Writing: My writing tag / Process notes / My fanfic / Poetry / Lit references
Update Tag: starfishupdates
About me:
I write, draw, and occasionally code. Was a point-n-click puzzle designer in a previous life with a few published games. These days I take on odd jobs and write and draw on the side.
For freelance game dev work, leave me a message.
My opinion on good etiquette online can be found under the etiquette tag.
In the real world, though, I'd probably keep my distance and keep people away from her. She's horrible, period. She has no respect for anyone's agency. She grew Harrow's hair without her consent. She's almost a Jod-in-diapers without the annoying "I did it to protect you" (wait, no, she'd do that to Corona).
(Content warning and spoiler warning - sui & nona spoilers)
Corona's cards are such that she's down to pulling off some sexual shenanigans to manipulate Ianthe (Kissing her fingers? Pulling off that "heart's own" BS?) I have no doubt there's still a 4th book for Corona to prove that she's worse than Ianthe in horridness, but right now the subtext is that Ianthe has likely been pulling off some necromancy for Corona (I'm not the first person to point out this is likely) - likely without Corona's consent - and Corona has learned to work around that, including the ultimate threat of unaliving herself.
Surely there's a reason WHY corona looks the way she does? And mayhaps the flesh specialist has a hand in that?
Corona's working around Ianthe could make Corona a better manipulator than Ianthe, who is occasionally a bumbling villain (hot mic, can't monologue, "saint of awe" - bet you she begged jod for that title like a child begging for mcdonalds, can't win a single big fight). But we haven't seen Corona fully in that role YET (we probably will). What I'm seeing is Ianthe saying "Anyone would listen to you if you unbuttoned your top two buttons." - How the fuck is that okay? It is not okay. Absolute zinger of a line, for sure.
Ianthe pathetically hungering for her sister and shuddering at her sister's touch, believing that she and Corona belong to each other - Corona knowing what she has, and milking the shit out of it - how is this their thing, and how did this get started?
And that's what I love so much about the locked tomb. It has so many of these tiny bits that you put together and makes you think. I truly admire the effort put into writing such a realistically bad, enmeshed relationship. The sisters are incestuous, codependent twins, and not in some fantasy way, but in a very real, very dysfunctional way. They are the most compelling pair for me, because I don't know where all this shit is coming from. What made them that way?
In that same vein I respect the way the Lannister twins are written as well. Given their upbringing, it seems almost natural that Jaime would love Cersei. The Tridentarii give off the same vibes as well - but we don't know WHY, YET. Whatever was happening in the Third house, it was definitely Something Fucked Up. (Wow, something more fucked up than Jaime and Cersei's dad, Tywin???? WHAT IS IT?)
That being said, I don't think that ANY Tridentarii twin will get out of this okay. Which makes me a little sad. In GoT (books), there seems to be a chance for Jaime to get better... I don't think Ianthe will ever get there, or Corona. They're so deep into casual cruelty, so into hurting and then licking each other's wounds. Can Ianthe do something un-shitty, enough to deserve redemption? I doubt it, we're in the last book. And one good act can't undo what she's done. She's a villain.
Hats off to TM for writing them so damn well. I reread all the twin scenes at least more than once, and I get such powerful Akio/Anthy vibes. (Which is a whole nother thing)
I regret deleting Line on my computer. It's so hard to talk about stuff.
I don't know if I regret deleting tumblr off my phone though. I was spending too much time on it.
I'm working in the real world, but don't really know what I'm going to do with my life. I have a bunch of drafts, but the rest of the story is so hard to pull out of me.
sometimes, i think about the fact that my stories take up residence in other people's heads, and i think it's the highest honor an author could have, regardless of the material they write.
It lets people access scientific articles for free. This is dangerous. It helps the free flow of knowledge and reduces the competitive edge of all the people who worked really hard to have been born into a wealth.
Like, it’s literally a website where you can type in the DOI of an article and read it, without ever having to pay the publisher who exploited the author.
So, again, do not, under any circumstance, use Sci-Hub. I mean, can you imagine a world where knowledge is free and easily accessible to everyone? Even, y'know, poor people?
Libgen also has many books online, including textbooks, searchable by name, author, and ISBN. Can you imagine textbook companies not getting their hard-earned income from poor college students? Here is the link just so you make sure that you never accidentally stumble across this horrible, unethical website.
Oh, and while we’re talking about books, if you’ve managed to stay clear from Libgen, definitely don’t go to zlibrary, where you can also find a lot of textbooks, but unfortunately they’re completely free.
online friends are just. i miss you like we’ve met before. you know my family inside and out and none of them know you. the ocean is achingly big but you know i’d cross it for you. you text me good morning as i finish dinner. i wish you could come over for dinner. we have a hundred plans of things to do together and they all feel so far away. i love you as if you were here. for now i’ll love you from here.
Newly Licensed Manga Explores a Young Women's Asexual Identity
On January 26, Kodansha Comics announced that it has licensed Uta Isaki's manga Is Love the Answer (Kimi no Sekai ni Koi Wanai). This single-volume manga follows a young woman as she explores her identity as aromantic asexual. It releases in English in Fall 2022.
The publisher describes the manga:
When it comes to love, high schooler Chika wonders if she might be an alien. She’s never fallen for or even had a crush on anyone, and she has no desire for physical intimacy. Her friends tell her that she just “hasn’t met the one yet,” but Chika has doubts… It’s only when Chika enters college and meets peers like herself that she realizes there’s a word for what she feels inside–asexual–and she’s not the only one. After years of wondering if love was the answer, Chika realizes that the answer she long sought may not exist at all–and that that’s perfectly normal.
Is Love the Answer was serialized in Katsu Kiss and published in a single Japanese volume by Kodansha in 2020.
Uta Isaki is a Japaanese manga artist known for her series Sayabito: Sword of Destiny and Bukimi no Tani no Roboko-san. She has contributed to a number of manga anthologies, including Golden Time, Masamune-kun's Revenge, and Éclair. Her doujinshi oneshots Silkscreen and Mine-kun Is Asexual are licensed in English by Irodori Comics.
I never used to understand what “making connections” looked like but it turns out it’s standing at a party and saying “I’ve been thinking about getting into the film industry” and someone saying “Oh, Sarah works in the film industry” and Sarah yelling from accross the room “Did someone say my name?!?!?!”
You casually mention that you’ve been thinking about such and such and your professor overhears and is like “oh I know someone who works there. Do you want me to email them for you?” And you go “Sure.”
It’s the six layers of separation thing. Everyone is only so many layers away from everyone else. So if you stand in the correct rooms and say the correct things out loud once in a while eventually someone will say “Oh, I know a guy.”