Avatar

Stultiloquentia

@stultiloquentia / stultiloquentia.tumblr.com

One part pretension, two parts squee.
Posts
Avatar
reblogged
Avatar
persnickettes

War of Faith fics!

So @stultiloquentia told me to link my fic here on Tumblr! In truth I've been remiss about sharing my complete War of Faith obsession here, but I am so, so obsessed. This show isn't even stealth m/m romance, as far as I'm concerned, it's just a straightforward BL about these two and their intense smoldering obsession with each other, masquerading as political idealism, but no one here is fooled, I mean look at them look at them

GIF by zhansww
GIF by zhansww

like if you haven't watched show yet you're sleeping on not only one of THE best c-dramas in recent memory, with stellar acting and edge-f-your-seat action and layered writing and intricate direction and absolutely gorgeous production design, but one of the most satisfying queer subtexts of any show ever.

um. which is to say i have been trying very hard to make this fandom happen by way of writing fics in a variety of shapes and sizes, and i haven't linked any of them here yet but if anyone would like to read them, here they are!

All fics are Shen Tunan/Wei Ruolai.

Out of his system. 1,269 words. Just a short scene and a quick bit of shenlai suit kink because i couldn't take their blazing UST anymore. Written after episode 8, which was 5 eps before the show actually gave us canonical shenlai suit kink?!?! This show, I swear. I swear!!!!

Wedding night. 3,385 words. Written after episode 16 and the epic staircase wedding ceremony. Just taking things to the obvious next level.

Ask a Manager: My boss is showing blatant favoritism to my coworker. This is just a silly meme I wrote based on the actual AAM blog before Congyun's longsuffering got kinda sad actually.

of a feather. 5,657 words. Kind of a pre-canon AU that posits spy!handler Shen Tunan, meeting a teen Wei Ruolai. Cue mutual obsession. I was so obsessed with this headcanon, I had to write it.

鵬程萬里. 1,130 words. A sort of stream-of-consciousness ramble from Ruolai's pov on becoming half of an intense soulmate bond, look i didn't say any of this was restrained.

Okay and here finally is an actual fic fic, except not because it started out as just a series of 5+1 sketches and then became a fic in the second half despite my best efforts.

Precious Cargo - snickettes - 追风者 | War of Faith (TV) [Archive of Our Own]
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
archiveofourown.org

So I guess when I say I've been "writing fic" for this pairing I just mean I've been frantically coughing up loosely formed ideas hoping something sticks and might inspire other people to watch this show and join me in this pit because holy christ this pairing is off the chain— hot, sexy, mutually obsessed, so fucking smart and competent and obsessed with each other's briliance, so completely capable of trading who doms who in the relationship while equally capable of forming a lifetime lifestyle dom/sub partnership, 100% society elite power couple while also rough-and-ready rivals having intense soulmate bond sex in-between trying to fuck each other over for social justice, just an OTP for the ages.

sigh. just. shenlai everyone. SHENLAI.

#war of faith#shenlai#fic rec#the last one in particular#oof
Avatar
reblogged
the-cimmerians
Avatar
shittierpost

Me: *strapped to a chair in a cold interrogation room with a middle aged man pacing back and forth*

Him: *projects a picture of Sam and Frodo on to the wall* What is their relationship?

Me: Their ship is valid and very cute, but we should also consider the idea that their admiration and respect for one another is a deep, platonic bond. Love doesn't always have to be romantic, and it is important for men to be able to express their platonic care for one another in a way that toxic masculinity doesn't currently allow.

Him: Okay *projects a picture of Legolas and Gimli* what's their relatio-

Me: They're fucking.

#lord of the rings#snort
Avatar
reblogged
cicerfics
Avatar
avelera

Probably the single hardest lesson for me to internalize in writing was that you don’t design a character you design a character arc.

One reason you as a writer might end up stuck with a flat or boring character, or one that just isn’t doing the things you need to create a vibrant plot, despite working out all the details of their life for hours, is because you’ve made the mistake I always do. You’ve made a character who is a blend of all the characteristics you envision for them, rather than saving some characteristics for the end of their journey. 

