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blessed1neha · 2 years

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Jupiter in Fifth House

You become a loving parent, someone who is highly close to their partner, creative, and curious while Jupiter is in the fifth house. With the location of the Moon, Jupiter in this position can create the Gaj Kesari Yoga, which propels you to new career heights.

Effects of Jupiter in the Fifth House Typically

Jupiter in the fifth house improves your relationships, helps you relate with your kids, helps you express yourself creatively, and helps you amass wealth.

Your creative actions and the abilities that set you apart from others are deeply connected to the fifth house, and with Jupiter there, which enhances the traits of the house in which it is placed, your creative abilities will be at their peak. It will affect both your personal and professional life.

Your love life will be blissful with Jupiter in the fifth house. Your romantic gestures take on a new dimension that deepens your relationship with your lover. You will treasure cuddling moments and possibly deeply delight in intimate sexual practises that will strengthen your connection even more.

You might have a strong attachment and be highly attached to your kids. For you, it would be most satisfying to take care of and nurture them. This may cause you to experience intense sensations of a divine connection with them, which will get stronger as you move forward fully committed. Children could develop strong attachments to you and admire your kindness. You may even volunteer to serve as their mentor and take the initiative to assist them with their educational goals and objectives.

Jupiter here brings ample opportunities for you to pursue your hobbies and likings, giving you the needed support for such endeavours whenever required. This further motivates you to practically implement your thoughts and ideas. You will feel very elated and satisfied when you see your virtual models transforming into workable plans.

Here, Jupiter provides you great strength to fulfil your education needs or acquire knowledge. You may be inclined towards studying new things that appeal to you and dive deep in the subjects of your choice. This position blesses you with abundant knowledge and the urge to acquire more of it. You may even like imparting your knowledge to others who look up to you and this makes you feel content.

Additionally, you might find yourself tempted to speculative markets for investments, where you can expect to make significant returns because to Jupiter's placement in this house. However, you should exercise imagination and prudence while analysing the tools you might select for investing because unexpected investments might not produce the intended returns.

Positive Jupiter Positive Jupiter in the fifth house provides you profound romantic relationships, highly original thoughts, and a strong affinity for youngsters. It also makes you very kind and good-hearted. A positive polarity of Jupiter is determined by the Zodiac sign, exact degree, conjunction, and influences other planets have on you.

Negative Jupiter A negative Jupiter in the fifth house may highlight your egotistical attitude, create issues with progeny, and may lead you to act as though you are superior to others. Jupiter's negative polarity is determined by the zodiac sign, exact degree, conjunction, and influences other planets have on you.

Some notable sign placements for Jupiter in 5th House

Cancer-Jupiter: Jupiter in Cancer bestows wisdom, education, literary talent, sensitivity, and creativity upon you. Additionally, it improves your brain capacity and endows you with a wealth of resources and sound financial standing.

Sagittarius-Jupiter: This pairing bestows upon you a tendency toward spiritualism and a love of travel. You develop a powerful will and an impressive personality as a result.

Capricorn-Jupiter: This location causes difficulties and a less-than-easy life because Jupiter is afflicted. It makes you diligent but resistant to constraints and restraints.

Pisces-Jupiter: It bestows upon you virtue and morality as well as name and fame. You are constantly willing to lend a hand to others.

Retrograde Jupiter in 5th House Jupiter's retrograde motion in the fifth house might cause difficulties in your love life, losses from risky investments, issues with offspring, and difficulties with getting an education. You might become egotistical and haughty as a result.

Combust Jupiter in 5th house Jupiter's destruction could divert you from doing good things, cause stress in your relationships, and impair your creativity.

Common Yoga positions possible with Jupiter in 5th House

The Kalanidhi Yoga, which is formed by Jupiter in the fifth house combined with Mercury and Venus (or by the aspect or configuration of these two planets), makes you an expert in the field of your choice. Dhan Yoga: It develops in the fifth house for the ascendant of an Aries when Jupiter associates with Mars and Saturn. You are blessed with great fortune as a result. When the Moon is positioned in the house of finances and Jupiter and Mercury are associated with the fifth house for a Scorpio ascendant, a dhan yoga is also produced. It makes you wealthy.

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bellshazes · 1 year

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my first two jobs ever, in order, were "board game teacher" and "university library assistant," so tho I've never formally studied games (I have been dropping out of college on and off since 2015, and was a freshman in 2012 lmao) I've been casually exposed to games and the people who make and play them in a professional context, as well as having the research skills to help close the gaps. i actually kind of hate playing board games but i loved GM-ing the coop arkham horror and watching my players, which i did for seven years straight.

my current fixation is the result of several years' fucking around on YT watching all kinds of game content, from LPs to specific game dissection to video essayists. jacob geller and folding ideas are kind of gold standards, but this week I've been really enjoying errant signals in particular. Sometimes I'm introduced to concepts this way - ludonarrative dissonance, ergodic literature, the magic circle, etc. that, and getting recommendations from friends or accidentally stumbling into game studies via other research (such as the paper i wrote a few years ago on theater-as-games in prison contexts). most of it though is having thoughts and opinions on things and letting it percolate until i am dangerous enough to find someone who's already explained a concept better than I could, and then running with that. find something that cites its sources, and then chase the ones that seem interesting.

my syllabus post is very much not a reclist, though i do in varying ways recommend everything on that list and it might be of use. here's some stuff I think would be great starting points:

Rules of Play - Game Design Fundamentals, Salen and Zimmerman. This book is an excellent resource, as it introduces a wide variety of scholars who you can dive into as it is relevant to your interests as well as providing tons of useful frameworks and vocabulary to go hunting. It's an easy read with concise bullet-point summaries after each chapter, and the PDF is hyperlinked for easy navigation. I might have found this via Wikipedia, honestly.

A Play of Bodies: A Phenomenology of Video Game Experience, Keogh. What I'm currently liveblogging - it is firmly a literary/philosophical work, rather than by/for designers, and correspondingly it's a little more difficult without at least passing familiarity with cyborg theory or any brand or offshoot of post-modernism, but still fairly digestible and a great read so far.

My Life as a Night Elf Priest: An Anthropological Account of World of Warcraft, Nardi. Found this during my theater-and-games paper, and MMO anthropology is not really my thing, but it's a nice complement to the other books as an explicitly player-theorist perspective. Also provides a more approachable introduction to a variety of theorists and sources. (Open access on JSTOR!)

Draw Your Weapons, Sarah Sentilles. I'm biased because I discovered this book by accidentally attending an author event at my local museum, and the games portion is incidental, but if you can find it I think this analysis of the relationship between depictions of violence and violence itself is worth your time. Memorable re: games for its discussion of Press F To Pay Respects.

here are some videos which I offer as examples of channels you might enjoy diving into, looking for additional jumping-off points:

Playing as Anyone in Watch Dogs Legion, Errant Signal. I really appreciate Errant Signal's thoughtful, personal approach to analysis and especially his highlighting of buried gems in his Blips series as well as his non-self-deprecating reevaluation of some of his older analyses over his decade plus career making videos.

Controllers Control Everything, Game Makers Toolkit. Discovered via the Boss Keys series highlighting the souls games, and although I think his channel is (increasingly) geared toward devs, these are well-constructed, thoughtful videos about many aspects of game design. Even when I don't personally get what makes him enjoy Zelda dungeons in that specific way (I'm an outlier), I appreciate his analysis.

Mega Microvideos 2, Matthewmatosis. Perhaps better known for his extremely long-form essays, I love Matthewmatosis' series of microessays framed like Wario Ware minigames. They are brief but don't pull punches, and the format is uniquely delightful. (See also this microessay mixtape.)

Making Sense of Catherine Full Body, SuperButterBuns. She doesn't do much essay content, I guess, but I she loves Catherine and the Persona series, and this dissection of Catherine Full Body is an absolute treat.

Jon Bois. Okay, mostly not about games, but like - come on. 17776 and Breaking Madden, alongside everything else he's ever done, fit because I feel like they do. If nothing else, I think Pretty Good and his general use of Google Earth as a medium for storytelling have a lot of utility in talking about digital media. He's good for the soul.

