Okay but like. I've heard the monologues. I know Nom will be vying for the crown during the next monarch cycle. I know what his intentions with that are.
BUT I *also* know that KITTY said they wanted to be monarch on maybe the 3rd or 4th cycle, AND that so far, I haven't heard ANY OTHER Reds express the desire to rule.
So. like. just know that there is a non-zero chance that next week we get:
Downward-spiral villain-arc King Nom of Blue
vs
"Red Kingdom elects cat as new mayor ruler"
what do you mEAAAN you would dance to the sounds of the ballroom drifting high off the echoed walls. The music and chatter lifting to the sky and through the glass which shone glittering moonlight on the tiles below.
You mean to tell me while standing alone in the cold night air, clad in her heavy and stiff armor, young knight in training (I presume) Apo Kuna would listen to the music and see the people in their flowy outfits lightly spinning about and she would imitate them? Is this what you're telling me?? Apokuna the person that you are for granting me this image.
I imagine the cold is stinging on her face. I imagine she's been standing and pacing the rooftop for hours as the party continues into the night. She watches the stars and the rooftops and listens to the beautiful music played for the nobility below. She maybe even lets her gaze leave the skyline to take a peek at the party goers. She looks down over the glass to see the dazzling view of dresses twirling in time with one another. The patterns spinning and blurring together. A top down view probably few get to see aside from maybe those sitting above the dance floor, maybe from the stairs..or the kings table. She can just see it if she steps to the side, at the far end of the room, raised above, a place where the royals can sit and watch. There is a girl there in a beautiful red dress with patterns of the sun's rays rippling down the skirt. She imagines that when that dress spins it would look like the sun itself from this point of view. Wonders if it has yet tonight, and she might've missed it. Who would that sun be dancing with? Who would be the one in her orbit? Revolving around and around in a mesmerizing display as they moved across the dance floor like the stars move across the sky.
She looks around. The air is cold up here, turning her cheeks and nose red, though her body is warm under the stiff gambeson. No one around. No one to see if the knight takes her steps around her patrol a little more lightly, if she tried to make her feet dance like the tip-toers below. Her boots are heavy, feet which stomp and do not prance. But a graceful fight is a graceful dance is it not? She tries to copy the moves they take. Slow and deliberate, learning the steps like a spear form. Step... one, two, step... Stop. Extend your hand and twirl your partner. Step.. step.. cross your feet and raise your hand to the sky, reach... And back down.. step... twirl, bow to the wind. Thank your partner for the dance.
Language analysis and line breakdown of bf!Bek's sonnet to bf!Eloise!
(this is kind of all over the place but like I needed to get my thoughts down)
So firstly, Bek writing herself as a needle is already really interesting, because at first you think it's normal, her weapon as a knight correlates to the point of the needle. It portrays her purpose as violence but also shows that her presence is insignificant and that she sees herself as unimportant and small. The metaphor of Eloise being fabric and Bek being the needle also shows that Bek is building Eloise up, but has the potential to break her.
Taking this into consideration, let's go line by line.
'When pierced by needle, doth pillow protest?' This is a question, Bek asking Eloise if she's okay with her 'needle' piercing her 'pillow'. The nouns 'needle' and 'pillow', have juxtaposing connotations, showing how Bek sees herself as much harsher than Eloise. This is furthered by the verb 'pierced', highlighting how lowly Bek sees herself compared to Eloise, as 'pierced' is very much a negative term, even though a needle in a pillow is likely of aid. This shows that Bek sees herself as harming Eloise, even if she's helping her. The use of 'pillow' specifically rather than another soft fabric also hints at the romantic aspect of Bek's feelings towards Eloise.
'Nay, for beyond the sharpest point it wields.' This is kind of a fragment of a longer phrase so I can't go into massive detail, but it means the next part is true even when Bek is trying to be a diligent knight and harsh ('sharpest'). The interline caesura is also significant, as it represents her hesitation to admit the next line and the separation between her duty and her feelings to Eloise.
''Gainst sapphire cloth the needle holds no contest.' This shows Bek not opposing the blue kingdom if it's Eloise -- which is big, seeing as before she'd been very firmly on the red side of the conflict. The concept of Eloise is enough to make Bek reconsider her loyalties. The 'against' mirrors their positions facing each other on the battlefield, but the superlative 'no contest' portrays the extent of Bek's willingness to comply to Eloise. The cloth being sapphire rather than simply blue matters too -- gemstones are precious, and sapphire is correlated with many positive things, showing Bek's high regard, and that she's willing to accept the blue kingdom as positive with Eloise in the picture, furthered by the fact that dark blue (read: sapphire blue) symbolises royalty.
