#i'd get it if people could actually like talk about specific story reasons but 99% of the time it's just

[agoddamn]

@cardinalgoldenbrow ...is this a bad time to admit that I don't think that Kullervo is real? I have a larger theory on that, but I straight up do not believe he's real and I don't use anything from his story on a literal level to support any of my interpretations.

(Very short version: Kullervo is a native of Duviri. This means that he does not exist in the real Origin System, but is a reflection/growth created by someone that fell into Duviri; just like Thrax is for the Drifter. You'll never guess who I think his source material is!)

Ughh...I really hate the--

Alright, let's agree on terminology right now to help keep all this straight. I'm going to call unpiloted sentient warframes (ie Dagath) preframes. I had been using 'protoframe', but obviously 99 is doing something specific with that so I need a new term.

I don't like the preframes, story wise. I think they exist in an awkward state of canon where their real purpose is to justify frames having personality for both visual reasons (Khora and Atlas animations illustrate very different personalities) and to preserve the twist of the Second Dream.

Practically, Warframe as a story is less interested by the implications of frames representing a real independent human personality; you are either wearing them like a skin suit or taking control of them and using them to kill just like the Orokin did. In the second case, nothing has really changed for the 'life' of a frame. They just got new bosses and the daily grind stayed the same.

"But you took away their pain! Umbra!"

The Sacrifice makes the point over and over again that Umbra's case is unusual and unique. You have not communed with any of your other frames like this; that's why the Operator is surprised and confused in the first place.

I'm actually not even sure that Dante is an autonomous preframe. Because--

You don't get to be any kind of frame without the whole Infestation thing.

Following that, this means that preframes weren't always consciously rebelling, but losing themselves to the Infestation. You get Infested, you lose brain function. That's always been consistent about the Infestation, even the 'tame' Helminth variant, even in the Entrati family.

This also makes most sense to me because if there had been some way to get a functional, obedient preframe if you just found someone obedient enough to mutate, the Orokin would have just kept doing that and had no need for the Tenno. As much as Ballas isn't the most reliable narrator, I think he's being honest and accurate when he talks about how preframes simply could not be controlled. I don't think it's just a matter of personal respect.

I do agree that preframe Insurrections make most sense for what Loid is talking about, but even that doesn't quite add up, because Loid says that he found out that Dante died while he slept. Dante would never have still been active up until Loid went into stasis if he didn't have a Tenno pilot; he says himself in the next line that people harboring (what we're assuming but Loid hasn't actually stated are) preframes were not tolerated.

Dante seems to have been publicly active up until Loid's stasis. Loid is surprised to hear of both Dante and Drusus's deaths. These facts don't fit Dante being a preframe and suggest that he had a Tenno pilot instead.

Neither Drusus nor Loid ever directly states that Dante was an autonomous preframe. Loid says that Drusus purposely blurs the line between Tenno and frame identity because of his fondness for Dante. This doesn't necessarily mean that Dante was autonomous, but that Drusus wanted to believe that he was.

We see in the text that Drusus is extremely emotionally motivated. Personally I'd fully believe Drusus avoiding an inconvenient truth, particularly since the Tenno were supposed to be a complete secret. He could very well have met Dante, found out about the Tenno later, and lied to himself.

[lord-squiggletits]

Sometimes I see people call IDW Optimus an asshole (never talking about him in any other way), and then I look at their content and they stan characters who are literally worse than him in personality or in the shitty things they've done

And I go ah, so when you say "IDW Optimus is an asshole" what you really mean is "I hate it when Optimus has a personality and agency and fucks up like a human person. What I really want is for other characters to get depth and nuance while Optimus forever remains a G1 character who does nothing but inoffensively smile and make dad jokes in the background."

[bookwyrminspiration]

Hi! I saw you rb'd the post about autism and I rlly wanted to talk abt it! I don't live in the US, and therapists where i live are almost the same as you described. Idk if i have ADHD or Autism or something else entirely, but I do know there's something different from me than other people. I've known ever since I was little. I know my brain works differently, I see things differently, and I feel left out because of it. I relate to almost every obscure ADHD symptom (like i relate to the "i got distracted" but also the very specific "not everyone goes through that" ones).

