“No. Listen to me. I don’t care who your parents were,” Damian hissed, his voice wound steely-tight. She could barely hear him over the conversations around them, the polite murmuring punctuated by the bright chimes of silver cutlery on fine china and crystal glasses meeting in toasts. What he had to say was only for her ears, so she had to strain to hear every word. “I don’t care how you were raised, or what mistakes you have made. I don’t care that you are not accustomed to gifts. I. Do. Not. Care. These facts are inconsequential to me. I want you to have these things because you deserve them—-because I want to give them to you. I want for you to not want for anything. You give so much. You care. You deserve to be cared for in return. Frankly, fuck the fucking sommelier. His taste in wines is subpar at best and he is a weasel. I wanted this to be nice for you. Because you’re healed, now, and. And I didn’t—-I didn’t know how to do it.”
Stephanie was completely speechless. She opened her mouth to say something, to deny that she wasn’t worth half of this, to explain that she was just trying to make up for all the stupid, selfish things that she’d done over the years, to apologize for what she’d said, but no words were coming.
Nobody had ever said that to her before.
“That fucking sommelier, and m-my mascara isn’t—-” Her breath hitched as she tried to stave off the real waterworks. “—-it’s not waterproof, and I’m going to look worse than I already do, a-and—-“
“Shut up! I mean—-please. Shut up, please.”
“You shut up,” she laughed, but it came out a ragged-edged sob. “This was nice. I’m just not good at nice. Nice makes me break out in hives.”
“I didn’t…that wasn’t meant to make you cry,” Damian said, sounding half-helpless. “I didn’t mean for any of this. Did I misspeak?”
She reached across the table and took his hand, knotting their fingers together tightly. His face slid and swam in her aqueous vision, blurred by candlelight and tears.
“Nah,” she said, her voice reduced to a shaky croak. “That was effin’ beautiful.”
“I meant it,” he said, staring down at their tangled-up fingers. “Do you doubt that? Is that why you’re crying? Don’t be angry. I can do better. Tell me how, and I will.”
“No,” Steph said, her mascara-gray tears rolling down her cheeks. “I know you mean it. That—-that’s why I’m crying.”
“You make no sense.”
“I’m a woman. You’ll get used to it.”
Damian waved for the check. The poor waitstaff were probably praying for them to leave, so it didn’t take long for it to get to their table.
“How was it, sir?” The maître d’ asked, peering at Stephanie out of the corner of his eye. She left mascara smudges on the fine linen napkin she was wiping her eyes with, then blew her nose loudly.
“You should fire your sommelier immediately,” Damian said loudly as he signed his name. She could almost watch his voice carry through the room, heads tilting toward their table. “His wine choice so insulted and upset my companion, she can barely keep her composure.”
“Sir,” the waiter said, with the tired flatness of a man who had to deal with spoiled rich children regularly. “I do not see how that can be.”
“Oh, no? Please, allow me to explain,” Damian said, and now all the chairs in the room seemed to be leaning toward his magnetisim. “He claimed to be serving us a 1992 Château d’Yquem, at a price of three hundred dollars. As I pray you know, the entire 1992 vintage of Château d’Yquem was deemed unworthy of the name and was summarily discarded. We were served a 2009 Ygrec d’Yquem, a wine worth three times less, and told that it was the Château. I have sat here and asked myself, why would he do such a thing? The only thing that I can surmise is that he paired my wine not to my meal, but to what he imagined my taste in women to be. He scoffed at her inability to hold her utensil properly and looked down upon her appearance. This woman,” his voice rose, then, boomed. “Is a survivor. This meal was meant to be a celebration, since this is the first time in months that she has been able to hold a fork at all.”
From NDND: Part Three, requested by mah bukkit.
THAT’S NOT 500 WORDS, BUKKIT. But because you are mah bukkit, I’ll overlook that. The amount of background reading that I did for this scene is ridiculous, even by my standards. I make no bones about my love of writing fancy parties and fancy clothes—-I’m quite comfortable with my tropes, thank you very much. The only fancy dinner that I’ve been to myself was when I received a writing award in my teens. I skipped high school, so I missed out on the whole prom experience. As a creature fascinated by sparkly things, I use any old excuse to throw fictional fancy parties. Look, I never grew out of my love of tea parties. Instead of staging them with stuffed animals, I write them down and add plot.
