow the book

he finishes it in one night, as you can tell by the foot-long bags under his eyes the next morning at school (longer than usual, anyways), but also by the content, even smug little smile that he wears on his face.

“so, what did you think about it??” you ask, hopeful, when you notice that he doesn’t seem completely apalled by the experience

cue montage of you two enthusiastically discussing every aspect of the book and the writing and the worldbuilding over lunch, in between classes, and even when you’re supposed to be studying

when you actually do study though, it’s always very intense because Lucas takes his homework and academic success very seriously. maybe even too seriously? you’re the one who makes sure that he catches a break every two hours to grab some water or take a breath of fresh air

he doesn’t need it, though, he retaliates, and you would find it agonizingly cute and endearing if you weren’t so mad that the boy will NOT listen to you. “you are my breath of fresh air”, he murmurs with a boop on your nose, before getting back to work

that absolute, lovestruck, handsome and brilliant fool

[captainderyn]

Deryn’s Full Fic Rec Masterpost

The fanfic writer appreciation day post here reminded me that I’ve been wanting to do a big fic rec post...so we’re gonna do it. It isn’t all the fics I can recommend, but there’s gonna be at least a handful and you can read these author’s works further if you so wish (and hopefully you will wish!) 

*word count only included so that people who want a shorter read can get a shorter read, or people looking for long fics can read long fics~

Complete: 

By the Guidance of the Stars by @greyias : SWTOR, 47,544, F!JK/Theron: Look, Grey is adorable and precious and we don’t deserve such an adorable bean. Exploring the aftermath of Yavin IV, this fic takes a look at what happens between the final battle and the goodbye our characters face and does so with just the right amount of jaunty moments and heartfelt interactions that pull at your heartstrings. 10/10 would recommend. 

Courtship and Lies by @riajade01 : SWTOR, 117,287, F!SW/Quinn: Regency AU! R e g e n c y AU! That should be enough to make you read it but if it isn’t then it is wonderfully written, more Mara and Quinn interactions and plenty of spice to keep things ah, spicy if you will. A really interesting twist of the Sith Warrior story and characters into a blend of SW and history that makes nerds like me very happy lmao. 

Where the Light Doesn't Reach by rosegardenlake on AO3: Voltron: Legendary Defender, 229,972, Shiro/Keith: Read the tags on this! But wow, okay, it’s the high school murder mystery AU I never knew I needed. I consumed this fic, was glued to it with how well it was written, how twisted the story was and how nothing you thought you knew seemed to be right! Would recommend if you like a good murder mystery and some really good angst. 

In Progress: 

Rising Son by @lumielles : SWTOR, 19,329,/ This fic follows the life of Idan Lumielle--eventually a Jedi Consular--with a stunning attention to detail and plotpoints that make you promptly make and/or join the Idan Defense Squad to protect him at all costs. 

Reduced To Ash by @riajade01 : SWTOR, 260,314, SW/Quinn/ Follows the Sith Warrior storyline; constantly melding both personal character points and takes and the canon storyline seamlessly. Just the right blend of spice, angst, and action to keep you reading until oh-god-it’s-3am o’clock

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Weak by dramasweety on AO3: DA,106,460, Dorian/M!Lavellan: Read the tags carefully on this one. A beautiful AU fic exploring the angst of an Inquisitor losing their memory and what it takes to rebuild a relationship that one side doesn’t even remember. Hurts like hell in an amazing way and has some truly tender moments in all the hurt.

Chaos and Opportunity by @inquisitorhotpants :  SWTOR, 259,446, F!SI/Marr: Kryn is a snarky gift upon the universe. Unhappy with canon? Good, canon is merely a suggestion here and it is AMAZING. Glorious amounts of worldbuilding make you scream for what SWTOR’s Empire could’ve had and when we get into the politics--and you guys know I love my political intrigue stories--everything is intricately tied together in a way that keeps you riveted. 

Scenes From the Boundless by @spectrum270 ​: SWTOR, 39,593, M!Smuggler/Risha: Want some jaunty, wholesome character interactions within the smuggler story? Longing for the crew of the smuggler to seem more like the family you’re dying for them to be? Then this is the fic for you! Wonderfully written with references from this world tied wonderfully into the SW-verse it’s a fun read and worth the time! 