I don't want to self diagnose because I'm nowhere near being an expert on neurodivergency, but I also know I'm different. Idk what to do because I talked to a therapist once about it (we didnt discuss it, i just mentioned it) and she said that if I've gotten this far (i'm 17) without a diagnosis and I've done fine, a diagnosis won't change that. I think that a diagnosis would 100% help because i would at least know for sure because rn i feel like i'm going crazy. Maybe everything I've been experiencing has just been the product of undealt with trauma, idk, but i rlly wish i knew for sure.

I imposter syndrome myself into thinking i'm actually just as normal as everyone else and am just thinking this becusde i want to think i'm "special". Which isn't true i'm 99% sure-

Sorry for the rant. I just dont know what to do :(

Hello, Nonsie! No need to apologize for the rant, I'm sorry you're in this situation. It absolutely sucks when therapists and other mental health professionals are like that. Sometimes it feels like they've made a decision about you already and are just tolerating you the rest of the time and dismissing everything else.

I've also been through the exact same thing with the "I know there's something different about me." I always chalked it up to me being "the gifted kid," but then I was different from all the other gifted kids as well. I didn't know what it was, so I instead turned to fiction and to stories. Especially those with magic and inhuman creatures, because I knew that whatever it was that made someone human, I didn't have it. So I saw myself instead in fairies and fae and as I got older, in monsters (I mean this in a good way). My point is that I think I understand the knowing you're different but not being able to put a finger on it experience. I often describe it as living in a bubble where I can see everyone else and they can see me, but I'm not with them. I'm separate even amongst everyone.

I will just say that if you don't think you're qualified to self-diagnose, I'd suggest looking into it more! Self-diagnoses are incredibly valid and are fairly accepted from what I've seen. Most people are very understanding about the process and about reasons why you might not be able to/not want to get an official diagnosis. I think almost all people who have diagnosed have also had the "I don't know enough to make this call" experience and then go on to look into it before doing so. They're generally not made lightly, instead made with the insight and reflection of weeks, months, years worth of work and research.

Also, I don't know how the rules work wherever you live, but it's possible that you'd be able to look into evaluations outside of your therapist if she is adamant about you not needing one. I know where I live I could find an evaluation location and submit the paperwork independently--though I think as a minor I'd need to include parent contact information, but then again maybe not. And that's also just where I am

You could also approach her or another therapist about it again and say that it's an avenue you'd like to explore even if it won't change much. Therapy is about you, so if you want something you're allowed to express that. One note I'd like to add is that I'd advise against relying on outside sources entirely for confirmation that your experiences aren't you "going crazy." That's not to say that an official diagnosis wouldn't be a relief or a breath of fresh air and a "finally! it was real!" That's an entirely understandable reason to want an evaluation or diagnosis, it's just that things don't always work perfectly and people can be wrong. So if you're basing your understanding entirely on someone else's assessment and they miss something, it can feel like a huge disappointment. And it's more likely when the system isn't friendly towards you.

I can tell you that you aren't making it up and that whatever you've experienced and been through, it is real and valid and you deserve answers about it. Whether those answers come from yourself or through treatment, I hope you find what you're looking for. I actually think a very common and relatable finding out you might be autistic/adhd/something else is obsessing over it and then convincing yourself you're making everything up and are actually normal and just suck at being a person.

I don't know if you want advice, but I think if I were in your situation (based on the knowledge I have) I'd look into it more. There are plenty of YouTube videos and online resources you can use to help figure things out, and if it's something you want then research what options are available in your area and what the requirements are (e.g. age/information/if you can do it alone or not). When I was first exploring all these possibilities, I started a thing in my notes app to keep track of different experiences that could potentially indicate or relate to something so I could look into it later, so maybe that could help!

I'm wishing you the best of luck in whatever comes next for you in this experience <33

[bedlamsbard]

So, I get the distaste for Rebels and The Bad Batch (definitely that last one), and I can certainly suggest @agoddamn's series of watching Clone Wars (because wow, I'd forgotten how poor that series could be), but with The Mandalorian, the most I can understand of your dislike of it is how it handles previous characters. Which, yeah, Filoni and his Precious OCs, but other than that, what about it? I mean, the plot/theme seemed simple to me: focusing on the relationship between Din and Grogu.