The background details that I put in are almost wholly for me, since obscure references make me just about as happy as fancy parties with fancy clothes. When I have to describe clothing, I usually track down a reference picture for myself. For this scene, Steph was in this, and I can’t seem to track down the ref I had for Damian’s suit (I lost it in the hard drive crash that happened shortly after I finished NDND), but he was wearing a snazzy yellow tie. Yellow is a color that I associate with both of them, because they associate it with each other—-Damian thinks of Steph’s hair, and Steph thinks of his old Robin cape. Yellow is the standard color for Robin capes, but Damian had a much more tactile relationship with his cape than any of the other Robins. He hid in his hood when he was upset, and he flared it dramatically whenever he felt he wasn’t getting enough attention. The sunny canary yellow of it always amused Steph, so she likes seeing him with yellow acessories. She mentioned that exactly one time, but Damian doesn’t let things like that go.
When I was researching the wine, the Château d’Yquem, I knew that it was definitely something that he would have picked out with Steph in mind. It’s a sweet white wine, made from grapes infected with botrytis cinenea—-grapes like ashes. They’re infected with a gray fungus that, if the weather is too wet, will ruin the crop. In the right conditions, though, the fungus becomes a “noble rot”. What should have destroyed the grapes makes the wine exceptional. The Château d’Yquem is known for its longevity, aging well past a century, and it turns a brighter golden yellow as it ages. Damian is so internal—-especially at this point in his life—-that most of the thought that goes into his gestures is left unexplained, but the dinner was supposed to be about Stephanie. To him, the wine choice was about supposedly ruined grapes turning into something beyond compare, given time. He was going to explain the process/metaphor to Steph, but the waitstaff tried to pull a fast one on him. Damian honestly forgot that the rest of the world would look at her scars and age and see rotten grapes, not the fine wine that was his parter, Batwoman. He didn’t mean to make her uncomfortable, but he didn’t know how to get his point across in a way that would show her that we was An Adult Now. He tried to pull a Beauty and the Beast (since it was one of the movies that he not-watched with Steph when she was laid up from surgery), but it turned into
I TRIED TO DO THE THING
THE ROMANCE??
BUT YOU ARE CRY
WHY
STOP
HOW DO I MAKE YOU STOP
I WILL STOP WOOING YOU IF YOU’LL STOP CRYING
because he really didn’t know what to do! It’s hard to woo a lady when your examples of wooification are The Time Mommy Drugged Daddy and Made a Baby Assassin and everything that is Dick Grayson. (Though, he tried to do what he thought Dick would have done. And it killed him that he couldn’t ask him for advice. He would have ignored all of the advice, but Dick would have made a big show of HOW HAPPY HE IS THAT HIS BABY BROTHER IS ASKING FOR LOVE ADVICE; IT’S EVERYTHING HE EVER WANTED. Dick tried to give him love advice after his eventual return, but by that point, Little D was Daddy D, so he considered his mate successfully wooed.)
I love this scene a lot. I could go on, but this post is already stupid kinds of long. PS, the 1992 vintage of the Château d’Yquem really was thrown out—-much like another 1992 product that we know and love.
“No. Listen to me. I don’t care who your parents were,” Damian hissed, his voice wound steely-tight. She could barely hear him over the conversations around them, the polite murmuring punctuated by the bright chimes of silver cutlery on fine china and crystal glasses meeting in toasts. What he had to say was only for her ears, so she had to strain to hear every word. “I don’t care how you were raised, or what mistakes you have made. I don’t care that you are not accustomed to gifts. I. Do. Not. Care. These facts are inconsequential to me. I want you to have these things because you deserve them—-because I want to give them to you. I want for you to not want for anything. You give so much. You care. You deserve to be cared for in return. Frankly, fuck the fucking sommelier. His taste in wines is subpar at best and he is a weasel. I wanted this to be nice for you. Because you’re healed, now, and. And I didn’t—-I didn’t know how to do it.”
Stephanie was completely speechless. She opened her mouth to say something, to deny that she wasn’t worth half of this, to explain that she was just trying to make up for all the stupid, selfish things that she’d done over the years, to apologize for what she’d said, but no words were coming.
Nobody had ever said that to her before.
“That fucking sommelier, and m-my mascara isn’t—-” Her breath hitched as she tried to stave off the real waterworks. “—-it’s not waterproof, and I’m going to look worse than I already do, a-and—-“
“Shut up! I mean—-please. Shut up, please.”
“You shut up,” she laughed, but it came out a ragged-edged sob. “This was nice. I’m just not good at nice. Nice makes me break out in hives.”
“I didn’t…that wasn’t meant to make you cry,” Damian said, sounding half-helpless. “I didn’t mean for any of this. Did I misspeak?”
She reached across the table and took his hand, knotting their fingers together tightly. His face slid and swam in her aqueous vision, blurred by candlelight and tears.
