Rise Up, Oh Heart, For There is Another Battle to Win
Nov 06
Anonymous asked: 8 and 14 for the author's ask?
*squeak* YAY MORE ASK MEME. Y’all should send me more questions because YAY ASK MEME.
8) favorite genre to write
I already said this here, but it’s short so *throws confetti* FANTASY MOTHERFUCKERS
14) do you make playlists for your current wips?
HahahaHA yeah. Wow yeah. Not for fics, but my original works get HUGE playlists on Spotify, which then get subdivided by character or pairing or whatever. The Polaris playlist is like…seven hours long, with subsets of playlists for Seb/Jun Li, Lessa/Max, Lessa and Max individually, Marshal North, Marshal North and her wife, and one just titled Music for the Dead for the wakes and funerals at Polaris. The Falls the Shadow playlist (actually the Gunmetal Revelations playlist, because FtS is the first in a trilogy) is twelve hours long, with subplaylists for Sam/Michael, Oz/Kit, Billy/Colin, and the archangels and Lucifer. I go HARD AS FUCK on the playlist thing. And as usual you can blame the fuck out of @twistedangelsays for all of that, because prior to her encouragement I was too sheepish to make myself playlists for novels that didn’t even exist.
I’ve seen this post a whole bunch of times but something only just clicked-
Early on during the introduction to Les Amis, Grantaire is described as not understanding exactly what he feels for Enjolras, bar knowing it’s a fascination. Hit by a coup de foudre at the very last second, Grantaire finally realises that what he’s feeling for Enjolras is love.
*runs around flapping arms* So many people did the thiiiiing, I love it!
7) when asked, are you embarrassed or enthusiastic to tell people that you write?
Um…depends on my mental state that day. If I’m having an ‘up’ day where I’m in good mental shape and the anxiety et al are chill, I’m really enthusiastic about it. Because, God, guys, gals, and nonbinary pals, I love my writing, it is my whole heart, and I basically live in a constant state of “SOMEONE COME YELL WITH ME ABOUT THIS NOVEL THAT DOESN’T EXIST BECAUSE I HAVEN’T WRITTEN IT YET.” On the other hand, if I’m having a ‘down’ day, or a slightly precarious sort of day, I’m not embarrassed per se, but one disinterested remark or sarcastic comment can put me into a spiral that can last for a long time. I’ve abandoned whole universes without a backward glance because of stuff like that. There was this one universe that I created as an assignment for a science class that ended that way–we were supposed to create superheroes based on the four major biomolecules, and the whole class turned in crappy comics about, like, ‘Daring DNA’ and ‘Lady Lipid’ or whatever, but naturally I created four real people and gave them superpowers/secret identities and wrote up whole justifications for why their powers and personalities and places in the group fit each biomolecule and handed in twenty pages of origin story and action figures, and I got a D on the assignment. The teacher actually failed me at first, but raised it because “at least I knew what the four biomolecules were” and even though I had an entire novel and universe plotted out, I scrapped the whole thing and never touched it again.
8) favorite genre to write
*throws confetti* FANTASY, MOTHERFUCKERS.
10) write in silence or with background noise? with people or alone?
In…what sense? In the positive sense, all my characters kind of haunt me, more so if I finished their novel or one of their novels. Like, they’re real people, my head is a pretty cluttered space with all the people up there. In the negative sense, the characters in the novels I’ve abandoned kind of…loom. Like that novel I mentioned up there? Fucking haunting me.
Anonymous asked: Just here to say I reallyove your writing. You da bombdotcom👌👌
Oh my god, oh wow, you’re so nice. Thank you!!! I…suck at accepting compliments, so pretend I said something witty here.
I used that gif of Tamaki blushing as a response to a compliment once already in the last like week or two, but that’s like. My default response to compliments. Covering my face and retreating like *shoop* I’m dead. Is it etiquette to use the same gif in response to every compliment I ever receive?
Anonymous asked: 3, 5, 6?
I love ask memes, I really do, they’re very soothing. From this!
3) what order do you write in? front of book to back? chronological? favorite scenes first? something else?
I start on page one and write until I get to the last page. Every once in a while, when I’m bored and/or distracted and/or need motivation, I’ll do what I call ‘writing ahead’ and write individual scenes or events ahead of time and then integrate them later, but if I write ahead at length, it’s something that’s taking place immediately after the writing that I’m caught up on. I just really hate having to meticulously go over the stuff I’m integrating in to make sure it’s all contiguous and everything.
5) character you were most surprised to end up writing
6) something you would go back and change in your writing that it’s too late/complicated to change now
Um…I dunno. It might have been kind of interesting to make Sam Lightworth a lesbian, but I like the dynamic of “tall snarky angry dude crumbles all over tiny lethal wicked-eyed girl with the fate of the world in her hands” that I ended up with in FtS. I just…have a lot of things that I write and generally I get pretty committed to the way things are, because my characters are very real to me. Altering them after the fact feels kind of like a betrayal.