Ack, I didn't realize that out of context of my past ten years of fannishness and fannish engagement the takeaway from recent critical posts would be "Bedlam hates Star Wars," let alone "Bedlam hates Rebels"!

Look, I love Star Wars -- I genuinely do love Rebels and TCW, I'm very fond of Resistance and most of the films, and there are other parts of the ancillaries (books, comics, games) that I love, like, and/or enjoy. There are other parts of the saga that I dislike, a lot of it that I'm pretty neutral on because I just don't care; there's very little that I outright hate. (There are things that I avoid because I know I would hate them; I won't read Dark Disciple because the old EU Republic/Clone Wars comics from Dark Horse were formative for me and I'm not really over how Quinlan Vos's story line got retconned for TCW and thus the novel, so I don't feel the need to rub my face in it.)

I think, especially with Star Wars, there's a tendency to think that people only complain because they dislike or hate whatever it is they're complaining about it. I don't talk about the parts of Star Wars I actually hate because I frankly don't see the point in talking about the stuff I have no emotional investment in, or where my emotional investment only is distaste -- that's why I'll almost never talk about the ST. (And why I've only talked about the back half of Rebels S4, which I do genuinely hate, a handful of times over the years: I don't want to think about the thing I actually hate.) I talk about Rebels and TCW because those are the parts of Star Wars that I love and because I occasionally want to dig into why there are parts of them that just don't work for me. (And I do realize that if anyone pays attention to what I reblog and don't it may come off as me not liking them particularly; 99% of the time I only reblog TCW or Rebels gifsets immediately after I've rewatched episodes, and I haven't been doing rewatches lately for various reasons.) Critique doesn't mean "I hate it," it means "I want to think about this more on a critical level." It means "I love the puzzle pieces, why does the way they were put together not work for me? How could they have been done differently so that it would have worked for me?" Like I said a few weeks ago, while I don't want to actively add negativity to the fandom, I also don't really want to sit down and shut up if something isn't doing it for me if otherwise I love the thing; I want to figure out why it doesn't work. This is the flip side of "if you can't say anything positive, don't say anything at all" -- I'm not talking to Dave Filoni or the other showrunners (and I would never say any of this to the face of anyone at Lucasfilm), I'm sitting here talking to myself and to my friends about why the puzzle pieces don't quite come together for me. (And the bonus of me putting it on Tumblr is that I can actually find it again, because sometimes I do want to go back and see what I said about XYZ.)

If I'm not actively talking about all the things I love about Rebels or TCW it's because I don't particularly feel the need to justify why Thing works for me, because I already know it works for me. Or because I spent the first two years or so of Rebels and big chunks of TCW doing episode liveblogs, which are on the back end of my "Bedlam watches Rebels" and "Bedlam watches TCW" tags, and I don't feel the need to come back and say "I love the way XYZ happened" six or seven times. Or because I think it would be obvious because I've written something around a million words of fanfic about the two of them. Or because I have three Rebels tattoos and am a Rebels cosplayer, which obviously I don't really talk about on Tumblr but is something that I personally know. I mostly have not talked about The Bad Batch publicly (and only a little privately) because mostly it's not doing much that triggers strong feelings in me one way or another, though I do have the whole "why are these puzzle pieces not working for me, how would I have put them together differently" feel about parts of it.

As for Mando specifically -- look, Mando's fine. I understand why it appeals to a lot of people, even if I am not one of those people. I don't particularly find Grogu appealing either on a character or an aesthetic level. I find that for me personally the show varies wildly in quality from episode to episode; I find it to be a little too clever about itself in how it deals with both the world, its plot, its place in the saga, and its characters in a way drives me up the wall. It hits a couple of really specific things that are huge do not wants for me and some of that is on a shallow note of "I don't like how they do their Twi'lek prosthetics" and some of it is "I don't particularly like the aesthetics" and some of it is a weightier "I'm confused about what the thematic points of the show are because they're all over the map" and yes, some of it is, "I don't like how Mando intersects or does not intersect with other parts of the saga." Or the way that it gets valorized for being live action rather than animated by a lot of the fandom and then gets elevated over the other parts of the saga that I care about the most (TCW and Rebels). I've talked in the past about how Mando genuinely made me feel gaslit, even if that was no one's intention and thus was not actually gaslighting; it just managed to hit on my specific issues. I don't talk about Mando that much because mostly I just don't care and when I do talk about it it's because it managed to trip into something I do care about.