Equivalent Exchange by @inyri ​: SWTOR, 189,622, F!IA/Theron: Follows the end of SOR and onward, beautifully written and you can’t help but get attached to--and a little afraid of--Nine. Weaves in some personal flair within the story itself and really builds on character relationships where the game sometimes lacks. And there’s some top tier spice, if that’s a benefit for anyone ;)

Kintsukuroi by @storyknitter: SWTOR, 38,099, F!JK/Theron: A collection of scenes from Fractured Alliances that have one point either made me squee or sob or both depending on which one! Knitter really does angst beautifully and the moments between Sanna and Theron are always so, so emotionally filled that they either hit you like a freight train with feels or melt you onto the floor...with feels. 

a star in another sky by neonheartbeat on AO3: Marvel, 148,348, Steve Rogers/Peggy Carter: Look, I’m not usually that into Marvel or fics but I was on a Peggy and Steve kick after rewatching Captain America: The First Avenger and found this gem. It takes what happens at the end of Endgame and makes it make sense. Want some angst? Bam! Want some wholesome family interactions! Whoo! Are you a history nerd like me and want some research in your fic dammit? Here you go! Worth the read even if you know nothing about Marvel. 

And I’m Your Lion Heart by Lee_Whimsy on AO3: The Hobbit (Movies), 71,701, Bilbo/Thorin: Did the end of the Hobbit make you cry and wish you’d never read/seen it? Good, you can forget it happened here. A beautiful fix it fic where things end up happier, beautifully building on the relationship between Thorin and Bilbo and what the reclamation of Erebor means for them. 

Eternal War by @anchanted-one ​: SWTOR, 40,097, M!JK/Lana: I have not officially finished this fic yet, however, it’s the KOTFE retelling you definitely need. Arro is an intensely interesting character and from what I have read and seen of this fic it is shaping up to keep you riveted and draw you into walking the path alongside him throughout KOTFE. 

The Hands of Fate Are Your Own by @elveny and @kunstpause: DA, 31,196, F!Hawke/Cullen F!Hawke/Isabela F!Hawke/Fenris: I haven’t had the pleasure of reading this fic yet but from what I have read from the teasers posted and the snippets given it is shaping up to be absolutely divine. Writers who can collaborate on a big fic have the dedication beyond measure and I’d truly suggest giving it a read! 

Heat by @elveny: DA, 13,386, F!Lavellan/Solas: Another fic I haven’t been able to sit down and read yet but would highly recommend from the teasers and snippets posted! It’s on my to-read list! 

-

This isn’t my full fic recommendation list, mostly missing a lot of tumblr exclusive prompts, however you can check out my “fic rec” tags and my “other people’s writing” to find some more fics! Hopefully this was helpful to any readers looking for some new material and go show these authors some love!

[bookenders]

Storyteller saturday! What was the first thing you knew that /had to be/ included in your wips? What's special about it? What is giving your motivation to work on your current projects? What's a neat worldbuilding thing you came up with?

Storyteller Saturday!

Hey hey @timefire25! Thanks so much for the asks, friend!

I’m gonna tackle these fantastic questions in order: 

[H2H = Heart to Heart

FF = Fish Food

AOPC = All Our Painted Colors

TND = The Neither Days]

1.  What was the first thing you knew that /had to be/ included in your wips?

H2H: Lesbians. Happy, live-beyond-the-end-of-the-story lesbians who can do magic and are ridiculously wholesome. Also: a strong, loving community; social commentary; enough fluff to stuff a whole set of pillows; cool science stuff.

FF: Humor! Without it, this story would be super duper way too dark. Also, lots of social commentary on… *checks notes*

That. And legit depictions of mental health issues.

AOPC: A culture centered around ART. I love art. And stories.

TND: Okay so there’s this one scene coming up that’s super rad and I’m really excited about it. It’s been in my head since the beginning and it’s like, the second scene I thought up. I love the imagery and the symbolism and the feelings. It’s great.

2. What’s special about it?

H2H: Sometimes you need to read something that will make you feel warm and fuzzy inside. Fluff makes the world go ‘round, ya know? And lesbians gotta survive. Also, I’m passionate about found families, which is why the story has one at its very center. I love writing stories about people who don’t feel at home somewhere, so they find with other people who feel the same and call a new place theirs. It’s an important thing to learn: there’s always somewhere for you, and always someone out there who can catch your drift. 

