thyshieldsteadfast

[thyshieldsteadfast]

Those "modern fairy tales where the princess saves herself" types of books not only misrepresent the gender roles in fairy tales (there are tons of stories where girls get to save the day), but they fundamentally misunderstand the entire genre.

Fairy tales aren't about saving yourself.

These aren't epic myths or heroic legends about the great warriors who slay every monster in their path because they're so awesome. Fairy tales are almost always about ordinary, even incompetent, people who get thrown into strange situations where they only succeed because of the help of others.

It's not a gendered thing. The boy who goes off to seek his fortune is usually the dim-witted third son whose older brothers are the strong, smart ones. The third son succeeds because he is kind to the magical helpers who then complete the tasks for him--and the exact same thing happens when a girl is the main character.

The characters in a fairy tale rarely succeed because they embrace their own strength and take their own path. Much more often, they are told step-by-step what to do, and they succeed because they obey--respecting the wisdom of others.

The core virtue of a fairy tale is not pride, but humility. It's not a story about the strong, but those who are weak, small, helpless. The people who can't do it all on their own, but can recognize the worth and wisdom of others.

Turning this story into a "girl power" (or even a "boy power") story warps it into something that is fundamentally the opposite of a fairy tale, and it has nothing to do with the gender of the main character.

[thyshieldsteadfast]

was playing "fetch" with the ocean today by tossing stones into it and watching them wash back up with the tide a few meters away, and it got me thinking about grief and the things we carry with us even after we lose them

[thyshieldsteadfast]

"I would kill for you. I would die for you" would you take a break for me? Would you sit down and rest? For a day, a week, a year? Would you let others take care of your needs for me? Would you let yourself be held for me? By me?

[thyshieldsteadfast]

If your plot feels flat, STUDY it! Your story might be lacking...

Stakes - What would happen if the protagonist failed? Would it really be such a bad thing if it happened?

Thematic relevance - Do the events of the story speak to a greater emotional or moral message? Is the conflict resolved in a way that befits the theme?

Urgency - How much time does the protagonist have to complete their goal? Are there multiple factors complicating the situation?

Drive - What motivates the protagonist? Are they an active player in the story, or are they repeatedly getting pushed around by external forces? Could you swap them out for a different character with no impact on the plot? On the flip side, do the other characters have sensible motivations of their own?

Yield - Is there foreshadowing? Do the protagonist's choices have unforeseen consequences down the road? Do they use knowledge or clues from the beginning, to help them in the end? Do they learn things about the other characters that weren't immediately obvious?

[thyshieldsteadfast]

thinking about how Hector was "man-killer" to the Greeks, but "horse-breaker" to the Trojans. how it takes tenderness and patience and devotion to get a wild horse to trust you, let alone let you ride it. how hector's life and relationships to others, even the gods, are defined by devotion, and how it wins him both honor and his own death. how hector thinks he can approach achilles like a spooked horse, but achilles is a dog and not only a dog, but a dog that has nothing left. how even the wildest horse has the desire for food and comfort, but hector has never met a horse that wants to die. anyways how's your day going

[thyshieldsteadfast]

neurodivergent and queer people how are we feeling?

[thyshieldsteadfast]

habe you ever created a character specifically to go through the horrors and then realized that you don't want him to go through the horrors anymore

[thyshieldsteadfast]

Its obvious to me when people who post about canaries in mines have never met a canary. Like yeah the miners had a special device to revive the canary because canaries are one of the most adorable creatures on the planet and they make adorable little chirping sounds and honestly probably loved the sounds of machinery and people talking so it was probably loud and friendly with the workers. Whatever though maybe meet a canary sometime and youd understand

[thyshieldsteadfast]

Enough of the trope where memory loss undoes the damage or the corruption or whatever. More content where removing memories just removes the context.

The tragedy of needing to grieve and not knowing what or who you lost or why. The angst of having trauma and being denied the awareness that it's trauma. The suspense of being different somehow and left to wonder how and when. The tension of knowing that something is off and you can't find where it hurts. The Adventure Zone gets it. Kingdom Hearts gets it.

There is an aching inside you and you don't know how it got there.

[thyshieldsteadfast]

knight/lord ships are like. what if i would die for you. what if i wanted you to live for me. what if i wanted to touch you but could only be satisfied with being near you. what if i could touch you but only through the safety of our gloves. what if i couldn’t stop thinking about you right next to me. what if i bloodied my hands for you and never looked back at the wreckage. what then

[thyshieldsteadfast]

intangible - madisen kuhn

[thyshieldsteadfast]

"came back wrong" this "lived wrong" that, what about dying wrong. my death will forever cling to you, leaving behind a slimy trail and a metallic taste in your mouth. my soul will forever drag you down like the heavy corpse of a long-dead god, who somehow still grants wishes. you can't tell which one of us is the one not letting go. you know not even your own death will end this.

[thyshieldsteadfast]

Can I just say that as someone who was raised in a firmly working class household by a blue collar parental team… so many people on this website who try to translate blue collar reality into their fantasy worldbuilding are literally insane

[thyshieldsteadfast]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Dream SMP Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Wilbur Soot & TommyInnit Characters: Wilbur Soot, TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Original Characters Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Healing, Panic Attacks, Smoking, Angst, References to Depression Summary:

This body feels fresher, less exsanguinated—his lungs are clearer than they’d ever been in a long while. He takes another drag and lets it permeate his airways, allows the bitter, robust caramel at the back of his throat to linger excruciatingly before he exhales and breathes in the cuttingly crisp high-altitude air. He can’t recall the sensation of breathing to be so clean. It’s dizzying. Addicting.

Or: Wilbur moves to Utah

[thyshieldsteadfast]

Chapters: 3/3 Fandom: 3rd Life | Last Life SMP Series, Empires SMP Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Jimmy | Solidarity/Scott Major | Smajor1995 Characters: Jimmy | Solidarity, Scott Major | Smajor1995, GeminiTay (Video Blogging RPF), Lizzie | LDShadowLady (Video Blogging RPF) Additional Tags: Fairy Tale Elements, Resurrection, Bittersweet Ending, POV First Person, Alternate Universe Summary:

I pull your hand to my lips to bite the rest of the fruit from its stem, much to your consternation, and I try not to think of blood flaking off your pale, white cheek, blistered skin peeling from your half-shattered skull—I couldn’t bear to look at the rest of your body at the time, but one can imagine.

You pick another berry from the shoddily carved bowl—your first creation that you didn’t mind keeping when I asked—and bite at the drupelets one at a time, inelegantly, docile and charming and nearly whole

 or: a 30 day prompt challenge in three parts

[thyshieldsteadfast]

whatever souls are made of, yours and mine are the same (insult)

[thyshieldsteadfast]

You are the player.

Wake up.