What do I mean by this? Maybe you envision a character who is a handsome prince, honest, brave, and true. In your plot, though, he’s going to be an antagonist for a bit but you don’t really want him to be seen as a bad guy, necessarily. But when you drop him into your story, he’s just… there. Being honest, brave, and true. 

That’s because the prince has no character arc. He is a static figure, a cardboard cutout. 

Let’s go a little deeper with a great example of one of the best character arcs in YA animation: Prince Zuko. He is, objectively, honest, brave, and true (to his cause of finding the Avatar) from the outset. But he’s also a dick. He’s a privileged, imperialist brat, who is rude to his uncle and vicious to our protagonists. 

By the end of the series, though, Prince Zuko is still honest, brave, and true, but he’s also a good person who has learned many lessons over the course of his trials and obstacles. He has failed over and over again at his initial goal of capturing the Avatar. He has failed at winning his father’s regard. He has failed at numerous smaller goals of day to day adventures. He has learned from all of these. We have seen his journey. But, if you started your vision of how to write Zuko from who he ends up being, he’s got nowhere to go as a character. 

It’s not just about what flaws he has corrected though. It’s about what lessons about life he has internalized. What flawed views of the world he has corrected and how. 

Rather than saying, “The character starts out a dick and learns to be nice,” be more specific. “This character starts out believing the empire he is loyal to is morally in the right for its conquests, but over the course of working for that empire’s ruler and seeing his cruelty first hand, not to mention fighting the empire’s enemies and mingling with its civilian victims, he becomes a better person and learns the error of his ways.” 

Already, right there, you have more than a cardboard character. You have a character who has an arc that molds to your plot. 

Avatar
ahb-writes

Helpful Questions to Ask:

  • What flaws does the character possess?
  • How do these flaws influence the character’s mindset, perspective, intuition, and behavior?
  • What variables emerge, in the course of the story, that expose these flaws to the reader, to the character in question, or to other characters?
  • How does the character react to these inevitable conflicts? What are the consequences for how the character reacts to these conflicts or contradictions?
  • What are the stakes for staying the course? What are the consequences for thinking about change? What are the consequences for actually pursuing change? What are the consequences for pursuing change and failing (or succeeding) publicly (or in secret)?
  • Reassess: What flaws does the character possess?
  • How has the character’s experience(s) in confronting these flaws influenced the character’s role and interaction with the primary conflict set in the story?
  • How does the story change as a result?
#write on
Avatar
reblogged
Avatar
stultiloquentia

For reasons not important at this juncture, Youtube lobbed me a clip of Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake, which reminded me that at one point I was pining so hard for somebody to write a ballet adaptation of Mo Dao Zu Shi that I started a moodboard/playlist for it. Classical dance with swords and wire work and some strap work and miles of silk and hydraulics and smoke machines and a live donkey. Lin Hai (who did CQL) for the book. The Chinese National Opera for the budget.

If you want to lose 1.6 hours to a really beautiful example, their 2022 production of Princess Zhaojun is on Youtube in hi def:

China National Opera & Dance Drama Theater - Princess Zhaojun

Here are my favourite clips from the rest of the playlist. Have fun guessing which MDZS scene(s) or characters I was thinking of when I picked them.

#mo dao zu shi#the untamed#meta#stulti recs
Avatar

For reasons not important at this juncture, Youtube lobbed me a clip of Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake, which reminded me that at one point I was pining so hard for somebody to write a ballet adaptation of Mo Dao Zu Shi that I started a moodboard/playlist for it. Classical dance with swords and wire work and some strap work and miles of silk and hydraulics and smoke machines and a live donkey. Lin Hai (who did CQL) for the book. The Chinese National Opera for the budget.

If you want to lose 1.6 hours to a really beautiful example, their 2022 production of Princess Zhaojun is on Youtube in hi def:

China National Opera & Dance Drama Theater - Princess Zhaojun

Here are my favourite clips from the rest of the playlist. Have fun guessing which MDZS scene(s) or characters I was thinking of when I picked them.