The Future of Writing About Games, Jacob Geller. One of the gold standards for a reason - and especially if you're looking for further solid recommendations for other writing/creating about games. This video in particular discusses & links to some really great pieces, but his Big List of Other People's Video Essays is also a great way to spend the next month of your life. (You might notice some crossover between this list and his, only some of which is coincidental.)

if i have any conclusion, it's that my current fixation on digital literalism is me finally finding an outlet/academic match-up with a fascination i developed in 2015 when studying gonzo lit. i think the utility of academia and the long history of scholarship on a given topic, as a non-academic, is to help you express ideas or reinterpret beliefs or experiences you've had to others without having to reinvent the wheel. i always become most energized when i stop worrying about knowing all the bg and chase whatever is useful and affirming or enlightening to me. and you can get pretty far if you think about why you like what you do, and just - enthusiastically also consume non-academic stuff. maybe this is a note more for myself! but thank you for the opportunity to monologue.

#peter answers #metanarratives #rules of play #masterpost #i almost talked abt some Classics like huizinga & juul & piaget etc. but frankly. if you decide you want to read those you'll find citation #when someone inevitably (& frequently) references them & you can chase them if you like. i've read piaget it's not relevant MOST of the tim #and. man i do love monologuing but also!!! i think i could stand to be more plan language - i want to.#learning always happens in dialogue for me. even if it's ask-and-answer. so i'm always v grateful when people indulge me.#ANYWYA sorry i posted this and immediately privated it bc i meant to draft it during work yesterday.#long post

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craqueluring · 9 months

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happy late new year, everyone!

this marks about a year and a half since i started this blog, which is mind blowing. i made this blog to cope with my (sometimes painful) hyperfixation on hannibal when i struggled to think of anything else. though my hyperfixation on hannibal has settled down to a semi-healthy simmering obsession, my writings and thoughts and love of this goddamn show make up a large part of my identity, honestly. i strive to start writing and posting here more, because it brings me happiness. just need to carve out more free time, which is in short supply lately.

i started college in august. i am a computer science major and planning on a linguistics/literature double minor. i work at my school’s library with publishing and digital accessibility, and i was very lucky to land the job. what a great environment it is. ive made so many friends. i feel myself flourishing. after middle and high school being a, for lack of a better phrase, pit of hellish misery, i am beyond excited to live my life which has only recently begun.

also, if anyone is interested, you can also find me on my personal website/blog where i upload essays/articles about things i want to learn about more in depth. so far, theres an essay and an article about historical fashion and one essay i wrote for my literary studies class about strangers i know by claudia durastanti (i semi-recently uploaded a comparison to hannibal with it! 1k+ notes too, was not expecting it to do that well) titled ‘Ariadne's Thread: Untangling Identity in Claudia Durastanti's Strangers I Know Through the Conflation of Tenderness and Animality, Love and Violence, and Supernatural Beings as a Motif for Transformation’ i though id mention because its thematically quite similar to my hannibal analyses (also, let me know if you want to follow each other on neocities!!!)

anyways, this is quite long, but i wanted to share a little bit about my life on here, after having this blog and so many beloved mutuals for so long.

i hope everyone is doing well, and i am wishing all who read this a great 2024!

#pluto speaks

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liberty-or-death · 1 year

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“The mountains and the rivers aren’t important, what’s important is that to find someone who understands one’s self.” - Wen Kexing’s Romantic Poetry Episode 9 aka the soulmate 知己 meta (Warrior's March 壮士行 by Bao Rong 鲍溶)

To wrap up the soulmate meta, let’s analyse the second instance when the poem appears.

“The Warrior’s March 壮士行” was written by the Tang Dynasty poet Bao Rong 鲍溶. n his early years, he lived in seclusion in the mountains of Jiangnan. He later then traveled around the world, making friends with Han Yu, Li Zhengfeng and Meng Jiao. He was a scholar in the fourth year of Yuanhe (809), but his career was unpromising, and he died in his hometown after a life of poverty and uncertainty.

西方太白高，壮士羞病死。

Venus rises high in the west, the warrior dies filled with regret.

心知报恩处，对酒歌易水。

His heart knows that kindness has been repaid. Drinking his wine, the warrior sings the “Cold River Yi”

易水寒 Cold River Yi - This poem was written by the youxia Jing Ke 荆轲 written during the Waring States. When he was on his way to assassinate the emperor, he sings his goodbyes to the King of Yan at the River Yi (located in Hubei.). The same story has been referenced in the previous meta Singing for Jin Ke 咏荆轲.

砂鸿嗥天末，横剑别妻子。

The geese in the desert howl as though the world has ended. Carrying his sword, he bids his wife and children goodbye.

苏武执节归，班超束书起。

Su Wu holds the up the Tally and returns, Zhong Sheng puts his books down and rises.

苏武 Su Wu’s was a Han Dynasty minister who was was captured by the Xiongnu for 19 years. Emperor Xuan of Han Dynasty listed him as one of the eleven meritorious ministers of the Qilin Pavilion 麒麟阁 for his integrity. He’s often depicted in Chinese history as a symbol of loyalty despite hardship

执节 The Tally was a form of military authorisation in ancient China. One example would the the Tiger Tally, that was the inspiration behind MDZS’ Yin Tiger Tally/Yin Hufu.

班超: Banchao was a famous literary figure, military man and diplomat during the Eastern Han Dynasty. He was ordered to send an envoy to the Western Region and pacified more than fifty countries over thirty years, making great contributions to the return of the Western Region and promoting national integration.

山河不足重，重在遇知己。

The mountains and the rivers aren’t important, what’s important is that to find someone who understands one’s self. (ie. Soulmate)

Analysis

This is a really interesting choice of poetry!

Firstly, there are many ways 知己 Zhiji’s quoted in poetry. It is a term used to refer to “someone who knows one’s self.” On Baidu, it has been used at least 7 times in ancient poetry. But what’s really interesting is that both poems share the story of Jin Ke’s failed assassination attempt of Qin Shi Huang. I felt this was a deliberate choice by SHL because 1) this line doesn’t appear in TYK and 2) it isn’t even a famous poem. Chinese dictionaries use ancient poetries to define a term and this poem isn’t listed on it. (At least on Baidu dictionary.). In fact, I pieced the complete translation myself. LOL. Famous works would usually have been fully interpreted and translated by Chinese literature fans, and this was only partially translated

Secondly, what’s really interesting is the vibe of this poem. The line seems romantic at first glance when quoted on its own (The mountains and the rivers aren’t important, what’s important is that to find someone who understands one’s self. (ie. Soulmate)), but when taken into the context of the entire line, it just simply reeks of loneliness. Rather than proclaiming about how great their current soulmate is, the line’s actually about how one’s in anguish over their missing soulmate, and in this case, it’s over the death of their soulmate. (Ie. saying goodbye to their love ones while embarking on a doomed mission.)

#shl #shl meta #wen kexing #zhou zishu

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the-exception-to-the-rules · 11 months

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Jonathan Crane: Literary Identity

What literary character do people think of when they think of Dr. Jonathan Crane, AKA the Scarecrow? Many would say Ichabod Crane from "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." Afterall, the bullies call him "Ichabod" in Batman Annual #19 (Masters of Fear), and there's even a story in the 2008 DC Universe Halloween Special where he is (thinks he is) Ichabod Crane. @jonathan-cranes-mistress-of-fear has a great post analysizing this connection:

However, I may be the only person to associate him with another literary character: The Oxford Clerk from The Canterbury Tales. Let's take a look at Chaucer's work:

An Oxford Cleric, still a student though, One who had taken logic long ago, Was there; his horse was thinner than a rake, And he was not too fat, I undertake, But had a hollow look, a sober stare; The thread upon his overcoat was bare. He had found no preferment in the church And he was too unworldly to make search For secular employment. By his bed He preferred having twenty books in red And black, of Aristotle’s philosophy, Than costly clothes, fiddle or psaltery. Though a philosopher, as I have told, He had not found the stone for making gold. Whatever money from his friends he took He spent on learning or another book And prayed for them most earnestly, returning Thanks to them thus for paying for his learning. His only care was study, and indeed He never spoke a word more than was need, Formal at that, respectful in the extreme, Short, to the point, and lofty in his theme. A tone of moral virtue filled his speech And gladly would he learn, and gladly teach. (Prologue; Translated by Nevill Coghill)

TL;DR

Scholar from Oxford University

He is very thin (as is his horse)

Threadbare clothing and starving and poor because he spends all his money on books

If given money by friends, will buy books instead of new clothing or food

Not very chatty

Loves to learn and teach

Jonathan Crane may look like Ichabod Crane, but in truth, he is the Oxford Clerk.