And if I sound particularly cranky right now, it's because every time I say something critical and it starts making tracks out of my usual circles, someone comes in to go "wow! you must hate Star Wars!" or "wow! you care a lot about [aesthetic choice]! why would you care about that!" or "wow! you're an idiot for thinking XYZ would happen/not happen!" or variations thereof. I've been in fandom for twenty years. I've been in this fandom since George W. Bush was president. I know how it goes. I'm going to reiterate the post I made after the Mando finale:

in any expanded canon, people are going to have different deal-breakers on where they can suspend their disbelief and it’s not a judgment on you and yours if theirs is different than yours. nor does it automatically say something bad about them! it just means y’all have different priorities and that’s fine! neither one of you should be jumping down each other’s throat because their line in the sand is “this contradicts something in previous canon” and yours is “the CGI is unconvincing.”

I feel like I’ve been seeing a lot of condescension (rather than hostility, which tbh is par for the course in SW so I just tune it out) recently and like…people can have different priorities. it’s fine. they’re not stupid for having their priority be “I don’t like the prosthetics” when your priority is “character A was mean to character B.” don’t worry, Lucasfilm isn’t listening to any of us.

[soloh]

Random-ass ramble about being ace-spec (and borderline) ahead

Y'know, as I got older I eventually blamed my hypersexuality, and some of the dumb behaviour that came with it (particularly in my last year of college), entirely on my BPD, because well, hypersexuality, but also impulsive behaviour, and ultimately a form of self harm because I kept going back and hooking up with someone over and over simply because he sometimes reminded me of my ex and all it did afterwards was make me feel like garbage, but looking back on it I'm wondering if being ace-spec and not realising also contributed. Firstly because on the rare occasion I did actually feel sexual attraction towards someone it was incredibly overwhelming and overpowering, and secondly I viewed having people be sexually attracted to me as a far bigger compliment than it is, because I didn't grasp just how often allosexuals feel sexual attraction, so I ultimately placed a lot of importance on people finding me sexually attractive even if I didn't find them sexually attractive- especially because I confused general libido activation with sexual attraction constantly so I didn't totally realise I wasn't attracted to some of them at the time anyway. Like, I was not sexually attracted to the guy I lost my virginity to (and God it makes me wish I'd just waited like 8 more months until my next relationship to get that intimate for the first time because I actually was attracted to him, even though that relationship was very short lived) but I was super keen to have sex with the first person because I was romantically interested and the fact that he was sexually attracted to me made me feel really good because I didn't realise that 99% of the population actually feel that way about a lot of people. And so in turn, I wanted to show that I was also interested, and let my libido in conjunction with romantic attraction lead the way, rather than thinking, "hey, do I actually want to have sex with this specific person for the right reasons? Or am I just hoping this will get him to date me?"

Then there's the imposter syndrome that comes with having BPD and sometimes wondering if I'm somehow faking being ace-spec in an attempt to fit in somewhere, even though logically idk how I can fake not feeling sexual attraction towards people? Obviously you can fake being sexually attracted towards people by lying to them, but I don't look at people and tell them I'm not attracted to them so how could I be lying to myself about what I don't feel??? It's messy. Also not really having any ace-spec people to talk to irl, apart from my most recent ex who is demisexual, doesn't really help I think, because I can't ask other people and confirm that how I feel is also how they feel and I'm not just somehow lying to myself? I confirmed with a couple of allosexuals that I definitely don't feel how they feel in regards to how often they experience sexual attraction and stuff, which should reaffirm that I'm not lying to myself, but somehow it doesn't? 😅 idk, it's all a lot. I just wanna play Kingdom Hearts and watch anime and write stories and not think about sexuality, but I also want to be comfortable and secure and openly proud of who I am. Bleeeeeech

[fly-pow-bye]

DuckTales 2017 - “The Golden Spear!”

Story by: Francisco Angones, Madison Bateman, Colleen Evanson, Christian Magalhaes, Bob Snow

Written by: Bob Snow

Storyboard by: Jean-Sebastien Duclos, Sam King, Jason Reicher

Directed by: Jason Zurek

Look to La Luna.