#mo dao zu shi#the untamed#meta#dance recs#Youtube
Avatar
reblogged
annundriel
Avatar
silviakundera

Look, I know The Untamed has THE LONGING and I love it too, but we all gotta accept that the MDZS novel is unmatched because, my dudes, WWX defeats the villain by sabotaging his homophobia.

I know we joke (and we SHOULD) about jgy the shipper et etc but in the end, it’s whimsical humor.

In the scene where jgy has our heroes trapped, held hostage, and villian monologues about poor Lan Wangji’s unrequited gay love…

All this fake sympathy for LXC’s brother is 100% bad intent: he’s revealing a “dirty secret” to the hostages & Jin minions about his biggest threat (the biggest fire power) that would stain lwj in the eyes of the sect world. A secret that might repulse wwx when laid out publically - make him let down lwj easy at best.

(Recall, jgy is THAT GUY who killed his own infant son out of fear of public disdain.)

What is actually happening here is that he’s trying to shame them. Just like how he attacks JC in another scene, destabilizing him w his words, and plays mind games w LXC. JGY’s greatest weapon in his persuasion and narrative building. His words are just as much of a weapon as the string he slides around wwx’s neck.

But none of this plays out the way jgy expects it to AT ALL. He sees it going weird, kinda sideways, but is completely unprepared for what actually happens.

Which is a key component of the humor. But also a fucking AMAZING climactic moment for a novel that has reminded the reader and the characters over and over that they exist in a homophobic society where tainted public reputation and rumors can have violent, deadly consequences.

And what does wwx do in the face of that? Before jgy can start in on lwj w his word knives, wwx SCREAMS that he wanted to have sex with the man who was just maliciously outed. Like, yelps it at the top of his lungs

He grasps what the villian is trying to do and turns it on its head. He takes the power of the moment back. You want to other, to humiliate, and to degrade Lan Wangji? Figuratively and LITERALLY taking his power away? Well, fuck you. Actually we had. sex. MAN ON MAN SEX. AND I WANTED IT. AND ILL DO IT AGAIN.

The power of this wholesale rejection of jgy’s narrative, the sheer audacity of this gay pride rant, stuns & unhinges the master of whispers and wwx springs free from the trap.

The novel doesn’t allow us to forget about the othering that WWX/LWJ have just experienced. They are seated away from everyone else, people are uncomfortable around them.

This only underscores how absolutely badass it was. And how irrevocable. It forshadows what is to come, as they continue to express affection off on their own side, before “eloping” on their own at the end. (The only reason drama!LWJ can BE Chief Cultivator is that this scene never happened.)

But novel wwx and lwj don’t gaf. And that’s how they win. They craft their happy ending regardless of their society’s prejudices – you can’t erase them but you can refuse to let them change you, quiet you, isolate you. You can build your own patchwork families and proudly love who you love.

#mo dao zu shi#meta
Avatar
reblogged
Avatar
letteredlettered

podcast rec

My BFF has made a podcast!!!! It's amazing and probably sometime I'd want to make if I was making a podcast. I'm not just advertising it because my friend made it but because it's a very cool project.

The podcast is called Re:Adapted. Each season is about a canon that has been adapted in many ways (mostly into film, but also stage and beyond). One thing that's cool about the podcast is that you don't have to know the canon to listen to the season; she provides pretty good summaries of the original and the adaptations. The other thing that's cool is it's not really about what plot or characters got changed from iteration to iteration so much a it is about how adaptation evolves as we as a society evolve, and what a new adaptation says about the time in which it's made. She looks at cultural context and film technologies and how the themes of a story change as the people who consume that story change.

The first season is about Phantom of the Opera. You can find it here!

#podcast#rec#kris is smart and this subject is my jam
Avatar
reblogged
stultiloquentia
Avatar
amarguerite
stultiloquentia asked:

Prompt: Lizzy and Darcy finally getting around to comparing their taste in books.