#Batman #Scarecrow #Jonathan Crane #ScarecrowWeek2023

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lotarclasspects · 7 months

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The Heir Class Eludes Me.

In the spirit of making less structured posts, but which are more frequent. I thought I might put my current thoughts and speculations to this public page, so that people who want to come along on this journey with me may benefit from it instead of this sitting in my drafts. I have been reading Homestuck again. And in short (because this isn't the time for that) my theory on Classes matches my theory on Aspects. That, like many things in Homestuck, they are terms for Literary tropes, framed in the context of appearing visually like a Video Game. The Active and Passive pairings do have some credence, but ultimately the root of what a Classpect is supposed to be getting at, is in this understanding. As a result, i've been going over my thoughts on them, and in rereading the comic, reading and analysing things carefully to make sure that my conclusions aren't made from shaky foundations. But I have been pretty confident in my understanding of the Heir Class. Until Now. I have always understood the Heir to be shorthand for "Chosen One Hero", who is helped and protected by their aspect in earlier stages, but who then grow into it and are able to take mastery of it for themselves. Growing into their own shoes as it were. Breath being the aspect of Journey, Quest, and Plot Momentum, it makes sense that Homestuck's "Main Character" John Egbert, has the Breath aspect and is also an Heir. One of the more "Classic Heroes". And we see Heirs of this sort a lot, in fiction and in fairytale. The King Arthur, the Luke Skywalker, The Eragon, The Avatar Aang, The Superman (as opposed to the Batman, who is more martial etc will go into later). But because Homestuck likes to play around with the understanding of these Roles, and has a few dichotomies of "This character Carries this title and is seen as such by others but their Real title is different" eg. Rose and Jade as the "Witch and the Seer" but swapped, and Feferi and Eridan as "The Princess and the Wizard being the Witch and the Prince" I bring this up because whilst a good Heir is easy enough to understand, and recognise in collective Mythos. I reached Equius. Jesus Christ. This guy is Snobby, this guy is Rigid, this man is (in his first introduction) a "Bigger Douche Than Karkat". Controlling over Nepeta, Classist, Weird about Aradia. How the fuck is this guy in the league of Chosen One Heroes do I need to go to square One Here? But then it hit me. Every class and aspect has the capacity for great good or great evil. Even the benevolent healer "Sylph" class (Passive MAKE) has fucking Aranea Serket in it. Whilst "Chosen One Heroes" almost Exclusively are "good" in fiction. What would a shitty evil one look like? Genuinely what the fuck would that look like. Unlike John, who is earnest. And Mituna, who is also quite bubbly, friendly enough, (havent gotten up to that point yet) and made a great sacrifice to save his friends (potential follow up here considering Doc Scratch once implied for John "when he dies, it won't be as a scoundrel") Equius is controlling, rigid. If he is an "heir" as in "future King" he definitely wields that shit about whenever he can to flaunt his superiority. Is "evil king" possibly what we're looking at here? Though Prince is usually reserved for dicky controlling nobles. However as his story progresses, Equius is shown to actually enjoy being "bossed around". Influenced by others, as it were. Positing Aradia (Maid, Heir's counterpart in current theory system) as the secret true leader, whilst he's the On Paper leader. Contrasting the Knight/Seer duo of Karkat and Terezi on the red team. It's fairly established that Maids start out being burdened and stifled by their aspect, have some drastic transformations, before settling back into their role but on their own terms. Maids are also said to "tidy up", Managing their aspect. Equating to both Maid as Maiden and Maid as Servant. I wonder if, if Maids Manage their aspect as the Active conterpart to the Heir, Are Heirs managed BY their aspect?

Could this count in terms of understanding their paths and what their roles mean? Davesprite says of John, that he is easily influenced until he's Not. But is the Not coming from him being a Hero of Breath (notably flighty and hard to pin down) and the influence being him as an Heir? or something else. I'm not sure of Mituna yet but he is definitely used by a lot of people. Perhaps Equius yielding, and enjoying uh. I'll call it "Being Influenced" by people, a way of separating the concepts of His Caste, and His Class? Perhaps though if we are to understand the Blood Classes of alternia as being influenced by Scratch to make it easier for the Players by enforcing Aspect Specific Behaviour onto them, perhaps this too, is true for Classes. Rusts being servants, Ceruleans being stealy generally. Teal being about Law. Who knows. But if this is true perhaps I should try and learn what the Indigo Blue Caste is actually about, and try to differentiate the parts significant to Void, and the parts significant to Heirs. If I do, I'll surely write about them here. Though I don't want to make a definitive Heir specific post until I'm a bit more sure of the thought process here. Come to think of it, Post Scratch John Crocker was "a very carefree guy" for most of his life. Does this link to Breath, or Heirs. hmmmmm.

#classpecting #classpect #heir class #equius #john egbert #classpect analysis

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moinsbienquekaworu · 1 year

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Hey americans I need you to explain to me how high school works in your country. I thought I understood how it was but I was just introduced to the idea of Collegeboard? (which I don't fully get anyway??)

I'll start with France so you have a point of reference, but under the cut. Basically I want to know what your exams look like, which subjects are mandatory & how/if you choose them, the college situation, that kinda thing.

High school comprises your last three years of school, what you I think call grades 10-11-12 (they're numbered the other way around here, so it's seconde (2nd), première (1st) and terminale (last?)). It's been changing recently but there are two main exam periods, at the end of the year in june/july in 11th and 12th grade. There's also midyear exams now, on your specialités, though that's much more recent (like, 3-years-ago recent). The end of high school exam is called the baccalauréat, or bac (for middle school it's brevet, or brevet des collèges)

The spécialités are like, options? You have to take three in 11th grade, then you drop one to only keep two in 12th grade, and you can pick between a total of uuuh. Well technically there's 13 in total, but it depends on what your high school offers. Options include advanced maths, biology, physics&chemistry, foreign literature, french literature&philosophy, compusci, arts, history-geography&polisci, economics, and more obscure/rare things like engineering, PE or classics. Before that it was either a literary path, L, a scientific path, S, or an economics path, ES, with the reputation that only choosing S would let you have a good high-paying job, but they changed it to give more options to combine whatever you like. In my high school we had the 9 first ones I gave you, which did enable students to make their own thing, but in a majority of cases students went with maths/biology/physics, especially in the high schools that only offered those three because they were smaller and couldn't justify paying an arts teacher for 2 students. So that's for spécialités.

In 11th grade you have the french literature exams at the end of the year, both written and oral, for which you prepare a certain number of texts you studied throughout the year that fit this year's themes & curriculum (ie your teacher can pick one of a few options to study the theme of voyage & travel for example). In the written exam it's either an excerpt that you have to analyse (we call that text commentary and you basically talk about stylistic devices and such) or a question about a book you have to answer (something like 'is x book about voyage & travel?', you have to make a 2 or 3 part plan, like uh 'I) yes because the character goes places II) yes because he changes as a person', that's a dissertation). The oral is about one of the excerpts you prepared, a jury picks one from your list, lets you prepare for a little while, and then you present the excerpt and its relevance in the book and to the themes.

In 12th grade you have philosophy instead of french literature, and at the end of the year you have - if I remember correctly - philosophy & spécialités exams, plus your Great Oral? Nothing for languages, nothing for biology/chemistry or maths, just those four I think. Philosophy is like the french written exam but about philosophy instead, you either comment on an excerpt or write a dissertation on something like 'do the arts change the world?'. The Great Oral is an oral that you prepare yourself, it's all shiny and new. You prepare two questions relating to your spécialités (one of them can be spé 1 and the other spé 2, or you can mix and match, but you have to touch on both spécialités in your two questions.), which can be anything from proving a maths equation to discussing censorship in art. You just have to be able to last like 10 minutes on your own and answer the questions of the two teachers who evaluate you (who are NOT from your high school). The spécialité written exams are spécialité specific, so they're like, a maths exam for maths with maths questions and equations and whatnot, or a dissertation in philosophy.