'When with enthusiasm soft fibres yield.' And Eloise reciprocates! Bek's needle 'holds no contest' when Eloise's 'soft fibres yield'. 'Soft' heightens Bek's affection, whilst 'enthusiasm' parallels this affection with Eloise's similar eager romantic feelings. The word 'yield' is really interesting, because if you look up the definition there are two relevant meanings. The first is to give way to arguments, demands, or pressure -- this is likely the intended meaning, and it is used in a relevant positive context, but it's interesting that the pure meaning is negative; emphasising the struggles and shadows of their relationship and the strains of being part of two warring kingdoms, being forced to 'yield' rather than come to their own conclusion. However, the second meaning is to relinquish possession of a stated noun. Although this wasn't the definition Bek likely intended, I wonder if it could have implicit symbolisms of Eloise relinquishing possession of her loyalty to her kingdom in favour of Bek, or even relinquishing possession of her crown, or her queen status.
''Tis not to say the weapon cannot wound.' For this line and the rest of the second stanza, Bek talks about how her being a knight has lead to many acts of ruthlessness. The word 'cannot' rather than an equally acceptable 'will not', hinting that though Bek has the capacity to hurt, she may not always wish to. The needle is now referred to as simply 'the weapon', which emphasises the possibility of Bek harming Eloise.
'For many a cry it wrings from feeble foe.' It is unclear whether this is a prideful statement or a guilty confession -- the word 'wrings' would suggest a violent, almost visceral nature, yet the alliterative negative phrase 'feeble foe' may suggest her pride in fighting enemies. 'Cry' and 'feeble' also hint to how she sees the blue kingdom, which starkly contrasts her aforementioned view on Eloise.
'Upon its thread its victories are festooned.' This is a reference to the medieval tradition of knights decorating their weapons with their victories, furthering the metaphor of the needle representing the knight. This refers to Bek's experience as a knight, but also, as the needle was previously seen 'piercing' the fabric, it may hint to Eloise being one of said victories. The concept of her being a 'victory' may be a symbol of honour, or pride, or deserving, as Bek presents Eloise's love as something she had to fight for.
'When crimson rivulets from fingers flow.' The 'crimson' blood of her enemies clearly represent the red kingdom's victory, whilst the word 'rivulets' has softer, less intense connotations than blood, to further her pride in her own kingdom. However, I would like to talk about the metaphor for the red kingdom being blood whilst the metaphor for the blue kingdom (see line 3) is sapphires. This shows her wavering loyalties and willingness to accept Eloise as part of the blue kingdom. The focus on fingers also highlights this state of being torn between duty and love, as hands signify both power or utility and connection.
'But as it weaves through fabric, feather-down.' The 'but' is important here -- yes, Bek has hurt people before, *but* that's not all there is to her. The 'weaves' represents her slipping in and out of duties versus love, by the metaphor of the needle slipping in and out of cloth. The metaphor is also explored through directly correlating the fabric to the feathers of a swan (ie Eloise), whilst the specific words 'feather-down' have very soft connotations to reflect how Bek sees her and juxtapose the previous stanza of Bek's brutal nature as a knight. The caesura between stanzas also carries some significance, portraying the fragile line between her two commitments.
'Both know it cannot injure, rend, nor tear.' Not only is Bek too 'soft' with Eloise to hurt her, but also vulnerable enough with her for Eloise to acknowledge this. The 'cannot' mirrors the 'cannot' from the previous stanza, and has the same meaning -- it's not that she will not, no, it goes against her very being to hurt Eloise, which furthers her split loyalty. The tricolon of 'injure, rend, nor tear' highlights the extent of her inability to hurt Eloise, all whilst developing the metaphor of cloth by using words generally related to fabric ('tear' in particular).
'No purchase in the plumage, it would drown'. The 'needle' (spear/weapon) cannot gain anything from the hypothetical ('would') situation that Bek would hurt Eloise, as 'purchase' is another example of the victories a knight would 'festoon' onto their weapon, and the superlative 'no' emphasises the pain she would go through if she ever hurt Eloise. This is a stark contrast to her previous statements about her viciousness as a knight, furthering the idea of Eloise being the exception. 'Drown' not only shows the metaphorical death of Bek's moral values, but also reflects their kingdom's divide again, showing her death as caused by water (the *blue* kingdom), using the symbolic concept of the swan's habitat being the antithesis of what Bek stands for.