The episode jumps right off with some jumping. Specifically, Della jumping around on the moon with a huge sack of gold that she will use to repair and fuel her rocket back to her home. There's a good bit of detail where Della is happy skipping along with this presumably super-heavy bag of gold, but as soon as she gets into the Spear, she ends up having to strain to lift it up.

Another neat detail that was in the last few Della cameos that I didn't really talk about: she has a working TV up there that gets Duckberg's news. Any question about how she knew what her triplets looked like, and knowing that Scrooge is still okay, is answered just with that.

Suddenly, this episode cuts back to the Earth. We're still in the cold open for the episode when we get the first glimpse of the B-plot: Donald Duck trying to get his doctor-mandated rest on a prescription hammock. This is all interrupted when Huey and Webby run towards him. Donald tries to explain his situation, and Webby is a bit skeptical at first, thinking he can't be that stressed with...

Webby: That luscious head full of... (sees Donald pull out quite a few of his head feathers) ...eugh.

Would these ducks call those head feathers hair? This episode ends up not telling us.

Huey and Webby just want to try out this haunted VHS tape that causes the dead to rise, though Huey tries to cover it up by saying it's just a silly little B-movie. This might be out of his actual belief, due to being the Scully to Webby's Mulder, though his sweating seems to indicate even he realizes Webby turns out to be right 99% of the time. Donald just pushes them aside and lets them do their thing while he gets his needed rest. In this episode, his motto is...

Donald: (as calm as he can be) Everything is fine.

If you imagined flames surrounding him, you're not alone. Well, it doesn't turn out to be flames here, as a rising zombie hand pinches him in the butt. Sorry, I had to mention that; I saw it, I can't unsee it.

Needless to say, this B-movie is about to get real, and, in the face of his nephew and his nephew's best friend being in danger, he has to save them by going as Ash Williams as TV-Y7-non-FV can allow. And it can allow a lot; I guess as long as they're green and don't have anything nasty coming out of them, getting their torso chainsawed is a-okay!

As opposed to that zombie's torso to the zombie's legs, I had the feeling these plots are probably going to converge. A-plots and B-plots converging are not always the case; the Tenderfeet plot in The Other Bin of Scrooge McDuck never really ties in with anything. It never becomes good either, but that's another thing entirely. However, it's clear that they wouldn't just have this without having these plots converge somehow, right?

Back on the moon, the episode re-establishes the two main Moonlanders, with General Lunaris on the side of "let's see how this Earth creature plays out, especially since she doesn't look that threatening" and Lt. Penumbra on the side of "get this creature out of here, preferably by either getting speared or lasered into oblivion".

In an attempt to get Penumbra to change her mind, Lunaris talks to Penumbra about how his people were in fear of the pale blue dot due to all the mysterious objects that come out of it. They may be talking about the moon landing, but I can't help but think about missiles as well. It's well established that, while they have warriors, their "planet" has been in peace for quite some time. He then points to Della, saying that she doesn't look nearly that terrifying.

Lunaris decides to have Penumbra, or Penny as Della calls her much to how much she despises it, monitor Della. Even Della comments that this is the "classic odd couple". Penumbra constantly gets angry at Della not taking anything she says seriously, her playing with her childhood training spear, and not really thinking it's funny that both she and Della have spears.

Also, Penumbra thinks Della is just this treacherous spy, and doesn't think her fellow Moonlanders are going to fall for her Earth ways.

Needless to say, "they fall for her earth ways". It helps that she saved them from the Moon-Mite in her last episode, and she just keeps talking to them about all of her adventures, including one about how she strung the Beagle Boys up like a yo-yo. This leads to them being curious about this mystical "yo-yo".

Della: The Earth, the moon orbiting around the Earth...

(Penumbra attempts to zap her for her vile crime of not believing in selene-centricity)

The others don't seem to mind, especially when she talks about all the other amazing things the Earth has, including the wonders of the slap bracelet that comes in many different colors! Penumbra tries to argue about all the cool moon things, like the identical outfits made out of gold! You know, gold, the material that, as established before, is so common that they practically give it away. Needless to say, this doesn't budge anyone.