Note that we never ever have multiple choice questions, not in class and certainly not in exams. You write out your answers in permanent ink on special paper they give you. Exams last from 2 to 4 hours, depending on the subject and when in the year you're taking it, and you're not allowed out until the end of the 1st hour even if you're throwing. The written exams are national, the exact same subjects for everyone and at the exact same time for everyone over the country, since we only have one timezone and the state doesn't want people to be able to cheat. The examinators are teachers from your school but the copies are digitised & anonymised, and sent to other teachers who don't know you for correction. You can get your copy back if you ask for it, otherwise you're not seeing it again.

Funfacts: for like two/three years maths was not mandatory past 10th grade! They took maths out of the general curriculum, and if you didn't have the maths spécialité you wouldn't see any maths! Great thing. They realised how dumb it was and put them back like this year or last year, I don't remember. Also, despite the pretend flexibility, most students remade their own literary/scientific/economics bac all on their own, because what are you going to do with an arts/biology/english lit degree?

And for university, all 12th grade students have an account on the national platform parcoursup (parcours + sup -> superior + path, your journey into superior education), you make wishes for what degree you want to do where, universities study your file based on what your teachers say about you and your 11th grade + 12th grade first two trimesters grades, and then you get your answer. All of this is way before the actual bac exams, which makes it feel a little trivial because you know you're accepted at x uni in may and it doesn't matter if you get a shit grade at your bac. The process of selection is more or less competitive depending on where you made your wishes, I personally got all my wishes as soon at the answer period started, but I wanted to do french/english/japanese literature at public unis, so the risk of rejection was low. Some people wait for a few weeks before they get a good answer though. When you're accepted into a programme, you have to answer and say yes or no. If you say yes you're committing to going there because you can only have one yes at a time, and if you say no you lose your spot in the queue and you can't go back on your word. I say uni but actually there's also fancy private schools for shit like business or polisci as well as prépa classes, I just didn't give a fuck personally. (prépa, or preparatory classes, are intensive classes you take for a year or two in a given topic, usually scientific but not necessarily at all, and they're really strict but drastically improve your changes of getting into a prestigious school and give you a very specific work ethic)

That got LONG but if you read that tell me how the US (or your country if it's not the US!!) compares, what you think is insane (derogatory) or insane (why aren't we doing it like you), etc etc. I got through school I get to talk about it now!

#i though sats were.... i don't know. options? i guess??#what is going on in y'all's classrooms #wow i have a ramble tag now

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grandhotelabyss · 10 months

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Could you discuss some of your major disagreements, if any, with Harold Bloom?

With the stipulation that great critics prove their integrity by being wrong, and that we should thus welcome their wrongness, I have many disagreements. I often find him an inspiring rhapsode more than a persuasive critic or theorist. Or maybe they're differences of sensibility more than disagreements. We could talk about local differences of opinion about this or that writer, but sensibility is probably the larger question.

He was endlessly fascinated by the poet's solitary quest, modeled ultimately on the Biblical prophets, for priority and absoluteness of vision in a degraded cosmos: Alastor on his solitary quest. It's not that he never question or even censured, in the course of his analyses, the solipsism to which this quest gives rise; he wasn't stupid; but it was still the most interesting thing to him, even later, when he disciplined this aspect of himself to arrive at his reverence for Shakespeare, a figure who contains this quest—especially in Hamlet—but contains much more besides. Whereas I can only handle so much Blake, Wordsworth, Shelley, Stevens, etc., before I want to pick up a novel again, a novel or a Shakespeare play.

Though he came to be the public scourge of Theory, Bloom was a theorist himself originally. He was right to challenge both New Critical and then deconstructionist prejudices, with their French formalist paradigms, right to insist that Wordsworth and Tennyson shared the eminence of Baudelaire and Eliot. But he appreciated a very high degree of abstraction, abstraction of rhetoric and abstraction of vision—much more than I can tolerate, much less admire, except in small doses. Like Stevens, he saw the theory of poetry as the life of poetry.

I prefer in contrast a peopled canvas, a richer tapestry. As ideal images of the artist, I like Joyce or Woolf perambulating the city rather than Wordsworth or Shelley alone on their promontories: the novelists are also alone, perhaps, but alone in the crowd, and teaching the crowd how better to be alone, in a communion of our common exile.

He always slights literary form—what other major critic is so little interested in language?—and possibly in consequence misses some dimensions of irony. He saw only the sermon in Dostoevsky, not the disputation. He scanted what was inventive in Poe. He condescended to Keats. He claimed that Beckett, not Joyce, wrote the best English prose of the 20th century. But even when confronted with a solitary different from his preferred solitaries, he missed what was formally at issue: thus he saw Thoreau as only a lesser Emerson rather than as a very different kind of writer than Emerson, one much more attuned to language as material.

His "anxiety of influence" theory is relevant to the strain of visionary, prophetic poetry he prefers, but is it a generally applicable theory of (or standard of value for) poetry, literature, or the arts in general? As Joyce Carol Oates remarked somewhere in her published journal of Bloom, writers are influenced by what they ate for breakfast and read in the news, too. (Novelists more than poets, perhaps.)

This is more minor, but he was also hypocritical on the identity politics question, demoting Dostoevsky and Eliot for their anti-Semitism while wondering why anyone would want to demote, say, Milton for his misogyny or Stevens for his anti-blackness.

The best way to sum it up: this year I finally read David Lindsay's A Voyage to Arcturus, the fantasy novel Bloom loved so much that he wrote (as his only published work of fiction) a sequel or fan fiction. I found Arcturus hideous, quasi-unreadable, a nasty and punitive fable; I found it as unwholesome as Bloom finds Dostoevsky and Eliot. In this post, I try to explain this whole divide between Bloom and myself with reference to Lindsay's book, while also praising his Nietzschean-Kafkan vitalist-ironic reading of the Bible, a book I (how can I say this without sounding "Reddit"?) have trouble with, trouble Bloom explains and helps to allay. I may agree with Bloom about the Bible more than I agree with him about anything else.

After all that, though, he was right about what matters most: our very sense of who we are and of what it is to be who we are has been shaped by a smaller number of writers than we may want to admit, and we will therefore not even know ourselves if we don't read them—read them critically, of course, but read them.

#harold bloom #literary criticism #literary theory

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naomisalman · 1 year

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are there any books you'd recommend to study or reference to help improve writing? specifically weaving scenes smoothly is something I really struggle with; either I show all my cards or hide them so well you can't figure out any of the subtext

i'm afraid i don't have any recs when it comes to how-tos; the idea that you can learn how to write by following instructions is very culturally american? i'm not saying that's a bad thing -- but like, for instance, there are lots of creative writing courses in the US and almost none in france. the general idea here is that writing can be learned but not taught, if that makes sense. i tend to agree.

so, the way i personally learned how to write (or began to learn -- i'll always be learning) was by reading a lot, not only for pleasure, but also by doing deep dives into classics over three years of lit prep school. i loved literary analysis and i learned a lot just from wondering what to say in my damn essays. ("what is the theme of that excerpt, when you get right down to it, and how do i make it sound clever???") so i guess that might be something for you to explore -- select a text you particularly admire and analyse it yourself: how does it work, why does it work? maybe talk it over with friends who've read it too: gushing about things is also fiction analysis. (being a hater, too! you can learn a lot by analysing what doesn't work in certain stories. but it's better to be a hater and a lover, you can't learn only from negatives examples.)

i do like video essays about media. hbomberguy's seminal work "Sherlock Is Garbage and Here's Why" is not only hilarious but also an amazing deep dive into what works and what doesn't. his media stuff is generally pretty great when it comes to taking fiction mechanics apart, though he's mostly done it with video games lately. but yeah, this too is "learning about writing" rather than "teaching about writing": instead of being taught general rules that have so many exceptions they're all basically moot, learn from studying specific works of fiction, on your own or through someone else's analysis.

i guess my one big rec for "specific works of fiction that are fun to read and also to analyse" would be the discworld series by terry pratchett. it's great, but also it's not that great at the beginning: tpratch really starts to hit his stride around book ten. and then he gets fantastically good. if you haven't read them, you can start with small gods or going postal or the truth -- they're all standalones. i have a lot of admiration for small gods in particular, there's not a single wasted word in this book, i swear. then if you like it, you can keep reading discworld books -- and then when you love it, go and read books 1-to-9 and go "whoa wow yeah okay, he really grew as a writer over the course of the series". (caveat: i personally can't read the last five books in the series, you see him decline as a writer as alzheimers takes over and it's horribly sad.)

i hope all this helps! <3

#salman's anons #writing

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thiccspicecc · 3 months

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I have recently learnt of the new term "corn-plating" and I have a few thoughts on its utility.