'A single scarlet strand must hold it there.' And this is the obvious point that Bek's love for Eloise is restrained by her pledge of loyalty to the red kingdom. The 'single' shows that her loyalty may be fraying or running thin in favour of love, and 'must' displays the necessity of her diligence. I haven't been entirely strict on watching everything from all povs, but from what I can tell, the knights take their duty extremely seriously, and betraying their values means betraying themselves. 'Hold' enforces this, hinting at Bek's desire to simply be free of kingdom constraints with Eloise, and having to be held back by her pledge. The fact that the red kingdom is reflected by a 'strand' also means a lot -- her loyalty to her kingdom is encouraging her work as a needle -- a weapon -- her knighthood and kingdom go hand in hand, both opposing Eloise.
'Yet needle seeks sweet plumage, fraught with fear.' The 'yet' compliments the 'but' from line nine, both together portraying her emotional turmoil and confliction as she weighs up both sides of the argument. The plumage being 'sweet' is another example of Bek's affection, and this persistent motif of gentleness juxtaposes the needle and its enemies, showing how Eloise's gentleness and Bek's towards her completely destroys how Bek is meant to feel. The 'seeks' is also interesting- throughout the extended metaphor, the needle has been seen 'piercing' the cloth, which raises the question of what she seeks if not to be with the swan. She doesn't just want to be with Eloise, she searches eagerly for her love to be requited. It is not enough to simply 'weave through the fabric', the fabric must embrace the needle in return. 'Fraught' is a fundamentally negative term, contrasting the 'seeking sweet plumage'. Specifically, the fact that she's 'fraught with fear' is another example of her confliction and emotional turmoil, as she's filled with the anxiety of what will happen once she has to choose. She definitively 'cannot' hurt Eloise, yet any other course of action would be betraying the principals she grew up to uphold.
'Perhaps the pen is mightier than the spear.' The 'perhaps' is the key word here, but this is her answer to the question of loyalty. Although she is unsure of her decision, she is choosing to take the side of Eloise (as a pen is a female swan). 'Mightier' shows that she belives love is an objectively more powerful force than duty, and 'spear' is a direct reference to the metaphor of the needle. This is also a play on words on the phrase 'the pen is mightier than the sword', which suggests that violence can be overcome through writing or peace -- writing can be interpreted as a metatextual reference, hinting that poetry like her own can mend the wounds of war. The other interpretation, that the 'pen' represents peace, shows Bek's desparation and hope that peace between kingdoms can allow her to love Eloise without betraying her loyalty.
In conclusion, they are so in love your honour they literally make me sick the doomed yuri ever <3
Language analysis and line breakdown of bf!Bek's sonnet to bf!Eloise!
(this is kind of all over the place but like I needed to get my thoughts down)
So firstly, Bek writing herself as a needle is already really interesting, because at first you think it's normal, her weapon as a knight correlates to the point of the needle. It portrays her purpose as violence but also shows that her presence is insignificant and that she sees herself as unimportant and small. The metaphor of Eloise being fabric and Bek being the needle also shows that Bek is building Eloise up, but has the potential to break her.
Taking this into consideration, let's go line by line.
'When pierced by needle, doth pillow protest?' This is a question, Bek asking Eloise if she's okay with her 'needle' piercing her 'pillow'. The nouns 'needle' and 'pillow', have juxtaposing connotations, showing how Bek sees herself as much harsher than Eloise. This is furthered by the verb 'pierced', highlighting how lowly Bek sees herself compared to Eloise, as 'pierced' is very much a negative term, even though a needle in a pillow is likely of aid. This shows that Bek sees herself as harming Eloise, even if she's helping her. The use of 'pillow' specifically rather than another soft fabric also hints at the romantic aspect of Bek's feelings towards Eloise.
'Nay, for beyond the sharpest point it wields.' This is kind of a fragment of a longer phrase so I can't go into massive detail, but it means the next part is true even when Bek is trying to be a diligent knight and harsh ('sharpest'). The interline caesura is also significant, as it represents her hesitation to admit the next line and the separation between her duty and her feelings to Eloise.