“Nah,” she said, her voice reduced to a shaky croak. “That was effin’ beautiful.”
“I meant it,” he said, staring down at their tangled-up fingers. “Do you doubt that? Is that why you’re crying? Don’t be angry. I can do better. Tell me how, and I will.”
“No,” Steph said, her mascara-gray tears rolling down her cheeks. “I know you mean it. That—-that’s why I’m crying.”
“You make no sense.”
“I’m a woman. You’ll get used to it.”
Damian waved for the check. The poor waitstaff were probably praying for them to leave, so it didn’t take long for it to get to their table.
“How was it, sir?” The maître d’ asked, peering at Stephanie out of the corner of his eye. She left mascara smudges on the fine linen napkin she was wiping her eyes with, then blew her nose loudly.
“You should fire your sommelier immediately,” Damian said loudly as he signed his name. She could almost watch his voice carry through the room, heads tilting toward their table. “His wine choice so insulted and upset my companion, she can barely keep her composure.”
“Sir,” the waiter said, with the tired flatness of a man who had to deal with spoiled rich children regularly. “I do not see how that can be.”
“Oh, no? Please, allow me to explain,” Damian said, and now all the chairs in the room seemed to be leaning toward his magnetisim. “He claimed to be serving us a 1992 Château d’Yquem, at a price of three hundred dollars. As I pray you know, the entire 1992 vintage of Château d’Yquem was deemed unworthy of the name and was summarily discarded. We were served a 2009 Ygrec d’Yquem, a wine worth three times less, and told that it was the Château. I have sat here and asked myself, why would he do such a thing? The only thing that I can surmise is that he paired my wine not to my meal, but to what he imagined my taste in women to be. He scoffed at her inability to hold her utensil properly and looked down upon her appearance. This woman,” his voice rose, then, boomed. “Is a survivor. This meal was meant to be a celebration, since this is the first time in months that she has been able to hold a fork at all.”
From NDND: Part Three, requested by mah bukkit.
THAT’S NOT 500 WORDS, BUKKIT. But because you are mah bukkit, I’ll overlook that. The amount of background reading that I did for this scene is ridiculous, even by my standards. I make no bones about my love of writing fancy parties and fancy clothes—-I’m quite comfortable with my tropes, thank you very much. The only fancy dinner that I’ve been to myself was when I received a writing award in my teens. I skipped high school, so I missed out on the whole prom experience. As a creature fascinated by sparkly things, I use any old excuse to throw fictional fancy parties. Look, I never grew out of my love of tea parties. Instead of staging them with stuffed animals, I write them down and add plot.
The background details that I put in are almost wholly for me, since obscure references make me just about as happy as fancy parties with fancy clothes. When I have to describe clothing, I usually track down a reference picture for myself. For this scene, Steph was in this, and I can’t seem to track down the ref I had for Damian’s suit (I lost it in the hard drive crash that happened shortly after I finished NDND), but he was wearing a snazzy yellow tie. Yellow is a color that I associate with both of them, because they associate it with each other—-Damian thinks of Steph’s hair, and Steph thinks of his old Robin cape. Yellow is the standard color for Robin capes, but Damian had a much more tactile relationship with his cape than any of the other Robins. He hid in his hood when he was upset, and he flared it dramatically whenever he felt he wasn’t getting enough attention. The sunny canary yellow of it always amused Steph, so she likes seeing him with yellow acessories. She mentioned that exactly one time, but Damian doesn’t let things like that go.
When I was researching the wine, the Château d’Yquem, I knew that it was definitely something that he would have picked out with Steph in mind. It’s a sweet white wine, made from grapes infected with botrytis cinenea—-grapes like ashes. They’re infected with a gray fungus that, if the weather is too wet, will ruin the crop. In the right conditions, though, the fungus becomes a “noble rot”. What should have destroyed the grapes makes the wine exceptional. The Château d’Yquem is known for its longevity, aging well past a century, and it turns a brighter golden yellow as it ages. Damian is so internal—-especially at this point in his life—-that most of the thought that goes into his gestures is left unexplained, but the dinner was supposed to be about Stephanie. To him, the wine choice was about supposedly ruined grapes turning into something beyond compare, given time. He was going to explain the process/metaphor to Steph, but the waitstaff tried to pull a fast one on him. Damian honestly forgot that the rest of the world would look at her scars and age and see rotten grapes, not the fine wine that was his parter, Batwoman. He didn’t mean to make her uncomfortable, but he didn’t know how to get his point across in a way that would show her that we was An Adult Now. He tried to pull a Beauty and the Beast (since it was one of the movies that he not-watched with Steph when she was laid up from surgery), but it turned into
I TRIED TO DO THE THING
THE ROMANCE??