The criticism that has been done of this post is accurate and the term that spawned when used to describe when someone's critic is finding symbolism in places where it isn't present is often times valid.

However, it has very quickly become a tool to denounce any sort of insightful analysis of a story that isn't direct symbolism or a detail that pertains to the story. I feel a lot of the use of corn-plating is directed misguidedly or at valid analysis.

I believe people need to understand the merits of the different sorts of symbolism and media exploration, because not every detail brought needs to relate to the story at hand. There could have been an argument that looked at that plate of corn that would have been insightful rather than a grasp at straws. Of course, all of this discourse is not too dissimilar to the argument in literary analysis that the curtains are just blue, arising from the view that English teachers derive meaning from ordinary descriptions.

I think people need to understand when people are talking about environmental/ aesthetic symbology/ details and not grasping at straws to find character/ thematic/ narrative symbology/ details. To corn-plate blue curtains someone might say, 'In this scene there was put up blue curtains', connoting that there is a meaning as to why that was done, people in response will assume that they are referring to the blueness representing sadness, often a reflection of the character, many times that would be blatantly stated by whom is corn-plating. But many times people attribute the moniker of corn-plating to those talking about the mood or tone created by mundane objects, or environmental reasoning of why something is there. For blue curtains, and since this argument is often times without context, blue curtains being called in attention in a work may be there to set a calm or maybe a dower mood. For Encato someone could have prefaced that the inclusion of roast corn rather than any other food is symbolic of the situation of the cast, in how historically corn has been a stable food for many native south and central American peoples and how in Colombia the newer colonial society integrated corn into their diet, and how with the village of Encato being isolated, corn is their most readily available food.

For example in my novel a similar detail is that the secondary protagonist's great-grandfather has in his home a pot of lavender tea, it is fairly insignificant, but I wrote him having it because it represents the warm, calm, inviting atmosphere his cottage has. And, an example where the environmental detail is reflective of narrative symbology would be the black shadows of the antagonist sorcerer's dungeon being representative of the death his regime will bring. Something you would corn-plate if you mentioned it is that the secondary protagonist owns an orange teddy bear, it's a meaningless detail though it does represent the fact that she is a child.

You can find meaning in pretty much anything in a story, and corn-plating should be a term to denote (though I hope mostly in self-awareness rather than in defaming) if there was in fact clear intent in there being a narrative, character, or thematic importance behind a detail. The things we can draw out of the most mundane inclusions however is the beauty and importance of environmental symbols and mood. There are too many people putting down others for over analysing works they enjoy and not enough discourse on how pointing out how someone is finding meaning in places that aren't meaningful isn't itself media literacy. People need to be careful with the term corn-plating because not everything is desperately grasping at straws when finding details in a story, sometimes they're talking about something else unrelated to the story when pointing out a detail.

#writing #media #media literacy #media analysis #story #corn plating #story analysis #writing analysis #symbols #twitter #discorse #creative writing

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wyrmfedgrave · 3 months

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Pics:

1 & 2. The works that we're dealing with here...

3. HPL's own autobiographical sketch.

4. Books using dramatic graphic arts to 'enhance' Howard's stories...

5. A great example of the inside!!

6 to 7. Various Lovecraft collections.

8. HPL's description of his visit to Quebec, Canada.

9 & 10. Howard story collections - based upon his created cities.

(DC comics should do this!

They have a plethora of mythical cities invented to 'challenge' their heroes...)

1915: HPL Output.

(From the United Amateur, March 1915 edition.)

Blarney Stone for (this) November & December is dedicated to its (writers) & wholly given over to their works.

In "The Christmas of Delsato's Maria," an Italian thief utilize(s) his question- able art to replace a loss in his family.

Suddenly, Lovecraft 'analyses' his own work...

"To General Villa" is a peculiar piece of verse written last summer (to) defy those who... charged it's author with pedantry (excessive concern with minor details) & pomposity (self important).

The changes of time & revolutions have rendered the last line... out of date.

Th(is) issue... concluded with... "Service With Love," (that) describe(s) the ideal spirit of brotherhood which should pervade amateur journalism.

(As to) the 2 blank pages (in) the back of the magazine, (we) wish... some talented Blarney had seen fit to adorn them with his work.

The (January) Brooklynite is of unusual merit, ...teeming with (well written) features & substantial character.

(The) essay on ghosts displays considerable literary knowledge, though the anecdote at the end is (too) ancient for (modern) use.

We... heard it... 10 years ago, (from) a Scotsman - (not) a negro preacher.

"Consolidation"... is a(n) example of (how) less dignified (NAPAs) cast... aspersions on the (USPS).

There is... irony in the spectacle of a... member of the... Gotham (NYC) ring, preaching... against the unenviable record of the United.

(Yet, Howard would later serve as President of the National...)

We wish... that (Mr. Stoddard) would give us... more of the serious fiction that he... write(s) so splendidly...

Miss Silverman's lines on (loud mouthed peace workers) are... scarcely... keen... (in) wit...

It is... well to "keep industry booming," but industry cannot take the place of (the) military... in protecting a nation against foreign aggression.

The Coyote for March is... a semi- professional leaflet...

(It's) leading feature is... entitled "What Gambling Did..."

We must protest against his taste in subject & technique.

His models are... not... classical & his ideas (on) probability are far from unexceptional.

(For whatever reason, HPL now goes into some detail on how to write!)

In developing (1's) narration, it is... best to discard... elaborate plots & thrilling climaxes...

Begin instead with (a) plain & simple description of actual events...

Avoid improbability by composing (your) earliest efforts in the 1st person.

(The writer) knows what he would do in certain circumstances, but... not always... what... others might do in similar cases...

Above all things... read classic fiction, abstain... from Wild West Weeklies & the (other pulps).

(If you) have a taste for excitement, (you) would probably thrive on Scott, Cooper or Poe...

Read the Leather Stocking Tales (for their) pioneers & frontier life...

Acquire a familiarity with the methods of the best authors & refine (your) imagination (on) their works - should (you) attempt... writing outside (your) own experience.

(You) will then... produce work of... quality...

(Now, back to the expected reviews.)

We are sorry to note the... paid advertising & subscription price...

Such things have no place in an... amateur (publication)...

The (July) Emissary is a National paper, but contains... works (from) several United members...

Though only 18 years of age, (the) editor/printer (is) of the highest grade.

"Ausonius, the Nature Lover"... is a... judicious appreciation of a later Latin poet.

(It) shows how a bard of the decaying Roman Empire approached the spirit of 'modern' (1915) romanticism.

(The) translated extracts are (well) phrased & his comments... exhibit... wide & careful scholarship.

"Lamb o' Mine"... is... the most attractive... verse in the magazine.

(Its) negro dialect is (unique).

The consoling spirit of the old "mammy"... radiates from (its) lines.

The Kansan for July reaches us at a late date.

(Its) Sunflower Club of Bazine makes its formal debut, being ushered into amateur society...

The(ir) editorial pages are brilliant in... justifying... the United's sunny spirit, (being) contrasted with the National's forbidding frigidity.

The (September/February issue of) The Olympian, ...defines its latest editorial policy & (it's) true attitude toward the United.

(It) reveal(s)... more strongly (its) prejudice against our association in favor of the National.

"Play Hour"... appears in a collection of short... pieces...

It is difficult... to imagine the dignified Zeus as the author...

The 2nd of these tuneful rhymes is... written in the 'simplified' spelling now popular among certain editors...

Closer inspection reveals... that the spelling is... made 'juvenile' to suit the subject.

After all, simple (English) & baby talk are... little removed from each other.

(The) September/November (issue of) Prometheus... lives up to its subtitle "A Magazine of Aspirations Dreamed Into Reality."

"Weaver of Dreams"... is a... well written short story... expressing a beautiful Christian philosophy.

(An) Oriental tale presents a... fable (from) old Moorish Spain, titled "Ali Ahmed & the Aqueduct."