FF: Stories like this one are ways to see the truth of reality. Okay, that sounded super intense. What I mean is that this is a story about a group of people who have been used coming together to fight back against a system that’s doing its best to tear them down. Including accurate and respectful depictions of mental health in this story is important to me, too. I feel like this genre is a great place to explore that. 

Also, I need to work on my humor writing so that’s pretty special, I guess. 

AOPC: I loved the idea of a culture based on art. What do they value? How to they keep records of events and their history? How do they share information? What do they hold dear? It’s sort of my own version of the Legato Conservatory, for those who listen to TAZ. I don’t know of any other fantasy cultures 100% centered on art, either. It’s a story about storytelling and all the ways you can use it. And I think that’s pretty special.

TND: The metaphor and the symbolism, with the context of the canon, is so full of feels it makes my heart clench. It’s an unexpected coming together, a reaching out of two hands that meet in the middle while the world spins off-kilter around them. It’s an oh and a gasp in the same breath. It’s a fall that feels like flying.

That’s about as poetic as I can get without spoilers.

3.  What is giving your motivation to work on your current projects?

Right now, not much, to be honest. It’s midterms time and I’m a grad student, so life is pretty much study hell right now. But my stories are my creative therapy, so I expect I’ll start writing again pretty soon after all my business chills out. 

But on the regular: I really want to tell everyone about the big giant spoilers and how they happen in H2H, and one of the big confrontation scenes in FF (seriously, it’s a huge twist I don’t think a lot of people will see coming - one of them anyway 😉), and I want to figure out what the hell happens next in AOPC, and in TND, I really want to get to the switched POV chapter because it’s full of mutual pining and it offers a lot of really good insight into one character’s head (it’s my motivation to finish this transition chapter too because it’s taking forever).

4.  What’s a neat worldbuilding thing you came up with?

H2H: The magic types I developed are pretty cool! Astromancy, Totem Magic, Sigilcrafting, and Pact Magic. There are a few others, but that’d be spoilers, my friend. Making these info posts was also very fun. I got to do nerdy research about magic and science! 

And something I haven’t mentioned yet: liminal spaces are very important in this story! The town of Linsay is a liminal space. Gemma’s house is a liminal space. The police station is a liminal space for Oz. The lake is a liminal space. This is important: transformation takes place at liminal places. Magic is strongest there. The old is left behind and the new is just ahead. And the fae inhabit liminal spaces.

FF: I made a WIP page that mimics the Coalition of Heroes’ database! It took forever and it was really hard but I did it! And I think it looks rad. 

In-world, hmm… I really like Lithium’s bar. It’s a place that’s like a hero-themed TGI Friday’s or Red Robin, and it’s also the hangout for off-duty heroes. They all chill there like it’s a cop bar for officers who are all undercover. It’s great. None of the civilians who go there know that they’re sitting next to high level super heroes. And Lithium thinks it’s hilarious.

AOPC: There are so many cool worldbuilding things in this story. One is the marriage ceremony I made up. The couple stands before the Namestone and the most senior Elder binds the bride’s left hand to the groom’s right. Then the men of the tribe line up behind the groom, and the women line up behind the bride. They’re ordered so the people closest to them, like family and lifelong friends, are first. One by one, the women dip their right hands in purple paint and mark the bride’s back with their hand print. The men do the same with green paint on the groom’s back.

After everyone’s marked the bride and groom, the Elder blesses the couple, holds their foreheads together, and then they turn around and press their backs together, mixing the paint and blending the colors together. The party starts as soon as their hands are unbound. 

TND: Since most of the worldbuilding for this has already been done by the canon, here are a few recurring story threads I’m working with: Crowley vs. ducks, liminal spaces being the most comfortable and calming, “a good shock to loosen the tongue,” and the kinds of miracles that don’t work. 