BUT YOU ARE CRY
WHY
STOP
HOW DO I MAKE YOU STOP
I WILL STOP WOOING YOU IF YOU’LL STOP CRYING
because he really didn’t know what to do! It’s hard to woo a lady when your examples of wooification are The Time Mommy Drugged Daddy and Made a Baby Assassin and everything that is Dick Grayson. (Though, he tried to do what he thought Dick would have done. And it killed him that he couldn’t ask him for advice. He would have ignored all of the advice, but Dick would have made a big show of HOW HAPPY HE IS THAT HIS BABY BROTHER IS ASKING FOR LOVE ADVICE; IT’S EVERYTHING HE EVER WANTED. Dick tried to give him love advice after his eventual return, but by that point, Little D was Daddy D, so he considered his mate successfully wooed.)
I love this scene a lot. I could go on, but this post is already stupid kinds of long. PS, the 1992 vintage of the Château d’Yquem really was thrown out—-much like another 1992 product that we know and love.
“And the point of great writers like [Oscar] Wilde is that they make that invitation to you; they welcome you”. - Stephen Fry
Stephen Fry is a hero
Whenever I hear someone talking about how it’s wrong to have sex and sexiness in YA novels, what I actually hear is this:
I’m terrified that the first fictional sex a teenage girl encounters might leave her feeling good about herself. I’m terrified that fictional sex might actually make teenage girls think sex can be fun and good, that reading about girls who say no and boys who listen when they say it might give them the confidence to say no, too – or worse still, to realise that boys who don’t listen to ‘no’ aren’t worth it. I’m terrified that YA novels might teach teenage girls the distinction between assault and consensual sex, and give them the courage to speak out about the former while actively seeking the latter. I’m terrified that teenage girls might think seriously about the circumstances under which they might say yes to sex; that they might think about contraception before they need it, and touch themselves in bed at night while fantasising about generous, interesting, beautiful lovers who treat them with consideration and respect. I’m terrified of a generation of teenage girls who aren’t shy or squeamish about asking for cunnilingus when they want it, or about loving more than one person at once, and who don’t feel shame about their arousal. I’m terrified that teenage girls might take control of their sexuality and, in so doing, take that control of them and their bodies away from me.
“Why YA Sex Scenes Matter,” Foz Meadows (via aimmyarrowshigh)
Sometimes there are things more important even than poetry.
(via kat-howard)
i remember reading tamora pierce books when i was in middle school and then making my mom read them after, and having this weird internal panic that the sex (implied mostly, but obvious nonetheless) was going to be objectionable to her in some way, even though my mom has always been sex positive my whole life. it was still just ingrained in there that reading a book that didn’t gloss over, or shame the young lady characters for having sex was something bad that i shouldn’t be doing, because sex wasn’t something for girls to explore and enjoy.
(via camembertlylegal)
Sponsor Me At Camp Nanowrimo →
So, I’m doing Nano again this year. Or at least Camp Nano, because there’s a novel draft that I think I’ve finally re-plotted well enough to try and do a second draft of it. The novel itself is about 8-10 years old. Eek.
This isn’t the important part.
The important part is that Nanowrimo is something I’ve been doing every year almost since it started, and it is awesome. It’s an amazing group of people getting together and sharing in the ginormous task of writing a novel, a long and painful and arduous and dear-god-why-did-I-ever-think-I-could-do-this task, and supporting each other and encouraging each other to keep writing. More than that, the Nanowrimo folks at the Office of Letters and Light help out in schools and libraries, helping kids to become writers too, all over the world.
I know this probably will be looked at/clicked on by maybe 10-20 people between here and Twitter, and that’s an optimistic estimate, so I’m keeping my goal hidden and modest. But please, if you enjoy reading and writing at all, please consider sponsoring or at least reblogging. These guys do good work.
You want tangible, social benefits to writing fiction? There are people walking around today because other people wrote words that spoke to them. That’ll do.