Avatar
amarguerite answered:

As it was raining again— an irritating constant of the English climate, and one Elizabeth had never before had cause to hate as much as she did— her proposed plans for the afternoon were all in ruins. She could not go on the long walk with her fiancé upon which she had rested all hopes of happiness. They were trapped within Longbourne, with Mary methodically plodding through a Haydn sonata, valuing correctness more than the expression, Kitty wasting a great deal of gold foil trying to make a present for Lydia, Mrs. Bennet complaining that thunderstorms always gave her the headache, and Mr. Bennet trapped elsewhere on the estate with his steward.

Elizabeth tried not to envy her father his luck, before realizing that this left the library free. She proposed to go find a volume there, so she might entertain herself with a book. Jane and Bingley were not great readers and, at any rate, too busy trying to lose to the other at cards to have interest in anything else, but Darcy came with her. Mrs. Bennet urged him on with that, speaking of the great number of volumes Mr. Bennet had, “and all so beautifully bound! There is no greater library in the neighborhood. Netherfield boasts a larger room I am sure but as I am sure you have seen, the former owners did not have as many books and they did not have them bound to match as we do. I have always thought that a false economy.”

Darcy bowed, instead of giving his opinion, and Elizabeth loved him for it. He was not, however, shy of giving his opinion of the library. The volume of books did not impress him as much as the volumes themselves, and he entered into praise of the prize of Mr. Bennet’s colection, a first edition of Lawrence Sterne’s Tristram Shandy with as much intelligence and enthusiasm as Elizabeth could have wished.

“Truly I cannot think of a novel more aware of the possibilities of the novel as a form,” said Darcy, examining the marbled page. “Every edition is utterly unique; every individual’s experience with it cannot be replicated. I do not think I have ever opened this volume without enjoyment.”

“I am surprised,” said Elizabeth. “I fancied you might find novels silly.”

“Really? I was reading Tom Jones at Netherfield, when you came to stay.”

“I did mark that Miss Bingley was reading the second volume of what to were reading but neglected to market the title itself. What a pity! I should have taken great joy, then, in ruining the ending for you.”

Darcy could not help but be amused by her, ad after saying he was glad she hadn’t, remarked, “I had thought you a person inclined towards plays, or perhaps travelogues rather than novels.”

“A neat sweve back to Lawrence Sterne, sir, and his sentimental journey. But no, I am every moralist’s greatest fear! A woman who rereads novels instead of sermons or anything more edifying. I have read Fanny Burney’s novels— I beg pardon, Madame d’Arbley’s novels— much more often than I ever read my primer. I could probably recite sections of Evelina word for word. I have read it aloud to the captive audience of my sisters often enough, as excuse not to pick up my needlework.”

Darcy carefully returned Tristram Shandy to the shelf and went to the collection of shabbier, more well-loved books nearer the fireplace. From these he pulled Cecilia, another novel by Madame d’Arbley, and greatly surprised Elizabeth by saying, “I have always preferred Cecilia to Evelina; I prefer straight prose to the epistolary novel.”

“I am surprised to hear it!”

“We have established that I read novels. Why would I fail to read one of the most celebrated contemporary English novelists?

“No, no— I meant I was surprised considering what charming long letters you write.”

Darcy looked conscious at that, and Elizabeth came over and risked kissing him. “I find the long letter I have from you charming, at least, and if I am to be your wife, you must get in the habit of agreeing with my opinions.”

“Elizabeth—“

“I shall burn it, if you wish, but I have no other letter from you, yet. If you will promise to supply the lack—“

“Done,” said Darcy, smiling at her, “if you will agree to read Cecilia aloud this afternoon.”

“I shall lament leaving behind letters for prose, but for you, sir, I shall make the sacrifice.”

Avatar
#jane austen#rummaging in my tag for some other austen business and got lost in this#margz you're so good at this
Avatar
reblogged
Avatar
hotjaneaustenmenpoll

Propaganda...

Avatar
stultiloquentia

Bah! Neither! Justice for 1980 miniseries Bingley, the ONLY ONE who is allowed to keep his zingers from the book. Look at him. He's cute, kind, and impishly funny, and his friendship with Darcy actually makes a lick of sense.

Image
#jane austen
You are using an unsupported browser and things might not work as intended. Please make sure you're using the latest version of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Edge.