Thank you so much for these awesome questions!! 💜

I’ll add my tag lists since there’s a lot of information worth tagging about:

H2H

WIP Intro Post | H2H WIP Tag | Character Page | WIP Page | PowerPoint Intro

Character Tags: Gemma | Mel | The Ladies | Fred Coriander | Officer Oz

OC Intros: Harry | Mary | Oz | Jill | Treena | Fred | Gemma | Mel

H2H Tag List: @katekyo-bitch-reborn, @cawolters, @wasting-ink-not-youth, @quilloftheclouds, @snickertoodles, @mvcreates, @writeness, @half-explored, @dcdarrells, @aslanwrites, @minusfractions, @purpleshadows1989, @royalbounties, @waterfallwritings, @the-clockwork-anything, @kriss-the-writing-nerd, @abalonetea, @timefirewrites, @tricksexual, @introspective-outreach, @alternativeforensicscientist, @sumoranges, @hermiones-writeblrr

[Let me know if you want to be added or removed!]

AOPC

AOPC Tag List: @quilloftheclouds, @snickertoodles, @half-explored, @chemistwriter, @purpleshadows1989, @waterfallwritings, @kriss-the-writing-nerd, @abalonetea, @alternativeforensicscientist, @hermiones-writeblrr

FF

WIP Intro Post | FF WIP Tag | WIP Page | PowerPoint Intro

Character Tags: Iron Will | Overseer | Lithium | Babylon | Nightmare | Sparkplug

OC Intro Post:  Phase 1 | Phase 2

Individual Intros:

Phase 1 (Main Cast): Iron Will | Overseer | Lithium |  Babylon | Nightmare

Phase 2 (Supporting Cast): Sparkplug | Battalion | Ferro

***

[Let me know if you want to be added or removed!]

Fish Food Tag List:  @theevolutionofledarose, @kriss-the-writing-nerd, @quilloftheclouds, @waterfallwritings, @dontwritethatone, @aeschknight, @abalonetea, @ladywithalamp, @writevevo, @danger-writes, @anika-writes-things, @sunlight-and-starskies, @writing-every-other-star, @shadeshadow234, @jaimistoryteller, @leave-her-a-tome, @dowings, @alternativeforensicscientist, @sumoranges, @notanalien51, @hermiones-writeblrr​

TND

Link to Story | Story Tag

TND Tag List: @every-book-has-a-secret, @at-thezenith, @ofinkblotsandscript, @alternativeforensicscientist, @abalonetea

[juushika]

I try to do this every year: here's the best media that I encountered, but which was probably not released, in 2017. It’s long!! oops!!

Books

I read 176 books in 2017. My primary reading goal was to prioritize authors of color, ideally making them half of my reading material. This fell apart somewhat in the face of various and intense life stresses, but in the end 40% of the books I read this year were by PoC, up from 10%* from last year, and I'm proud of that. It's something I will continue to prioritize.

* a metric which may be somewhat out of date, as I discovered neato things while looking into Jewish authors!! but I'm too lazy for recalculations, so let's let it stand

Patience and Sarah by Isabel Miller. I love this book so much that it took me five months to write a review. Miller wrote it with precise, peculiar inspirations--the identity of a mysterious artist; sessions with a ouija board--and while I traditionally resist the idea that the author is a conduit rather than a creator (yes to authorial responsibility! boo on authorial intent!) I think there can be moments when an author reaches above and beyond themselves. I believe Beagle did this in The Last Unicorn:

A lot of things appeal to people out of their own histories in that story. I feel sometimes like Schmendrick, when the first time he actually casts real magic summoning up the shades of Robin Hood, Maid Marian and the Merry Men...people who never existed, really they’re myths, and yet there they are. And at that point he falls on his face, picks himself up, and thinks: "I wonder what I did...I did something..." Which is very much the way I feel about The Last Unicorn. Finally, fifty years later. (source)

And I believe that Miller does it here. This is an exceptional novel; its purpose and joy and energy is remarkable, and it may be safe to call it my favorite book of the year.

Graceling series by Kristin Cashore. The books stand alone and are all perfectly good; but it's Bitterblue that won me, and I think it benefits from reading the entire series. This uses a speculative concept to explore trauma and abuse in ways that are simultaneously metaphorical, literal, and unique to the worldbuilding. I admire a narrative that's able to capitalize on the potential of its genre in that way, and there's interesting narrative-in-absentia techniques at play here, and, crucially, it's thoughtful and compassionate.

Temeraire series by Naomi Novik. I adore the companion animal trope, and am dubious of dragons; I did not expect that this would be so thorough an exploration of the former as to totally negate the later. It engages almost every question that surrounds this trope, especially re: sapience, personhood, power dynamics; the long-form adventure allows for a diverse and evolving culture. And it's tropey in every way it needs to be to give its premise emotional weight. Multiple books in this series won a 5-star rating, and as many made me cry. It's as in love and as engaged with this trope as I am. Simon Vance's audio narration makes these an especial delight.