Ultimate Writing Resource List →
a massively extended version of ruthlesscalculus’ post
General Tips
- Joss Whedon’s Top 10 Writing Tips
- Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone
- 34 Writing Tips that will make you a Better Writer
- 50 Free resources that will improve your writing skills
- 5 ways to get out of the comfort zone and become a stronger writer
- 10 ways to avoid Writing Insecurity
- The Writer’s Guide to Overcoming Insecurity
- The Difference Between Good Writers and Bad Writers
- You’re Not Hemingway - Developing Your Own Style
- 7 Ways to use Brain Science to Hook Readers and Reel them In
- 8 Short Story Tips from Kurt Vonnegut
- How to Show, Not Tell
- 5 Essential Story Ingredients
- How to Write Fiction that grabs your readers from page one
- Why research is important in writing
- Make Your Reader Root for Your Main Character
- Writing Ergonomics (Staying Comfortable Whilst Writing)
- The Importance of Body Language
Character Development
- 10 days of Character Building
- Name Generators
- Name Playground
- Universal Mary Sue Litmus Test
- Seven Common Character Types
- Handling a Cast of Thousands Part 1 - Getting To Know Your Characters
- Web Resources for Developing Characters
- Building Fictional Characters
- Fiction Writer’s Character Chart
- Character Building Workshop
- Tips for Characterization
- Character Chart for Fiction Writers
- Villains are people too but…
- How to Write a Character Bible
- Character Development Exercises
- All Your Characters Talk the Same - And They’re Not A Hivemind!
- Medieval Names Archive
- Sympathy Without Saintliness
- Family Echo (Family Tree Maker)
- Behind The Name
- 100 Character Development Questions for Writers
- Aether’s Character Development Worksheet
- The 12 Common Archetypes
- Six Types of Courageous Characters
- Kazza’s List of Character Secrets - Part 1, Part 2
- Creating Believable Characters With Personality
- Body Language Cheat Sheet
- Creating Fictional Characters Series
- Three Ways to Avoid Lazy Character Description
- 7 Rules for Picking Names for Fictional Characters
- Character Development Questionnaire
- How to Create Fictional Characters
- Character Name Resources
- Character Development Template
- Character Development Through Hobbies
- Character Flaws List
- 10 Questions for Creating Believable Characters
- Ari’s Archetype Series
- How to Craft Compelling Characters
- List of 200 Character Traits
- Writing Characters of the Opposite Sex
- Making Your Characters Likable
- Do you really know your characters?
- Character Development: Virtues
- Character Development: Vices
- Character Morality Alignment
- List of Negative Personality Traits
- List of Positive Personality Traits
- List of Emotions - Positive
- List of Emotions - Negative
- Loon’s Character Development Series - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
- Phobia List A-L (Part 1), M-Z (Part 2)
- 30 Day In Depth Character Development Meme
- Words for Emotions based on Severity
- Eight Bad Characters
- High Level Description of the Sixteen Personality Types
Female Characters
- How Not to Write Female Characters
- Writing Female Characters
- How to write empowering female characters
- Why I write strong female characters
- Red Flags for Female Characters Written by Men
- Writing strong female characters
- The Female Character Flowchart
- Eight Heroine Archetypes
Male Characters
Tips for Specific Characters
- Writing A Vampire
- Writing Pansexual Characters
- Writing Characters on the Police Force
- Writing Drunk Characters
- Writing A Manipulative Character
- Writing A Friends With Benefits Relationship
- Writing A Natural Born Leader
- Writing A Flirtatious Character
- Writing A Nice Character
- Fiction Writing Exercises for Creating Villains
- Five Traits to Contribute to an Epic Villain
- Writing Villains that Rock
- Writing British Characters
- How To Write A Character With A Baby
- On Assassin Characters
Dialogue
- It’s Not What They Say…
- Top 8 Tips for Writing Dialogue
- Speaking of Dialogue
- The Great Said Debate
- He Said, She Said, Who Said What?
- How to Write Dialogue Unique to Your Characters
- Writing Dialogue: Go for Realistic, Not Real-Life
Point of View
Plot, Conflict, Structure and Outline
- Writing A Novel Using the Snowflake Method
- Effectively Outlining Your Novel
- Conflict and Character Within Story Structure
- Outlining Your Plot
- Ideas, Plots and Using the Premise Sheets
- How To Write A Novel
- Creating Conflict and Sustaining Suspense
- Plunge Right In…Into Your Story, That Is
- Tips for Creating a Compelling Plot
- 36 (plus one) Dramatic Situations
- The Evil Overlord Devises A Plot: Excerpt from Stupid Plot Tricks
- Conflict Test
- What is Conflict?
- Monomyth
- The Hero’s Journey: Summary of Steps
- Outline Your Novel in Thirty Minutes
- Plotting Without Fears
- Novel Outlining 101
- Writing The Perfect Scene
- One-Page Plotting
- The Great Swampy Middle
- How Can You Know What Belongs In Your Book?