Red Letter Days for October is... an informal... paper... representing the most... personal phase of amateur journalism...

We are sorry that (this journal) has adopted simplified spelling, but it is an evil in which (they are) by no means alone...

Stray Leaves for May/June is another paper which... arrived late...

The reference to anti-Suffrage & Suffrage as "2 vital questions" is (not) permissible, these are (actually) the 2 sides of... 1 question...

The January (issue of) Woodbee exhibits amateur journalism at its best.

"Spiritual Significance of the Stars"... (reveals) the inspiring influence of astronomical study on the cultivated intellect...

(This) leading feature... traces the slow unfolding of celestial knowledge.

(It) points out the... mental power which enables man to discern the vast universe.

And (also) comprehends the complex principles by which it is governed.

In the laws of the heavens (the writer) finds the prototype of all human law & the... perfect model for human institutions...

"We Are Builders All"... is a graceful allegory based on the Temple of Solomon...

(Its) editorials are brief.

In 1 of them, it is stated that the paper is submitted - without fear - to critics & Eddie Cole.

(Now,) in view of Mr. Cole's scholarly critical work, (Lovecraft) hopes that no reflection (is intended) against this journal's editor.

End.

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wuffgang-ameowdeus-moozart · 4 months

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I saw the impersonate you invitation and I'm not very good at impersonations, but I will tell you what I think you are like based on your blog!

First of all you love Lucy from Fairytale, and have a lot of fun playfully obsessing over her.

I say playful, because you have a suprisingly nuanced understanding of the characters that you like. You dont just take the text (or whatever medium you are engaging with) at face value, you think through what is happening and what it means. You have excelent literary analysis skills.

I think you are probably pretty blunt and opinionated, but you are not mean or unkind. You care deeply for the people around you and put a lot of effort into understanding them.

You may lean towards pessimism sometimes, but you have a sarcastic sense of humor which can make it seem like you are more pessimistic than you really are.

You are very enthusiastic about the beautiful parts of the world, and delight in happy suprises.

I have no idea why, but you feel like somebody who thinks marine biology is cool af.

How did I do? Did I get anything right?

oh my god I love this alskfjsjf

first of all: sorry this took me a hot second to answer 😅

second: hey how does it feel to cut out a piece of my soul only to serve it to me on a silver platter?

gonna go more in depth with each one under the cut (bc I love talking about myself lol) but if you don't have the nerves for that ATM let it be known that you've got me clocked my guy. if I have to describe myself in a job interview I'm gonna ring up beloved tumblr anon to do it for me 🫡 💕

most inaccurate is probably that I'm actually not sure whether I'd call myself an optimist or pessimist (though I do know that I make an effort to be outwardly more optimistic than I actually feel) and while I do absolutely adore the ocean I'm not sure I'd say that I'm particularly interested in marine biology specifically. it's one of those things I keep telling myself I want to do more research on but I never actually do it, so like, theoretically yes but not in practice? does this make sense?

1. id say lucy heartfilia lives rent-free in my head but it would probably be more accurate to say that I feed her scraps of brain matter and heart tissue and devotion in hopes she deems my soul a worthy resting place (<- look how normal I am about her!)

FT was not only my longest obsession ever to date but also my first after moving countries, so being unwell about Lucy again feels weirdly nostalgic in a way?

2. oh yeah I do adore analysing texts and characters and devices and stuff. which is also why I adore wuthering heights lol (cycles and parallels and tragedies my beloved). I don't really know how to read WITHOUT doing this tbh? like of course there is a difference when I am actively engaging with it but sometimes I'll say something that seems pretty obvious to me and then people will be like "this is a great analysis!" lol

(also not to brag but I've been told more than once that I often approach narratives and symbolism from an angle that others haven't considered before 😏)

I actually started studying literature, but for various reasons (which include not being able to deal with a bunch of people clacking on their laptops at the same time the sound was literally driving me insane does anyone have any tips on how to deal with that) I stopped going after like a month

tho id say my favorite thing to analyze is actualy theater plays? especially because of the added element of speech (it feels unfair to judge an audiobook by this metric since books were primarily written to be read but theater is literally made to be spoken aloud and thus it is the authors duty to also think about the cadences of the words and what the different sounds feel like instead of just focusing on how it looks like on paper imo) and visuals

whenever I go with a friend (I need to go with someone so I can talk about it) I'll first ask them what they thought so I can gather my thoughts and kinda compare and then I won't shut up until we have to go out separate ways lol

3. which is a great way to get into the third point: I do have opinions about everything! (unless I don't have a lot of information on the topic in question). I always keep myself open for counter arguments (my biggest fear is becoming one of those obnoxious stubborn ignorant people who are proud of being stuck in their ways and categorically refuse to even consider other viewpoints and opinions) but unless this is about something factual where you have more experience/facts than me it's actually pretty hard to convince me.

because while I love sharing my opinions to everyone that'll listen, im Not a fan of confrontations? I tire of them pretty quickly so depending on whether you pass my vibe check I will either be honest (hey yo agree to disagree can we change topics) or pretend to agree just so we can move on without anyone getting prissy lmao

4. and yes I do try to always be kind to people! dni if you don't make an effort to wish the bus driver a good day tbh. I have this need to be acknowledged and remembered by strangers and also feel really bad whenever im mean to people so my compromise is to try to always be friendly while wearing bright hair and clothes lol

I think I also have a pretty approachable aura? I'm often asked for directions and stuff (which is always a shame for the people asking because i am lostTM)

5. okay so. this is actually a fun exercise to do. because characters in books need to be fairly simple at their core (so the author can write them consistently) while creating the illusion of being complex and layered - and you can kind of do the same thing to real people!

in my mind that makes me a bad shittalker because I'll be actively doing this while you are trying to tell me about something shitty someone else did to you. I'll try to look at it from various angles (at least within the realm of the possible when going solely by a very biased POV) which often comes across as defending them? but I think this is a rather unpopular opinion since I can't count the times I've heard "I know you don't like to shittalk people, but-" as a conversation starter lol

6. I am! a sarcastic shit! I can clearly tell the difference between my sarcasm and my serious voice, but people say that it sounds the same to them (which just makes it more fun tbh lol) tho I think that's only fair considering I often have a hard time telling when other ppl are being serious vs not

7. idk where I am on the optimism pessimism scale tbh. when I was small I figured out this neat magic trick where if u pretend to have really low expectations things seem even cooler than they actually are. it makes sense (expectations and everyone is master of their own reality and contrast etc etc) but back then I genuinely thought I had unravelled the fabric of the universe lol

so like. I'll always be kinda expecting the worst while at the same time not quite believing it? so I'm not disappointed when the "worst" does indeed happen but am also not actively psyching myself out? idk the only gymnastics I'm good at are the mental ones

long story short anon I hope I don't come off too strong but I think I am in love with you <3

#omg i love this #i think its so funny how you have a thorough understanding of who i am as a person while not knowing like. my name.

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smorko5 · 5 months

Text

The Top 9 Types Of Literary Heroes

In almost any story, the hero will fit into an archetype in some way or another.

Using character archetypes doesn’t mean the story isn’t creative, though! Archetypes are simply tools for writers to use and play with.

A story outline (like the three-act structure, for example) can be a good scaffolding for us build our story around. A character outline can be a good scaffolding for us to build a hero around.

As readers, we can train ourselves to spot these archetypes. As writers, we can utilise established archetypes to give a character more depth. Analysing archetypes is a great activity for a writer to do.

We can consider archetypes when trying to understand more about the heroes we’ve already written. We can use them when planning a story to create the best character for the narrative and the world.

Whatever the stage of your writing, knowing the different types of literary heroes can help you write better protagonists. Let’s dive in and take a look at nine common examples.

Hero type #1: Epic hero

What is an epic hero?

The epic hero is the first archetype that comes to mind when we think of heroes. They are called to adventure, they face trials, they save the day.

They will begin their story at a point of stability and they will usually return to stability, only now they have been changed in some way.

For some, this means they have gained power(s) through their journey. For others, it means they now know more about the world at large.

What are some examples of epic heroes?

Epic heroes are classic heroes, and it doesn’t get more classic than Odysseus from Homer’s Odyssey.

Odysseus is challenged to complete trials; he shows courage, loyalty and smarts. Eventually he succeeds in his quest and returns to a period of stasis.