Her Smoke Rose Up Forever by James Tiptree, Jr. I read this in the same year as my first Joanna Russ book (The Female Man)--and neither are perfect, but both are invaluable, and the combined effect has stayed with me. But nothing lingered moreso than this Tiptree collection: so exhaustive, so exhausting; the tension between her profound bitterness and daydreaming, between her (presumed, implicit, assumed) male PoV and persistent feminist themes, elevates this collection beyond the limitations of individual stories.

The Devourers by Indra Das. It would be insincere to say that this is what I wish every werewolf novel would be--I love them all uniquely--but this is what I wish every werewolf novel would be: this visceral, this vivid, this inhuman, this engaged with the concept of the Other.

Orlando by Virginia Woolf. The only real goal in life is to love or be loved as Virginia Woolf loved Vita Sackville-West; the energy that emanates from this, passionate and playful and irreverent, is incandescent. I always expect historical books about sex and gender to be restrained or dated, and for good reason, but this has aged so well; it's fluid and complicated, but too quick to become heavy. In every page, a delight.

Honorable mentions in books

Ursula K. Le Guin. I read a handful of her books this year; I didn't love them all equally (The Beginning Place is hardly her most famous but it's my favorite so far) but I'm consistently impressed, no matter how minor the work. She's profoundly skilled; she integrates and expands her central theses in ways that capitalize on the speculative genres she writes in, to great effect.

Octavia E. Butler by Gerry Canavan. I hesitate to say that I loved this biography more than Butler's novels themselves, but that reflects how it felt to read this: it summarized, contextualized, and celebrated Butler's cumulative effort and impact in a way that made me appreciate her anew.

When the Moon Was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore. I read a lot of YA I bounce off of, a lot of magical realism I don't think works; but this I loved, for its specific images, for the way that the fluidity of its style suits its issues of gender, for its beauty and love.

The Summer Prince by Alaya Dawn Johnson. The energy in this is infectious, and needs to be, as it's as much about a love affair with a speculative premise and a place as with a person--and all those elements are accessible, distinctive, alive.

Thomas the Rhymer by Ellen Kushner. Fairyland which feels truly transporting and fantastic, truly fae, is hard to capture. This is such a quiet book, unassuming in structure and frame, but its depiction of fairyland is one of the most convincing that I've ever seen.

Games

Nier: Automata. I watched this played on release, and called it then, in March: game of the year. I was not mistaken. There's more this could do, further it could go; but what it does, with its androids and tropes, its meta elements and narrative structure and soundtrack, is phenomenal. One of the most remarkable things that a game can do is be profoundly wedded to its interactive medium, because few other platforms have the opportunity to interact with the consumer so directly--and Automata achieves that, to great effect.

Kirby series. I have no particular love of platforms, Nintendo, or nostalgia; but these looked cute, and: they are. Kirby is shaped like friendship, and the softness and colors of level design, the creative gameplay of Kirby's transformations, the sincerely impressive interaction with level elements in games like Epic Yarn, are a complete package. These brought me unmitigated joy; that's not something I often find.

Honorable mentions in video games

Dishonored 2. The plot and setting hasn't stuck with me as much as the first game. But to internalize criticism and then go on to make a more diverse game is fantastic (and it pays off, in Meagan Foster especially), and the small, almost-domestic moments and ongoing lore/religion in the worldbuilding are very much my thing.

Dark Souls III DLC. The base game was on my list last year, so this entry feels like cheating--but these were substantial additions, big worlds and significant narrative and so many new monster designs, all of which compliment the base game. It's an impressive product, and I wish more DLC resembled it.

Closure. A little indie puzzle platformed that exceeds expectations for that genre because the way that its core game mechanic interacts with player, art design, atmosphere, and narrative is so successful. (It even makes up for sometimes-finicky physics.)

Visual Media

Car Boys. I'm disappointed that Nick Robinson proved not to be the person we wanted him to be, but that doesn't change the profound impact that this series had on me. Not only is it a fantastic example of emergent narrative, it simultaneously embraces my fear of existential horror and my profound longing for a greater meaning. This served a similar function for me as did Critical Role last year, despite dissimilarities in tone and content.