I'm not really going to say much about the Donald plot that we cut back and forth between in this episode, but I have to point out something. While the two plots are on completely different planets, there's some masterful transitions between them. We hear Della talk about how her family is unstoppable, we see Donald Duck cowering in fear of Zeus's lightning strikes. It's a long story. We see Storkules catapult Donald right into Zeus, again, long story, and then we see Lt. Penumbra's golden spear hit a crudely drawn Della.

One can also argue that this shows how connected Donald Duck's situation is with Della's. Not necessarily that they're living the same situation, but how Della's situation is tied to Donald's. As said in the other episode that has the word "Spear" in it, Della's disappearance was a pretty major reason why Donald stopped adventuring. Most of the times he's ever involved in such things is that he's either forced into it, or has to keep his nephews safe from harm, both of which are heavily featured in his plot.

Going back to the Della plot, Penumbra's attempt to make the moon look good doesn't exactly work, as everyone starts to help out and be interested in all of Della's stories from back when she was on Earth. Outside of the comics, and I mean the comics based on this reboot, we never really saw them, so it's neat to hear in here.

Penumbra eventually decides to use that training spear, but General Lunaris prevents that bad ol' Penny from offing that stupid duck for making the moon look bad. Lunaris tells her, oh, she's just telling them the wonders of her culture...specifically, her rocket.

Even more specifically, he points out a particular feature of this rocket. One of these switches puts the rocket into an irreversible emergency launch. It's here where Lunaris's motives may not be as clear as we once thought; if he didn't want Penumbra to think about using this switch, what did he think was going to happen?

Penumbra's last attempt to get the Moonlanders on her side: if the Earth was so cool, why doesn't she just take everyone there? This backfires immensely when Della decides to answer that with a "why not?", as the people cheer.

She does complain to Lunaris about this, but he keep reassuring her that the people have to make their own decisions. Before he can elaborate, Della shows up, saying thanks for the help, and brings back her spear. She knows what's it's like to be separated. This appears to touch her heart. To put this as vaguely as possible, we can see the beginnings of a turnaround, in more ways than one.

After going into a mystical realm filled with treasures as led by a magical goat, they don't really show much of it anyway, and losing all of his feathers in the process, Donald Duck finally realizes...

Donald: Everything is not fine.

Again, it is possible that a certain dog with a hat inspired this bit of writing. The boys finally realize, yeah, there's definitely a time for a break.

They decide to surprise him a month-long vacation on a boat filled with hammocks. Donald seemed totally fine with leaving the kids at be in the original, but this Donald needed a little more convincing. They do have other family that can protect them, and Scrooge already paid for it.

As for Della, let's say her hopes to bring the Moonlanders to a place Penumbra has known for being nothing but a place of nightmares and horror are going to be dashed.

That switch that Lunaris pointed out gets pushed, and Della is given no choice but to get on the Spear and fly home. Lunaris suddenly shows up, apparently touched by all of her stories of this wondrous blue planet, and asks Della for the rocket science book so he can build a fleet. His word for that, not mine, and also his total change of mind of what he thought the Earth was. Hmm...

This all eventually leads to the shot that's in all the trailers of Della announcing to her boys that she's coming home. If Disney is going to spoil it, I will too. However, there's a lot more twists than this one. What will happen when Della reaches Earth? What will Lunaris think of Penumbra's actions, and what will he do with that rocket science book Della gives him at the last minute? Most importantly, will Donald finally get his rest? Those questions are answered right in the last minute of the episode, and...it's pretty heavy. I don't feel like spoiling it now.

How does it stack up?

We go from a very bizarre episode involving a 20 minute tantrum to a delightful closing and opening of a new arc. Of course, it's going to be much better. While the two plots could get a bit repetitive, it never really becomes boring. The Della plot has great use of expressions, the Donald parts have some good humor. Most importantly, it's quite clear this is just the beginning. This is a golden episode.

Next, a Mother's Day episode that sadly aired one day after.

← The 87 Cent Solution! 🦆 Nothing Can Stop Della Duck! →

[thehollowworldofficial]

Elise’s Pitch Wars Welcome!

Hello! My name is Elise Longden, and I’m writing this little introduction because I have written a manuscript and I’m planning to submit it to Pitch Wars, the mentoring programme!