A more recent example of an epic hero could be Aragorn from The Lord of the Rings.

Aragorn was born noble, but at the beginning of the story he is in a humble state. Then he is challenged, and eventually becomes the king his people need him to be.

To go even more recent, we can consider Rapunzel from Tangled. Rapunzel begins her story at a point of stasis, but finds adventure when she becomes bored of her limited life.

She is keen to explore, which she does, facing trials along the way. Finally she ends the story as the returned princess.

How to write an epic hero

While many epic heroes are admirable or at least interesting characters, that’s not their primary function.

An epic hero doesn’t have to have as much depth and inner turmoil as some other types of literary heroes. Writing an epic hero can be more straightforward.

An epic hero will often be destined for greatness of some kind. That could mean they’re the long-lost child of royalty or even gods.

Once you have your epic hero’s backstory, you can put them on the traditional heroic path, like Campbell’s Hero’s Journey, and they will complete their quest, save the day and return to a point of stability.

If they were long-lost royalty, their new stability could be happily ruling their kingdom. Maybe they return to the exact same point they started from, happy with their original, humble life.

Hero type #2: Iconic hero

What is an iconic hero?

The iconic hero is often bundled in with the epic hero, but they aren’t quite the same.

Both the iconic and the epic hero are classically heroic. They are courageous, loyal and clever.

The difference is that the epic hero goes through a journey and comes out the other end changed in some way. The iconic hero is eternal and does not change.

It can be easy to think that this type of literary hero isn’t interesting, but that isn’t true. As readers, we like these characters. They can feel familiar and even safe. We know that they won’t change.

An iconic hero won’t die in their own story. The story’s other characters could change, die or simply leave, but the iconic hero is always what we expect and need them to be.

What are some examples of an iconic hero?

Literature is littered with iconic heroes. They’re especially popular in comic books.

Consider Batman, Superman, Hulk, Wolverine, Professor X, Captain America. These characters are defined by their respective traits. They may experience a character arc, but Batman is always Batman.

The comic book iconic hero works well because readers often jump into comics at random, not always starting with the very first issue.

The iconic hero archetype means we know what to expect when we pick up the next Batman comic, even if we’ve missed the last 100 or so.

This is also why writers can reboot these stories and franchises so frequently.

The iconic hero is also popular among detective characters. Agatha Christie’s Poirot, Sherlock Holmes, and even Nancy Drew are all iconic heroes.

They hunger for truth, and they come out the other end the same way they went in. James Bond and even Geralt from the Witcher series fit this character type as well.

How to write an iconic hero

Looking at the above examples, there’s something that links these heroes: they’re all stars of multi-volume series.

To write an iconic hero, your character must appear in many stories. Otherwise, they’re just a regular old hero, not an iconic one.

Start by getting to know your character. Understand them as best you can, because they aren’t changing.

You might feel that you need to change them to progress the story along. For example, the detective getting better at detecting in order to solve the crime.

But the detective doesn’t really need to get any smarter; they just find the next clue.

You can change the environment around your hero, however. You can have some fun with an established iconic hero by putting them in a new and foreign situation and exploring what they do.

Hero type #3: Anti-hero

What is an anti-hero?

The anti-hero has become increasingly popular over the past decade. The key feature of an anti-hero is their lack of typical heroic attributes.

While a typical hero is courageous and idealistic, and follows a moral code, an anti-hero does none of these things.

Anti-heroes may perform actions that are morally ‘correct’ according to the laws of their universe, but they don’t perform these actions for moral reasons. Often, they act for selfish reasons.

Anti-heroes do what needs to be done and don’t particularly care who they hurt along the way.

What are some examples of anti-heroes?

For a lot of people, the first anti-hero that comes to mind is everyone’s favourite science teacher, Walter White from Breaking Bad.

Walter White is the hero of the story. He takes to a life of crime to save his family from financial ruin. But as he continues on his path, he makes more and more questionable decisions.

His antagonists are undoubtedly villains, but he is by no means a good guy.

For another example, we can look at the early version of Han Solo from the Star Wars franchise.

Hardcore fans will always tell you that ‘Han shot first’, referencing a gun fight in the 1977 film, where Han shot Greedo first. In re-releases, this was edited so that Greedo shot first and Han simply retaliated.

Why is the distinction so important? If Han shot first, it’s an example of his moral ambiguity. He shoots first, asks questions later (or never).

We later see Han become more of a typical hero, where he makes moral and just choices, but throughout the first Star Wars film, he is only motivated by his own interests: he wants to get paid for his work.

He is a hero by his actions, but an anti-hero by his justifications.

How to write an anti-hero

Writing an anti-hero can mean writing a heroic path for your character to follow, and then writing a character who is not at all interested in that path.

They’ll go along for the ride if it benefits them, but they aren’t interested in acting without (mostly material) reward.

An anti-hero isn’t a reluctant hero (we’ll come to that archetype soon); they’re just someone who will only perform heroic deeds if they are benefited by those deeds (or who achieves good outcomes through not-so-good means).

Hero type #4: Reluctant hero

What is a reluctant hero?

A reluctant hero has a lot of similarities to an anti-hero. Neither of them really want to be there; they’re just forced to be there.

However, while the anti-hero is there because of personal gain, the reluctant hero is forced to be there because to do anything else would go against their moral compass.

What are some examples of a reluctant hero?

There’s no better example of a reluctant hero than Shrek. He grows and shows his vulnerability and eventually makes heroic choices that don’t directly benefit him.

Throughout the original Shrek film, we are shown that he is rude because he is insecure, and expects people to leave him. Once he lets people into his life, he is loyal to them.

He saves Donkey from assumed death at the dragon’s tower because it’s the right thing to do. Leaving Donkey to die would distract the dragon, which would benefit Shrek.

He makes personal sacrifices to do what’s right, even though he doesn’t want to.

Another great reluctant hero is John McClane from Die Hard. He just wants to go on a holiday, but he’s stuck in a building filled with terrorists.

He’s a hero because his conscience tells him that he has to do something about that, even if he’d really rather not.

How to write a reluctant hero

Writing a reluctant hero is similar to writing an anti-hero. You create a heroic path for your character, and then a character who does not want to travel that path.

A reluctant hero can require a bit more character development than an anti-hero and often some backstory to go with it.

Hero type #5: Liminal hero

What is a liminal hero?

A liminal hero is a hero who is in between states or spaces. They might cross over with some other types of heroes, but this type of hero has some unique characteristics.

‘Liminal’ indicates a space, a state, a feeling that’s between two established elements.

Being a teenager is existing in a liminal state. A teenager isn’t quite a child, but they’re also not an adult yet either. Because of this, a lot of YA stories feature liminal heroes.

You don’t have to write YA to write liminal heroes, though, because teenagehood isn’t the only liminal state available to you.

A ghost is in a liminal state. They’re dead, but they’re still on this plane of existence.

A liminal hero is a hero going through their own form of change and transition. This affects their story, their interactions with others, and their character arc.

What are some examples of liminal heroes?

Many liminal characters exist in the YA space because their transition to adulthood and their transition through another liminal space can reflect each other.

Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight is such a great example of a liminal hero, she even named the book to reflect that state – twilight is a transition between day and night.

Meanwhile, Bella (our liminal hero) is in her own transition period. Bella is a teenager, transitioning into adulthood. Later she’s a human, transitioning into a vampire.

It’s not until the end of the saga that the transitions are completed and the liminal hero’s story is over.

Another great liminal hero is Spiderman. Peter Parker/Miles Morales/your preferred Spiderman is another teen trying to become a mature adult. In the midst of that, he has to be a superhero.

He can never be 100% himself (a teenager) or 100% Spiderman (a superhero); he always exists somewhere between those states.

Zoraida Córdova’s Labyrinth Lost (the first in the Brooklyn Brujas series) sees the hero, Alex, in a liminal space: the space between life and death.

Alex doesn’t fit in with her family, and she’s a bruja with magic, but she hates magic. She goes on an adventure to save her family after she made a terrible, magic-based mistake.

Alex remains in a state of flux for her entire story and only exits her liminal space when her journey is completed.

Remember, though: just because liminal characters often exist in YA literature, that doesn’t limit you as a writer. You can write whatever you want. (You’re in your own liminal space.)