Dark Matter season 3. The boy and I have been watching this together, and with few misstep we've been consistently satisfied with the way this series combines found family tropes and genre mainstays. But season 3 is a cut above. It's still all those things, but the ongoing, consistent character development, particularly of the female characters, most especially of the Android, is phenomenal. There were episodes that made me cry, that I would call legitimately perfect.

Blame! I've enjoyed everything I've seen by Polygon Pictures, including Knights of Sidonia, but this is the best they could be: tropes I love, a perfect setting for their visual style and capabilities; great pacing, writing that does interesting things with its subgenre. Without competition, the best film I saw this year; it looks great and it’s just so engaging to watch.

Person of Interest. Found family/AI feels is in essence all I've ever wanted from a narrative, and this delivers, delivers in droves: it has the crime serial format I love but, like Fringe, deviates from format to great effect. But it's the particular combination of themes that sold me: using AI as a launchpad to explore all varieties of personhood and socialization.

Honorable mentions in visual media

Yuri!!! on Ice. There is a need in the world for stories like this; queer love stories, stories about what it means to become one's best self, stories which are funny and sweet and profoundly empathetic. This year started poorly (and just kept on keepin' on, but:) and there was a sense of karmic balance that this existed post-election. It's escapism without being hollow; it's how I want the world to be.

Polygon. Monster Factory goes here. So does Awful Squad. But the boy and I have been branching out and watching almost anything that pops up on this channel; the balance between inoffensive good humor and video game nerdom is really likable.

[warsofasoiaf]

Another anon asked before about how to write believable battles and you told him/her to ask about it again on Friday. Since he/she may've forgotten it, I'm asking you now because I'd like to read the answer!

Thanks to this question and some prodding from @hiddenhistoryofwesteros, I’ve been crafting this. Much thanks also to @goodqueenaly for fixing my atrocious grammar.

Battle can be an important conflict piece for any piece of media, but too often, battle is either turned into a series of duels or is used merely as a setpiece for character drama. The battle itself can be a moment of action and tension, and as such, a poorly-written battle detracts from the experience of the novel, and that I don’t like. I after all, have a vested interest in explaining how battles were waged and the vicarious experience of the soldiers that were in them. So that being said, let’s see what we can do to understand how battles work and how you can incorporate them into your writing.

What do you want?

Usually my first step for anything is to research. Unfortunately, there have been a lot of battles over the course of history (citation needed), and so just looking at battles isn’t going to be very helpful.

Instead, focus instead of what the conflict and resolution needs to be for the story. This requires worldbuilding; you need to know who is fighting and what are the particular circumstances of this battle in the macro- and micro-sense. Figure out the level of technology and bureaucratic organization for the players in your novel. Figure out when the battle is, what will the results be, the characters that will be present, and how this is going to resolve in your story is important. Once you figure out what you want the battle to be and how it fits in your story, then you can begin plotting the battle so it’s realistic from start to finish.

Research - Find Your Starting Point

Now that you understand what the technology level of your people are, and how you want the battle to shape up, you can look at battles from the past to find your inspiration. Battles that resemble what you’re looking to portray is a good start, until you get the handle of building your own make-believe battle step by step. If you are writing a medieval fantasy, look at medieval history. If you have a supernatural element, figure out how that effects the world and look for an analogue in history. Dragons can become air strikes, divination magic becomes satellites, and so on. Use these facets to narrow down your research topics until you can pick a battle. If you’re still having difficulty, think about the characters that are in your battle, and what their specific strengths are. Looking at the campaigns of a general with similar skills can help you find a battle that you can use

Once you find the battle, lay out how the battle was waged from start to finish, and look at pivotal moments of said battle to see how the battle was won. Depending on how in depth you wish to go with your own writing, idle reading through Wikipedia, armchair generalship from military enthusiasts like yours truly, or deep scholarly work might be your requisite level of depth. That is an artistic decision that you the author will have to make.

Diaries and journals are a big help here. First-hand accounts of battles can give you a sense of what soldiers were thinking. While nothing is written in the heat of combat, many journals were written with the intent of preserving memories as they were experienced. Even if the journal itself is a lie, the voice it provides is useful.