Whilst this little blog is where I record my thoughts about my writing, I’ve never really introduced myself - mostly because I believed I would never let anyone see it. However, the Pitch Wars form has room for a website, and I would rather link this blog as opposed to my Twitter (which is inactive) or my Instagram (which is just full of cosplay and dog photos). 

To clarify, I have written a book called “The Hollow World”. 

Okay so, here’s some stuff about me:

Submission related stuff that potential mentors may be interested in:

In 2017 I won the UK National Flash Fiction Competition run by the University of Chester and was published in an anthology that had also once featured Margaret Atwood (SQUEE!). My piece entitled “Flotsam” can be found here:

 http://www.chester.ac.uk/sites/files/chester/Longden%20Elise%20-%20Flotsam%20FINAL.pdf

I got an A* A-Level grade (It’s not to big myself up...just in case anyone not British doesn’t know what that means!!!!) in Creative Writing, and my coursework, which was 70% of my grade, was the first 30,000 words of my Pitch Wars manuscript.

The idea for “The Hollow World” came to me in a Film Studies class at college. After trying /(and failing) to come up for an idea to base a project around, my teacher gave me an exercise to generate some ideas. She took a few traits typical of Hollywood films, and told me to flip them on their head. Thus, “The Hollow World”, or at least a basis for it, was born, and three (ish) years later, I still can’t get it out of my head. 

Basically the idea of Ashe came from my bizarre urge to see a tiny little girl violently killing things in a film. I thought I was being super original, but the film Logan beat me to it. I can’t even be mad, because Dafne Keen is so incredible?!

The reason why I’m submitting to Pitch Wars, is because I need help. That’s the bottom line. I have edited my manucript the best I can, but I need someone who can take what I’ve written and look at it from a fresh, and new perspective. I am new to the idea of getting my manucript published (though I have always dreamed I would), and navigating the crazy world of publishing and agents and general make-your-writing-an-actual-book stuff....is scary. And I really, really, need your help. I need someone who is honest who can tell me what needs to be done. I’ve done the best I can, and now I need someone who is better than me.

I draw, so here’s some pictures of the characters from the “The Hollow World”, that may hopefully pique your interest:

ASHE 

MAGPIE

NADIA

CASSIDY

SOME FACES

SOME MORE FACES

Whilst these were drawn about a year ago and aren’t my best work, I’m hoping they entice potential mentors, just a ‘lil bit more! :)

Some general stuff about me:

I am a pretty happy and positive person, who loves to work hard. If I have a task or idea inside my head, I will hyperfixate on it until it’s done. For example...this manuscript was unfinished (by about 20,000 words) on the 1st of August. It was my first draft that I hadn’t read through, it was unformatted, it was riddled with errors and inconsistancies, but after meeting the lovely Tomi Adeyemi and talking to her about Pitch Wars, I decided to enter. So I took my jumbled mess, I put my butt into gear, and I spent day after day writing, writing, writing, until I felt happy enought to submit it. I also had to learn what I query letter was, because I am a publishing term noob. My point is, I am willing to push myself, and go all out at 110% percent, if that somehow helps me achieve what I want to achieve.

I am 19 and I live in the UK (specifically near Liverpool). 

I cosplay as well! I’ve been Rey, Leia, and a generic Jedi from Star Wars, Margaery Tyrell and Daenerys Targaryen from Game of Thrones, Pirate King Elizabeth Swann from Pirates of the Caribbean, and I spend 70% of my time in my 13th Doctor costume.

I love Hamilton, and can rap all of it. I love musicals in general tbh.

I have an unhealthy obsession with Moriarty from Sherlock Holmes.

Have I mentioned that the 13th Doctor is the best thing ever to happen to me?

I have a dinosaur hat that I wear whenever I’m sad, because it’s pretty impossible to be sad with a giant T-Rex on your head. And by “hat” I mean this thing:

Pretty majestic, right?

ANYWAY

I’m ace/aro, which is why my book features no romance.

