#human experience in novels

[joncronshawauthor]

The Human Experience in The Fall of Wolfsbane: Exploring Core Themes

Today I want to share some of themes in my latest novel, The Fall of Wolfsbane. In writing this novel, my intention was not just to tell a story, but to create a narrative that resonates with the universal truths and struggles we all face. In this post, I aim to unravel these themes, offering a glimpse into the world I’ve constructed through the lives of Ragnar, Maja, and the myriad characters…

[deus-and-the-machina]

you know the contrast between how Vergil is presented vs thinking too hard about Vergil’s story is pretty funny. Man’s reputation is this iconic badass, the pinnacle of what video game rivalries can be, the coolest guy to play as, the guy who breaks every game he’s added to,

and then you go to the story and like. man’s lost his free will and autonomy at 19 and then came back a fractured man half of which was a lovecraftian eye beast the other half of which was a chronically ill goth man. and then he reunites and hes in like his 40s now I believe but legit the last time he was actually in a game where he wasn’t being mind controlled when he was 19 which is both sad but also thinking about how this guy who’s considered one of the top badasses of gaming has never really lived life outside of being a teenager.

Anyways this is the secret comedic potential of post DMC5 for Vergil because not only has the human world probably changed a fair bit in terms of technology, if he’s sticking around Dante he’s gonna actually have to learn in depth how taxes and grocery shopping work. Amazing.

[cepetriwrites]

I come home for Thanksgiving,

and see my young niece reading a Colleen Hoover novel.

And first I cringe, knowing the low quality trash she’s consuming.

Then I remember when I was her age;

and I spent the holidays devouring the

Twilight novels.

Lovingly bought for me by family members, who would’ve hated every page.

Of the fond times I had,

of the friends and memories I’ve made,

thanks to those silly, cringe worthy books.

I look again at my niece,

she’s curled up on a couch, wrapped in a blanket,

content, flipping through the pages.

I smile, how wonderful growing up is,

where you get discover trashy novels,

in your grandparents’ house,

surrounded by people you love and good food.

[lost-technology]

I woke up this morning from the weirdest this-fandom related dream ever. So, in my dream, Vash and Wolfwood were sitting by a campfire and griddle talking about weird meats. They had some weird meats with them, as in meats from different animals that they were planning on cooking and eating. Vash drew out a plastic wrapped package (vacuum pack, looked like my local store brand) that looked like a pork chop, but declared that it was, in fact, human meat. He'd gotten it from a little post-apocalyptic Noman's Land shop that specialised in such things. He said that, as a Plant, he wanted to try it to see if he was compatible for eating human. Dream!Vash? What the actual FUCK?!!! And so unwrapped it and put it on the griddle and creeped out Wolfwood, but Wolfwood understood. Something like that. And then I flashed back into my body. This entire scenario was one that I was writing as a fanfic on a public counter in some kind of cafeteria at an anime convention. Above it, appearing almost immediately, was a fancomic someone else did on the upright part of the counter that recounted the events of my fanfiction (a fancomic of my fanfiction) except that whoever did it made it more Vashwood than I had intended my story, ending it with Vash and Wolfwood kissing. At the same time, I was thinking "My fanfic doesn't deserve this, it's not that good. It's not like Sin Eaters by dragonofeternal, which has a similar theme done much better." Yes, I was literally thinking of a real fic I'd read in my dream! I commented aloud on the comic that "This is more Vashwood than I'd intended, but I'll take it." As in, it's not really my ship, no one that I see as canon, but I like people in fandom shipping whatever they like and I enjoy Vashwood when it's done well and makes sense, which it kinda did in this fancomic even though it was inspired by my fanfic, which hadn't gone in that direction. Cue some snotty twenty-something with blueish purple dyed long pigtails and a Goth look sitting around nearby looking at all of this informing me "Vashwood is canon." and I said "No it's not." And she argued that she'd read some very obscure comic where it was - and it turns out we had both, by then, shifted into Batman fandom and she was referencing some obscure storyline in which Batman and Robin had fucked like animals. I further argued that I was going by a very specific canon (ala, "Batman the Animated Series" - which was somehow Trigun now), but concededed that while I wasn't as much into the deep lore of the comics, that I wouldn't be surprised if Batman/Robn (Vash and Batman now? Huh?) was canon in some form. Brain.... what are you doing?

[cantsayidont]

If I'm being honest, I haven't liked a lot of STAR TREK since TNG canonically established in "Encounter at Farpoint" that the Federation's supposedly utopian future Earth is a post-apocalyptic world, which was a profound betrayal of the promise of STAR TREK as a positive future and permanently colored my attitude toward TNG and its successors (with the conditional exception of DEEP SPACE NINE, which has some unique virtues to partly mitigate its various failings). The nadir of that shift is the ideologically repellent STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT, which takes a potentially compelling moment in the TREK timeline and turns it into a ghastly Libertarian zombie movie, but PICARD and STRANGE NEW WORLDS taking pains to rub viewers' faces in this dishonest and cynical conceit all over again hasn't improved my opinion of those shows.