Which Founding Father You would win in a fight with
1. DEMAND condom use 2. Hold your partners accountable for what happens in the bedroom. None of this “baby I can’t control myself around you” or “I just wanted you so bad” bullshit. 3. Coercion is real and it’s very scary and hard to identify in the moment. Establish a dialogue with your partner. Be clear on what you both want. Be clear on what you don’t want. Your boundaries should ALWAYS be respected. 4. Sex can be really emotionally and physically over-stimulating the first few times; don’t be afraid or ashamed to ask your partner to slow down, take a break, or even stop. 5. Focus less on pleasing your partner and more on exploring your partner. Everyone’s body is different and there are no “tricks” to better sex. Chances are, if you psych yourself out worrying over how well you’re “performing” then nobody’s going to have a good time. 6. Ask questions, offer suggestions. Despite what porn has probably taught you, talking during sex isn’t weird or taboo. Your partner isn’t a mind reader. They don’t know what feels good to you. [Pro-tip, a looot of people without clitorises aren’t fully aware of just HOW sensitive a clitoris is. They can be a little rough with them. Tell them to chill!!!!] 7. Your sex life is YOUR business. Don’t ever feel ashamed of how many or how few sexual partners/experiences you’re having. Do what you want, touch the people who want to touch you back, forget the rest. 8. DON’T FAKE YOUR ORGASMS!! Don’t fake your orgasms!! DON’TFAKEYOURORGAMS!! If your partner isn’t getting you there, let them know! Tell them how!! 9. There is more to sex than orgasms. Sex is a really cool way to establish intimacy and trust, to have a fun time, to relieve stress, to explore a person’s body and bring them pleasure. Don’t get me wrong, orgasms are really cool and good, but your sex life is going to be a lot better if it doesn’t revolve around them. 10. LEARN ABOUT YOUR BODY!! This goes for everyone, but ESPECIALLY if you are a person in possession of a vulva, you have been discouraged and even actively kept from vital knowledge about your anatomy! Do some google searches, buy a human sexuality textbook, masturbate. 11. Virginity is a useless concept. It’s completely okay if your virginity is something important to you and I’m not trying to belittle that idea. Just, for the record, in the grand scheme of things it’s not a big deal. Literally nothing about you changes just because you bumped uglies with someone else.
This has been a public service announcement from your friendly internet poet.
Talking about sex when not being sexy is the best first step to having sex. Don’t talk about it to turn on your partner, just discuss it casual. Talk about your thoughts and feelings, what you think you want, what scares you, what interests you, etc. Like anything you can think of. It makes the act easier and can help you establish boundaries before the act starts. Try doing it on a phone or over text so you know sex won’t start. Sometimes the distance helps you be honest.
i like how positive this post is and how it isn’t gender specific <3 <3 <3
Honestly my favorite part about this post is that from the time I uploaded until now ive never gotten hate for this we all agree the orange man needs to go
Somebody actually put “post this in the south and see what happens” Bitch, this is a website. They can read it in the south.
I am from the south and I agree the angry cheeto needs to go.
5) character you were most surprised to end up writing
Whenever I end up writing someone genuinely nice, I’m totally baffled. Like, okay, in my Falls the Shadow novel, one of the Four Horsemen is named Kit (Famine) and she’s just flat-out a genuine sweetheart. Will Hargrove, from my unfinished novel Emrys Ascendant, is Too Nice for any of this supernatural shit to be happening to him. Or Lessa, from Polaris? Like, yes, she can murder a dude with lightning, but also cartoon birds probably braid her hair in the morning.
10) write in silence or with background noise? with people or alone?
Background noise, always background noise, I hate silence, I build incredibly expansive and intricate playlists for my various novels. And if I’m around people, they have to be background people–I write really well in coffee shops, libraries, ice cream stores, that sort of thing.
15) why did you start writing?
I always told stories, you know? I was really into playing pretend as a kid, and I started memorizing fairy tales and folklore as a very smol bean. And then when I was like eight or nine, my beloved aunt (sarcasm) told me that I was too old to play pretend and I needed to stop living in my own world and get my head out of the clothes and grow up. I was a pretty messed up kid, so naturally I took this as gospel, but I still had stories to tell, so I started writing them down. Flash forward a decade or so and I’m putting out about a novel every 18 months.
20) do you write in long sit-down sessions or in little spurts?
Both! When I have a few hours I can scrape together without feeling like I’m volunteering to have more dirt shoveled down onto my coffin (literally fuck college so much), I can write straight through that whole time period without trouble. If I have a whole day, I’ve been known to forget meals or sleep or water. On the other hand, I also carry a notebook and scrawl down bits of scenes and conversations whenever I’m sitting and waiting for things. Whenever I’m talking to someone who says something like “I’ve always wanted to write a novel but I don’t have time” my response is usually “No one has time, you usually make time.” I mean, I sure as hell don’t have time to write novels, I just kind of do it anyway.
25) copy/paste a few sentences or a short paragraph that you’re particularly proud of
Okay I know this is more than a few sentences but I am!!! Literally so proud of this!!! It’s from a story I just now started about…um, basically a story about how I never got over my smol bean rage about the whole “Getting kicked back into the real world as a kid again after growing up in Narnia” schtick.
“A
drink for the Wanderer,” I said, switching from the bland notes of English to
the hard lilt of Alleiran and pouring out a dribble of scotch into the northern
mug. “To fire, to travel, to lies and
battle. Bring us home alive and send us
out again.” The familiar benediction warmed
something cold in my chest, left me trembling on the dangerous edge of
tears. “Bless your servant, Wanderer, for
I am far from home and have no war to fight.”
The last part of the prayer was personal, individual. I had been making the same simple request for
years.
I
passed the bottle across the table and he took it, tipping it not quite far
enough to pour scotch into the southern mug.
“An empty cup for the Lady of Stars,”
he said in Alleiran, subdued. “To storm,
to sky, to the fallen light. Raise us up
and let us fly.” He paused and let out a
breath that shook, closing his eyes as if he couldn’t stand to look at me
during the personal prayer. His prayer
had been the same as long as mine had. “Bless
your servant, Lady, for I have done great harm that cannot be repaid. Watch over my sister as she walks between
days, where the living cannot go. Grant
me clarity, guard my sanity, show me a bright path.” He opened his eyes and offered me the bottle,
adding quietly, “Save us from the past.”