How to write a liminal hero

Liminal heroes are inherently uncertain. They don’t really know what they want yet. They’re in-between.

For some, this means being in a literal liminal space (like life vs. death or normal vs. superhero). For others, it can simply be a transition time in their life.

Liminal characters exist between the spaces of certainty. But uncertainty is a character trait as well. If you’re not sure where to begin writing a liminal hero, remember how you felt in key transition times of your life.

Hero type #6: Everyman hero

What is an everyman hero?

The everyman hero is an ordinary person, with no special abilities, who acts heroically. They’re not Superman; they’re just the person who’s here.

The everyman hero is almost an audience insert. The archetype is designed to represent the average person.

It can be hard to empathise with a superpowered hero of the story, but easy to connect to a regular person – an everyman.

The name ‘everyman’ is gendered, but this heroic archetype isn’t limited to men. Any character can represent the average person and complete heroic tasks.

Even characters made of plastic… (See below.)

What are some examples of an everyman hero?

One of the best examples of an everyman hero is in The Lego Movie. The hero of the story, Emmet, is nothing special. In fact, the film directly tells us that he is ordinary.

Emmet still acts heroically and saves the day, despite not being ‘special’.

Ellen Ripley from Alien is also an everyman hero. Ripley possesses no ‘special’ abilities besides her determination, and she still manages to overcome the Xenomorph and survive.

And who could forget Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee? These two heroes are just regular hobbits who find themselves on an epic quest to save the world.

Their compassion for others and determination allow these ‘everyhobbit’ heroes to complete their monumental task.

How to write an everyman hero

The everyman hero is a normal person, who finds themselves in abnormal circumstances. They face extraordinary challenges.

They may think themselves to be special in some way (the way that Emmet does), but the power of this archetype is that they are just like us.

To write an everyman hero, you need to write a character who cares and who will do the right thing.

If anything makes this type of character special, it’s their compassion, determination and willingness to sacrifice for others.

Hero type #7: Romantic hero

What is a Romantic hero?

The name ‘Romantic hero’ doesn’t refer to a hero who has romantic relationships. Instead it refers to the Romantic period of literature.

The defining features of a Romantic hero are their constant rejection of established norms and their sense of self-importance. They reject authority and rules and are often introverted and isolated.

It’s important to note that while these concepts may have negative connotations, they are not necessarily character flaws in a Romantic hero.

The heroic archetype of ‘misfit hero’ is a modern example of a Romantic hero.

What are some examples of Romantic heroes?

A hero who doesn’t conform to societal expectations and is self-important and moody? There’s no better example than Mr Darcy from Pride and Prejudice.

Darcy doesn’t act how we (and how Elizabeth) expect someone in his position to act. In the beginning, at least, he’s somewhat rude and doesn’t particularly care what other people think of him.

This is in direct opposition to a lot of the other characters who are caught up in the many rules of Regency society.

Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games series can also be seen as a Romantic hero. Katniss doesn’t follow the rules of society, and she is better for that.

She tends to isolate or distance herself, but she thinks outside the box because of her isolation, and can succeed in her many trials because of her unique way of seeing the world.

How to write a Romantic hero

The way to write a Romantic hero is to give them lots of inner turmoil, broody behaviour and (occasionally unearned) confidence.

Romantic heroes know that they do not fit in, and they do not care. To write a Romantic hero (or Byronic hero – see below), you need to know what established norms they will reject.

And, importantly, you need to know why those rejections make them interesting and heroic.

Hero type #8: Byronic hero

What is a Byronic hero?

Lord Byron, never satisfied with established archetypes, invented a twist on the Romantic hero: the Byronic hero.

The Byronic hero is a sub-category of the Romantic hero. The key difference between them is that while Romantic heroes are better off because of their rejection of societal rules, the Byronic hero has been hurt and rejected by society.

In their isolation, they become apathetic or even dangerous to themselves and to others.

What are some examples of a Byronic hero?

The best example of a Byronic hero is Lord Byron himself. He was overly obsessed with himself and his own work and everywhere he went, he left a trail of broken hearts in his wake.

We can also see this archetype in Bojack (Bojack Horseman), Loki (the Marvel Cinematic Universe), Mr Rochester (Jane Eyre) and Heathcliff (Wuthering Heights).

How to write a Byronic hero

Writing a Byronic hero is similar to writing a Romantic hero. They both live with inner turmoil, and as the writer, you’ll spend a lot of time in your character’s head.

To write a Byronic hero, you first need to know why they were rejected from society. What crime, sin or difference set them apart from their peers?

Once your hero has settled down, isolated from society, how will they twist and change into someone who wilfully eschews tradition?

You also need to know if your hero would return to society, if society would have them. For some Byronic heroes, returning to the group that rejected them is their ultimate goal.

Finally, you need to decide if your Byronic hero will change their behaviour and stop being a danger to themselves and others. Or will they embrace their fatal flaw, their story resulting in tragedy?

Hero type #9: Tragic hero

What is a tragic hero?

The tragic hero was first defined by Aristotle, and they are the central player in most tragic stories.

Aristotle argued that any good tragic story needed emotional investment from the audience. We need to be sympathetic to the hero and feel catharsis at the end of their story (which was most commonly their defeat in some way).

A tragic hero is someone who is flawed in a major way and though doing their best, they still meet tragedy at the end of the story.

They may make poor decisions or do bad things. But at their heart, they are (or at least want to be) good. That’s why their downfall is so tragic.

What are some examples of tragic heroes?

Can you get any more tragic than Romeo and Juliet? Romeo is passionate, excited, in love. He would do anything for his love. He’s reckless, but that’s because he’s so passionate.

His recklessness is also what leads to his and his lover’s deaths. If not for that trait, both he and Juliet may have avoided death.

To switch to a contemporary example, what about Game of Thrones? (Spoilers for the last season of GoT. Scroll past the paragraphs between the stars to avoid.)

We watched Daenerys Targaryen survive many hardships throughout the run of GoT, only to see her end turn tragic.

Dany’s whole journey was to become the ruler of the seven kingdoms. Her single-minded desire for the Iron Throne became her fatal flaw, and she ultimately died because of her actions.

Ned Stark also suffered a tragic fate where his downfall was his own moral code.

(He is perhaps an even better example of a tragic hero than Daenerys, who could arguably have been called a ‘villain’ rather than a hero in the end.)

Jay Gatsby from The Great Gatsby is another tragic hero. Throughout the novel, we seem him constantly searching for more. For the American dream. For Daisy. For a sense of satisfaction that he will never find.

Gatsby is near-delusional, obsessed with the dream of the perfect life with the perfect wife. Because of his inability to accept the truth of life, to see beyond his idealism, he meets his tragic end.

How to write a tragic hero

Writing a tragic hero is hard! They have to be flawed and meet their tragic downfall because of those flaws. But at the same time, the audience has to care about them.

Keep in mind that a tragic hero must be virtuous as well as flawed, suffer a reversal of fortune, have the sympathy of the audience and (despite their best efforts or intentions) cause harm or come to ruin.

Should be simple, right?

Aristotle broke it down a bit for us:

Hamartia is the hero’s tragic flaw that leads to their downfall.

Hubris is the hero’s excessive or unreasonable pride.

Peripeteia is the sudden change or reversal of fortune.

Anagnorisis means ‘recognition’ and is where the hero learns something important about themselves or the world.

Nemesis is the unavoidable punishment for the hero.

Catharsis is the hero’s inevitable downfall and where the audience can release their built-up emotions. It may also bring renewal or some positive change to the hero’s world.

This iconic structure is still present in today’s fiction, though many authors manage to create a tragic hero without all these elements. (Nemesis, for example, is often omitted in contemporary stories.)

Bonus: Combination heroes

Above are the key archetypes of literary heroes, but don’t feel limited to using just one type. And if you’ve already started writing a character, but they don’t neatly fit into one of these types, that’s fine.

Some of the most engaging characters are those that are a combination of different archetypes.

The reluctant everyman hero. The liminal Romantic hero. The iconic anti-hero. Or any other combination that suits your writing style and your story.

As a reader, you might not be able to categorise each hero you read as one of these archetypes. However, each hero will partially fit into at least one archetype.

Let these types of literary heroes inspire your writing. Maybe you’ll be the first to use a new archetype combination in your story.

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