- Create A Plot Outline in 8 Easy Steps
- How to Organize and Develop Ideas for Your Novel
- Create Structure in your novel using index cards
- Choosing the best outline method for you
- Hatch’s Plot Bank
Setting & Worldbuilding
- Magical Word Builder’s Guide
- I Love The End Of The World
- World Building 101
- The Art of Description: Eight Tips to Help Bring Your Settings to Life
- Creating the Perfect Setting - Part 1
- Creating a Believable World
- Setting
- Character and Setting Interactions
- Maps Workshop - Developing the Fictional World Through Mapping
- World Builders Project
- How To Create Fantasy Worlds
- Creating Fantasy and Science Fiction Worlds
Creativity Boosters* denotes prompts
- *Creative Writing Prompts
- *Ink Provoking
- *Story Starter
- *Story Spinner
- *Story Kitchen
- *Language is a Virus
- *The Dabbling Mum
- Quick Story Idea Generator
- Solve Your Problems By Simply Saying Them Out Loud
- Busting Your Writing Rut
- Creative Acceleration: 11 Tips To Engineer A Productive Flow
- Writing Inspiration, Or Sex on a Bicycle
- The Seven Major Beginner Mistakes
- Complete Your First Book with these 9 Simple Writing Habits
- Free Association, Active Imagination, Twilight Imaging
- Random Book Title Generator
- Finishing Your Novel
- Story Starters & Idea Generators
- Words to Use More Often
Revision & Grammar
- How To Rewrite
- Editing Recipe
- Cliche Finder
- Revising Your Novel: Read What You’ve Written
- Writing 101: Revising A Novel
- 20 Common Grammar Mistakes That (Almost) Everyone Makes
- Synonyms for the Most Commonly Used Words of the English Language
- Grammar Urban Legends
Tools & Software
- Tip Of My Tongue - Find the word you’re looking for
- Write or Die - Stay motivated
- Stay Focused - Tool for Chrome, lock yourself out of distracting websites
- My Writing Nook - Online Text Editor, Free
- Bubbl.us - Online Mind Map Application, Free
- Family Echo - Online Family Tree Maker, Free
- Freemind - Mind Map Application; Free; Windows, Mac, Linux, Portable
- Xmind - Mind Map Application; Free; Windows, Mac, Linux, Portable
- Liquid Story Binder - Novel Organization and Writing Application; free trial, $45.95; Windows, Portable
- Scrivener - Novel Organization and Writing Application; free trial, $39.95; Mac
- SuperNotecard - Novel Organization and Writing Application; free trial, $29; Windows, Mac, Linux, portable
- yWriter - Novel Organization and Writing Application; free; Windows, Linux, portable
- JDarkRoom - Minimalist Text Editing Application; free; Windows, Mac, Linux, portable
- AutoRealm - Map Creation Application; free; Windows, Linux with Wine
Specific Help
Reblogging for myself
Reblogging for myself. I’m also going to save the ones that really interest me off-line, because things happen.
Pixar’s 22 Rules of Story Telling
I don’t even know if genuine? But some of that is solid amazing advice. #19 is perfectly phrased, too.
![iamjasonssmirkingrevenge:
cornflakepizza:
Hi Anon, sorry it took me so long to answer this. I hope this answer isn’t too confusing or long-winded. [I tried to be really concrete with my evidence and examples, but if anything’s unclear, I’d appreciate a heads up via private message.]
Heteronormativity refers to a reliance on a rigid, binarist gender system, where there are two genders (male and female) with distinct, complementary, and “natural” roles. So basically:
Men are supposed to act a certain way (what we might call stereotypically or hegemonically masculine).
Women are supposed to act a certain way (stereotypically feminine).
Men and women (and their roles) are fundamentally different.
Heterosexuality is the normal/natural/correct sexual orientation.
Strong reliance on the idea that male sex = male gender identity = male gender practice = male gender roles and behavior. Same with female sex = female gender identity, etc.
Heteronormativity affects the LGBTQ community in a number of ways (other than in the most obvious “homosexuality is unnatural and wrong” way):
The assumption that queer relationships replicate the same roles as straight relationships presumably do. One of the members is “the girl” (i.e. passive) and one is “the boy” (i.e. active).
There are “good gays” and “bad gays.” “Good gays” are those whose relationships most closely mimic the heterosexual ideal (long-term committed relationships, monogamous, married, non-promiscuous). “Bad gays” are everyone else.
Transgender, genderqueer, non-binary, and intersex people are considered terrible and wrong because they do not fit neatly into the idea that if you were designated X at birth, you must act in X′ ways.