[barbreypilled]

there’s something soooo uncouth about tagging certain posts w #writing like someone will be talking about something serious and here comes ramblings-of-a-befuddled-whovian storing it for the most offensive ofmd fic ao3 has ever seen

[vxmpirehunterd]

What horror trope are you?

the horror of the mother complete control over you, your complete reliance on her. you are a helpless child, and she makes every decision for you, asserting to you that she knows what's best. hysterical, emotional, even in her love for you, especially in her hatred for you. the fruit of her loins has rotted, and you cannot escape her scorn. distance means nothing if you're doomed to become her.

Tagged by: @lacedaether

Tagging: Everyone who sees this.

[etirabys]

the capstone to the pleasure of reading a gripping and genuinely excellent novel written by someone in tumblr-y leftist spheres is logging into goodreads dot com and reading the reviews by other leftists tearing them apart

[gouinisme]

i started almost exclusively borrowing graphic novels written and illustrated by women at the library and it's 1) made me realise how few there are 2) made me realise even more how shitty the characterisation and design of female characters is in most stuff made by men 3) led me to scour the aisles for hidden gems i wouldn't have picked up otherwise so i do recommend

[bonefall]

rosetail being aromantic is SO funny she's so invested in everyones' relationships and lives but has no interest in them herself she's literally just living for the drama

i hc her as a matchmaker as opposed to just shipping people, loudly, to them. like.. she's the one who gets people like redtail and runningwind together because she's sat there like "Redtail is loyal and patient but Runningwind is impulsive and passionate... they'd make a great match.

also its so dumb that ROSETAIL (known for having a RED TAIL) isnt related to REDTAIL (known for having a RED TAIL)

Aromantic Rosetail is REAL

I imagine her as the sort of aromantic person who loves the idea of romance, and love being this magic force that she's just waiting to strike her one day... and it never comes. She wants to understand it so badly that she's just blind-guessing who's in love with whom, until it evolves into actually deconstructing the actual idea of romance itself.

I think she'd have a period in her life where she meets it with some despair, realizing that isn't not that she can't have it, but she doesn't want it.

A deep sense of wrongness when she does, at last, have the opportunity. She turns it down.

She eventually has her kittens, happily invoking the Queen's Rights so she doesn't have to bother with the complications of a mate. The sire was out of the Clan, too, just so she would EXTRA not have to worry about it.

Thistleclaw is maaaaaaadddd, but at that point Rosetail is a lot happier with her lifelong friends Thrushpelt and Bluefur, the deputy, than her crummy brother.

Rosetail's kits... albert einstein Redtail and Spottedleaf. She DEFINITELY matchmade Red and Runner.

"Redtail when are you giving me grandkits"

"MOM!! We're only DATING."

[roitaminnah]

mkay and the lineup I will post here . perhaps I will finish this one day but. for funsies. to see them all together

[featureenvyproductions]

Going to forever keep advertising my shit with tropes because do I have to? No. Am I too "stupid" to do it another way? No, not really. And as you've all seen, I also am perfectly capable of writing real blurbs and do write real blurbs. But I think it's fun to make the pic with the tropes anyway and have that around too. And also it keeps the pretentious people away. The sort who don't understand reading is not always for taking a "discomfort" vitamin because they A) are privileged enough to not have discomfort every day of their life to need to escape from or B) are fresh out of college and haven't discovered the joys of/have been shamed OUT of reading as a fun low pressure thing they can do to escape when they're fucking tired (and they think this sort of thing is new with fanfic and not more or less how "trash" lit like romance novels are marketed), as opposed to reading as some sort of Moral Duty To Be Deep that was instilled in them by a middle aged straight white English professor who thinks one can fulfill this by writing 10 pages about books where people scream at each other, have affairs with young women, or Make Up A Guy to warn people about things that Could Happen (that *cough* already happen to marginalized people *cough*) Anyway it's my version of a scarecrow. Firing shots to keep the rent low. Come take a seat next to me in the dumpster my fellow raccoons.

[glimblshanks]

It's so difficult, because I genuinely do want to understand what the whole deal with Christianity is, but Christians are so apposed to any line of questioning about their belief system (in a way that no other religion is) that if you say anything they don't like they shut down and accuse you of being a sinner.

And it's like bro, I'm not trying to be insulting, I'm trying to understand why this religion is even appealing to you. How do you manage to get so many converts when you're not even willing to answer basic questions about your theology?

Everyone I've found who's actually willing to discuss Christian theology with me is an ex-Christian which is super unhelpful, because ex-Christians are people who have deconstructed Christian belief and come to the conclusion that it doesn't work for them. They're always very cynical about the whole situation. That's not what I'm looking for.

I want to talk to someone who's still into it. I want to understand what actually draws people to this religion ( I do not want to be trauma dumped at - I don't know what aspect of Christian belief confuses y'all into thinking that trauma dumping is an appropriate substitute for theological discussion, but it absolutely isn't).

Like you would really think for one of the most popular religions in the world finding answers to this stuff would be easier. Why can't you guys just talk about your beliefs?

[soldier-poet-king]

Guy who only ever thinks about kindness and the absurd nature of divine grace: getting a lot of kindness and the absurd nature of divine grace vibes from this

[neonsbian]

reading this book oomf recced me and i dont like it </3

[lvllns]

every time i see someone say that the darkness outside is a romance set in space i’m like. not.......really.