I love my dog Rocky more than anything. He looks like this: 

As well as a mentor who can teach me writer-y things, I’m also looking for a friend, so here’s some stuff I like:

TV Shows: 

Merlin (the love of my life, tbh, and it broke my heart), DOCTOR WHO (especially the 13th Doctor, even though she hasn’t aired yet), Hannibal, Orphan Black, Sense 8, iZombie, TOP GEAR (Yes, the car show. I’m obsessed), Game of Thrones, Parks and Recreation, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Jessica Jones/any Netflix Marvel show, the 100 (early seasons because Lexa), RuPauls Drag Race, Queer Eye, Brooklyn 99, Stranger Things, Sherlock, Agent Carter...I’ve watched a lot okay?

Movies: 

My ultimate favourite movie of all time is What We Do in the Shadows. Even if you’re not going to choose me as a mentee, then please what this dumb film. I love it. I LOVE IT. It’s dark comedy genius, and a real gem. 

Other favourite films are: Wonder Woman, Ghostbusters (2017 version), Ocean’s 8 (will Cate Blanchett adopt me as her ace/aro child?), Marvel Films (particulary Thor: Ragnarok), Star Wars Films, Kingsman Films, John Wick Films, Pirates of the Carribbean Films, Harry Potter Films,Mad Max: Fury Road, Peter Pan Goes Wrong (if you pick me I’ll force you to watch it at some point, sorry), Disney Films (Mulan, Up!, and Hercules are my faves).

Books: 

Some that don’t need an explanation: Harry Potter, A Song of Ice and Fire, His Dark Materials, Lord of the Rings. Anything by Neil Gaiman, Margaret Atwood, or Stephen King.

My favourite series, and arguably my “Harry Potter” is the Skulduggery Pleasant series by Derek Landy. I’ve met Derek multiple times, and his books are just hilarious, soul-destorying, and MAGIC. I love them.

A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers - Seriously, this Sci-Fi book is one of the most striking books I’ve ever read, mostly because it surprised me with it’s tender story, honest representations of real people, and general WOW-ness. I love it, and its flashbacks heavily influenced my own manuscript. You know when you love a book so much that you wish you could eat it? This is that book for me.

Moriarty by Antony Horowitz. My favourite villain of all time in a book that blew my mind? Yes please.

The Girl in 6E by A.R.Torre. I picked up this book for a quid in the supermarket, and it utterly suprised me. It’s about a sex-worker murder-obsessed cam girl who is asked to act out something on camera that’s a little too disturbing, so she tracks down the man who asked her in order to save a little girl from a vile act. Think Maestra meets The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. It’s not the most sophisticated reading with all of the bizarre sexual stuff, but the wit and exasperation of the main character makes up for it. I love anything that surprises me, and this book was something I'd never seen before.

Anything (memoir or fiction) by Carrie Fisher. As a Star Wars nerd I knew I would love her work, but when I read them I was blown away by how poignant, poetic, and wonderous Carrie Fisher’s writing is. She seems to find the perfect balance between humour and emotion, and reading them was a genuine joy. Each funny sentence makes me laugh out loud, but each serious sentence is heavy, poised, and so amazingly crafted and emotional. 

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi. I was lucky enough to meet Tomi on her UK tour, and I gave her my very long letter and a portfolio of art. I love the book, and I love even more what it stands for, and there’s not much else I can really say.

Other books I loved in no order: The Power by Naomi Alderman, The Cursed Prince by Holly Black, The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins, the Chaos Walking series by Patrick Ness, the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan, Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas, The Time Traveller’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, the Gone series by Michael Grant, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, The Martian and Artemis by Andy Weir, Lost Stars by Claudia Gray, Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, Room by Emma Donoghue, Wicked by Gregory Maguire....and a helluva lot more....

And just so you know, here’s what I look like:

(I’m the human dressed as the 13th Doctor)

Hopefully this gives you an idea about me and my personality! I’m sorry this is so long, I just wanted to make sure I came across in an okay way! If any potential mentors are reading this, thank you for taking the time to! 

If you want to read the notes/journal entries I kept on this blog when I was writing and editing my manucript, just search the tag #update! 

My Twitter is: https://twitter.com/EliseLongden 

My Instagram is:  instagram.com/elise.longden/ (here you will find a lot of cosplay and dog pictures, and I’m not sorry)

If you have any questions or anything else you want to know, please feel free to shoot me an ask! Or just say hi!