This is what I mean by heteronormativity and covert homophobia in the batfandom:
→ If your only way of explaining Jason or Damian’s attraction to Dick or Tim is that the former are “masculine men” and thus naturally attracted to that which is feminine (such as Dick’s juicy booty or Tim’s coltish legs), you’re doing it wrong.
→ If your conception of Jason Todd is that he’s super manly (because guns! and aggression! and anger! and flirtatious behavior!) and that he therefore must invariably be a top, you’re doing it wrong.
→ If your conception of Tim Drake is that he’s super passive (because he likes nerd shit like science! and he’s still a virgin at 17! and he was disgusted and nervous when he was almost raped by a woman!) and that he therefore must invariably be a bottom, you’re doing it wrong.
→ If you think Damian wants to fuck Tim because Tim looks like a girl, you’re doing it wrong.
→ If you think Jason is obsessed with getting his dick wet, you’re doing it wrong.
→ If your reason for shipping Jason with Tim is that you think he has the deep desire to care for and protect Tim from the big bad world, you’re doing it wrong.
→ If you think Dick must be a bottom just because he has a curvy ass, you’re doing it wrong.
→ If you continuously write Dick and Tim in situations where they are victims or considered “weak” and need rescuing by Jason and Damian, you’re doing it wrong.
→ If you mutilate a character’s development and history solely for the purpose of putting two characters together in a stereotypically active/passive, pursuer/pursued way (for example, leaving out how Tim betrayed Damian to Ra’s, or the fact that Jason’s hatred of Tim post-DiTF hinges on his relationship with Bruce and not just him being upset that Tim’s a goody two shoes), you’re doing it wrong. [Note: there’s slightly more leeway for this if it’s an AU because, understandably, having a different history means having a different relationship to the world.]
Honestly, it’s not the fact that these tropes come up that upsets me; it’s the frequency with which they occur in the fandom that makes me uneasy. It’s totally okay to write a fic where Dick gets strung up somewhere before Jason rescues him. It’s totally unsettling when it happens every third post in the JayDick tag.
My intention is not to insult anyone or put down their interests for being different from mine. (And honestly, I’m really not, because I ship DamianTim almost more than anyone else I know. I ship JayDick as well. I’m talking about MY ships, MY interests, MY fandom here.)
I’m not talking about anyone specifically, and I’m not even talking about individual writers, because this is a fandom-wide problem, not something that individuals do on their own. Hell, I’m sure that I have used some of this kind of questionable characterization in the past. Again, it’s not individual fics that perhaps utilize some of those ideas that bother me; it’s the fact that these ideas keep cropping up over and over again to the exclusion of other interpretations, that these interpretations of characters are becoming/have become the “norm” in certain ships, and most importantly, that NO ONE EVER SAYS ANYTHING ABOUT IT.
To answer your last question: no, not at all. I think straight people can write slash just as well as queer people can. I think perhaps queer writers are more aware of some of the bullshit of heteronormativity because we have to deal with it on a personal basis, but that doesn’t mean that we’re somehow immune from using heteronormative tropes or that non-queer people can’t write excellent, non-derogatory fanfiction.
Just when I thought you’d reached your pinnacle of awesome, you go and post this. *sigh* One thing though - people do mention it, sometimes, just not on the fics they should be mentioning it on. It’s usually something like, wow, this is weird, why is Jason the bottom? Hehe. Thank you again for posting this, it was awesome!](http://25.media.tumblr.com/1fac347cea350690042f1e555c689ca9/tumblr_mgfc7spugp1r1d7fuo1_500.png)
Hi Anon, sorry it took me so long to answer this. I hope this answer isn’t too confusing or long-winded. [I tried to be really concrete with my evidence and examples, but if anything’s unclear, I’d appreciate a heads up via private message.]
Heteronormativity refers to a reliance on a rigid, binarist gender system, where there are two genders (male and female) with distinct, complementary, and “natural” roles. So basically:
- Men are supposed to act a certain way (what we might call stereotypically or hegemonically masculine).
- Women are supposed to act a certain way (stereotypically feminine).
- Men and women (and their roles) are fundamentally different.
- Heterosexuality is the normal/natural/correct sexual orientation.
- Strong reliance on the idea that male sex = male gender identity = male gender practice = male gender roles and behavior. Same with female sex = female gender identity, etc.
Heteronormativity affects the LGBTQ community in a number of ways (other than in the most obvious “homosexuality is unnatural and wrong” way):
- The assumption that queer relationships replicate the same roles as straight relationships presumably do. One of the members is “the girl” (i.e. passive) and one is “the boy” (i.e. active).