Modification - Make the Battle Yours

Alright, now that you have your baseline, it’s time to integrate your characters into the battle. While it’s tempting and easy to do a straight one-for-one, that requires your characters to be in the same type of position, politically, militarily, culturally, socially, etc. to the people that were present at the battle, and that drastically limits your character’s potential. Instead think, where should the character be, and put them there.

Use your character’s strengths to your advantage when it comes to shaping actions on the battlefield. Smart and quick-witted characters should be using them to recognize things, strong characters should be doing things that are strong, cunning characters should be doing things that are cunning. The closer you can stay to the actual course of the battle, just scrubbing off the name of a historical figure and replacing him with a fictional one, the more realistic the battle will be. Once you gain more understanding of battles (usually by studying multiple ones with similar characteristics), you can start mixing and matching which will make the battles less predictable for any military nerds and give you the writer a greater sense of satisfaction for owning your own battle.

To learn more about that, you need to start researching about actual techniques

Giving Voice - Writing the Battle

Now we get into the meat of the whole thing. You have your battle scripted, now you must put the script to paper. Much of this will depend on your own literary choices and style, but here’s things to know. After all, an invisible, immortal being floating in the sky sees different than a soldier on the ground, but the battle still happens either way.

Battle is confusing - Warfare is very noisy and very confusing. Everything is drawing your attention and the sensory input is overwhelming and disorienting. Adrenaline is rushing and this makes it hard to concentrate. In almost all battles, dust is a major concern for soldiers, and that sensory deprivation.

Battle is intense - People are trying to kill you. This is stressful. Adrenaline is pumping as mentioned, danger is all around. To some, this is terrifying, to others, its exhilarating. Let me make this clear: If someone experiences exhilaration in battle or enjoys any or all of the experience, it is not monstrous nor is the character a monster. Those hormones and the intensity can have an effect on someone. How your character reacts to battles, particularly first or very hard-fought battles, is a personal thing; it is likely to be one of the most intense experiences of their lives. Make it a part of themselves. How they react to it, and how they react to others in that lens, is important.

Battle is a living thing - Things ebb and flow on the battlefield, and the soldiers respond to what happens. Do not have events happen in a vacuum, use cause and effect to chart the course of the battle. Also, armies consume much. Food, fuel, supplies, all of these things

Battle is not in isolation - Very few battles are all-or-nothing affairs. While famous battles tend to dominate conversation, real warfare is about campaigns and strategy as much as it is about tactics and battle. Remember this, know it. Move the armies, let them withdraw and adjust based on actions that happen.

Will the Protagonist Please Stand Up?

Author perspective’s choices and the military character will form how your reader reads your battle. The character will drive the drama and their voice will color the battle.

The grunt will primarily be seeing the action as it is being undertaken. Limited in scope, the grunt will likely be looking to complete their mission and kill the enemy. As the grunt is a very limited perspective, the key way to increase drama is to take advantage of the grunt’s lack of knowledge. The grunt does not know the major battle plan, and this uncertainty leads to anxiety and fear of what the enemy will do next.

A squad leader also will have a limited perspective, but has a new concern, that of the troops under command. As squads are small, the leader likely knows the troops by name and has a relationship (good or bad) with them. Tension here comes from the relationship and the mission, as well as the uncertainty.

A junior officer has more understanding of the overall strategic plan, and their unit is tasked with a slightly larger mission. The tension here comes from accomplishing the mission set out, and how the plans change in response to the battlefield. If the junior officer’s unit accomplishes the mission, but the unit to the right collapses, the officer needs to adjust, and this reaction helps emphasize the dramatic action.

Senior officers understand the plan, so dramatic reveals of cavalry in the wings does not work because the senior officer is supposed to know the greater tactical plan. A senior officer’s tension comes from observing the execution of the plan.

These aren’t hard and fast rules. Alexander the Great was clearly a senior officer, but at Issus River and Gaugamela, he was fighting in the thick of it, with the perspective of a leader on the front lines. The tension in any Alexander-centric story will come not from the culmination of a strategic plan, but the action of charging into Darius III’s ranks, looking to take out the Persian Emperor on his mighty chariot.

Alright, I think I’ll stop here, but hopefully this should give you everything you need to start thinking about making a battle, adapting it to your work, and making a believable, but thoroughly well-written battle.

Thanks for the question, Anon.

SomethingLikeALawyer, Hand of the King