- There are “good gays” and “bad gays.” “Good gays” are those whose relationships most closely mimic the heterosexual ideal (long-term committed relationships, monogamous, married, non-promiscuous). “Bad gays” are everyone else.
- Transgender, genderqueer, non-binary, and intersex people are considered terrible and wrong because they do not fit neatly into the idea that if you were designated X at birth, you must act in X′ ways.
This is what I mean by heteronormativity and covert homophobia in the batfandom:
→ If your only way of explaining Jason or Damian’s attraction to Dick or Tim is that the former are “masculine men” and thus naturally attracted to that which is feminine (such as Dick’s juicy booty or Tim’s coltish legs), you’re doing it wrong.
→ If your conception of Jason Todd is that he’s super manly (because guns! and aggression! and anger! and flirtatious behavior!) and that he therefore must invariably be a top, you’re doing it wrong.
→ If your conception of Tim Drake is that he’s super passive (because he likes nerd shit like science! and he’s still a virgin at 17! and he was disgusted and nervous when he was almost raped by a woman!) and that he therefore must invariably be a bottom, you’re doing it wrong.
→ If you think Damian wants to fuck Tim because Tim looks like a girl, you’re doing it wrong.
→ If you think Jason is obsessed with getting his dick wet, you’re doing it wrong.
→ If your reason for shipping Jason with Tim is that you think he has the deep desire to care for and protect Tim from the big bad world, you’re doing it wrong.
→ If you think Dick must be a bottom just because he has a curvy ass, you’re doing it wrong.
→ If you continuously write Dick and Tim in situations where they are victims or considered “weak” and need rescuing by Jason and Damian, you’re doing it wrong.
→ If you mutilate a character’s development and history solely for the purpose of putting two characters together in a stereotypically active/passive, pursuer/pursued way (for example, leaving out how Tim betrayed Damian to Ra’s, or the fact that Jason’s hatred of Tim post-DiTF hinges on his relationship with Bruce and not just him being upset that Tim’s a goody two shoes), you’re doing it wrong. [Note: there’s slightly more leeway for this if it’s an AU because, understandably, having a different history means having a different relationship to the world.]
Honestly, it’s not the fact that these tropes come up that upsets me; it’s the frequency with which they occur in the fandom that makes me uneasy. It’s totally okay to write a fic where Dick gets strung up somewhere before Jason rescues him. It’s totally unsettling when it happens every third post in the JayDick tag.
My intention is not to insult anyone or put down their interests for being different from mine. (And honestly, I’m really not, because I ship DamianTim almost more than anyone else I know. I ship JayDick as well. I’m talking about MY ships, MY interests, MY fandom here.)
I’m not talking about anyone specifically, and I’m not even talking about individual writers, because this is a fandom-wide problem, not something that individuals do on their own. Hell, I’m sure that I have used some of this kind of questionable characterization in the past. Again, it’s not individual fics that perhaps utilize some of those ideas that bother me; it’s the fact that these ideas keep cropping up over and over again to the exclusion of other interpretations, that these interpretations of characters are becoming/have become the “norm” in certain ships, and most importantly, that NO ONE EVER SAYS ANYTHING ABOUT IT.
To answer your last question: no, not at all. I think straight people can write slash just as well as queer people can. I think perhaps queer writers are more aware of some of the bullshit of heteronormativity because we have to deal with it on a personal basis, but that doesn’t mean that we’re somehow immune from using heteronormative tropes or that non-queer people can’t write excellent, non-derogatory fanfiction.
Just when I thought you’d reached your pinnacle of awesome, you go and post this. *sigh* One thing though - people do mention it, sometimes, just not on the fics they should be mentioning it on. It’s usually something like, wow, this is weird, why is Jason the bottom? Hehe. Thank you again for posting this, it was awesome!
“Australia has always been isolated by geography. That didn’t keep Kellis-Amberlee out, but it did change the landscape that the virus had to deal with. Instead of cattle and horses, Kellis-Amberlee found kangaroos and wombats. There were densely packed urban population centers, but they tended to be closer to the wilderness than similar cities in other nations. Video footage of zombie kangaroos laying siege to Sydney was one of the last things to escape Australia during that first long, brutal summer of the Rising, and there was a time when the rest of the world genuinely expected the entire continent to be lost.
“There was one thing no one considered, however: Australia was populated by Australians. While the rest of us were trying to adapt to a world that suddenly seemed bent on eradicating the human race, the Australians had been dealing with a hostile environment for centuries. They looked upon our zombie apocalypse, and they were not impressed.”
—Mahir Gowda, “How Green This Land, How Blue This Sea.”
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