''Gainst sapphire cloth the needle holds no contest.' This shows Bek not opposing the blue kingdom if it's Eloise -- which is big, seeing as before she'd been very firmly on the red side of the conflict. The concept of Eloise is enough to make Bek reconsider her loyalties. The 'against' mirrors their positions facing each other on the battlefield, but the superlative 'no contest' portrays the extent of Bek's willingness to comply to Eloise. The cloth being sapphire rather than simply blue matters too -- gemstones are precious, and sapphire is correlated with many positive things, showing Bek's high regard, and that she's willing to accept the blue kingdom as positive with Eloise in the picture, furthered by the fact that dark blue (read: sapphire blue) symbolises royalty.
'When with enthusiasm soft fibres yield.' And Eloise reciprocates! Bek's needle 'holds no contest' when Eloise's 'soft fibres yield'. 'Soft' heightens Bek's affection, whilst 'enthusiasm' parallels this affection with Eloise's similar eager romantic feelings. The word 'yield' is really interesting, because if you look up the definition there are two relevant meanings. The first is to give way to arguments, demands, or pressure -- this is likely the intended meaning, and it is used in a relevant positive context, but it's interesting that the pure meaning is negative; emphasising the struggles and shadows of their relationship and the strains of being part of two warring kingdoms, being forced to 'yield' rather than come to their own conclusion. However, the second meaning is to relinquish possession of a stated noun. Although this wasn't the definition Bek likely intended, I wonder if it could have implicit symbolisms of Eloise relinquishing possession of her loyalty to her kingdom in favour of Bek, or even relinquishing possession of her crown, or her queen status.
''Tis not to say the weapon cannot wound.' For this line and the rest of the second stanza, Bek talks about how her being a knight has lead to many acts of ruthlessness. The word 'cannot' rather than an equally acceptable 'will not', hinting that though Bek has the capacity to hurt, she may not always wish to. The needle is now referred to as simply 'the weapon', which emphasises the possibility of Bek harming Eloise.
'For many a cry it wrings from feeble foe.' It is unclear whether this is a prideful statement or a guilty confession -- the word 'wrings' would suggest a violent, almost visceral nature, yet the alliterative negative phrase 'feeble foe' may suggest her pride in fighting enemies. 'Cry' and 'feeble' also hint to how she sees the blue kingdom, which starkly contrasts her aforementioned view on Eloise.
'Upon its thread its victories are festooned.' This is a reference to the medieval tradition of knights decorating their weapons with their victories, furthering the metaphor of the needle representing the knight. This refers to Bek's experience as a knight, but also, as the needle was previously seen 'piercing' the fabric, it may hint to Eloise being one of said victories. The concept of her being a 'victory' may be a symbol of honour, or pride, or deserving, as Bek presents Eloise's love as something she had to fight for.
'When crimson rivulets from fingers flow.' The 'crimson' blood of her enemies clearly represent the red kingdom's victory, whilst the word 'rivulets' has softer, less intense connotations than blood, to further her pride in her own kingdom. However, I would like to talk about the metaphor for the red kingdom being blood whilst the metaphor for the blue kingdom (see line 3) is sapphires. This shows her wavering loyalties and willingness to accept Eloise as part of the blue kingdom. The focus on fingers also highlights this state of being torn between duty and love, as hands signify both power or utility and connection.
'But as it weaves through fabric, feather-down.' The 'but' is important here -- yes, Bek has hurt people before, *but* that's not all there is to her. The 'weaves' represents her slipping in and out of duties versus love, by the metaphor of the needle slipping in and out of cloth. The metaphor is also explored through directly correlating the fabric to the feathers of a swan (ie Eloise), whilst the specific words 'feather-down' have very soft connotations to reflect how Bek sees her and juxtapose the previous stanza of Bek's brutal nature as a knight. The caesura between stanzas also carries some significance, portraying the fragile line between her two commitments.
'Both know it cannot injure, rend, nor tear.' Not only is Bek too 'soft' with Eloise to hurt her, but also vulnerable enough with her for Eloise to acknowledge this. The 'cannot' mirrors the 'cannot' from the previous stanza, and has the same meaning -- it's not that she will not, no, it goes against her very being to hurt Eloise, which furthers her split loyalty. The tricolon of 'injure, rend, nor tear' highlights the extent of her inability to hurt Eloise, all whilst developing the metaphor of cloth by using words generally related to fabric ('tear' in particular).
'No purchase in the plumage, it would drown'. The 'needle' (spear/weapon) cannot gain anything from the hypothetical ('would') situation that Bek would hurt Eloise, as 'purchase' is another example of the victories a knight would 'festoon' onto their weapon, and the superlative 'no' emphasises the pain she would go through if she ever hurt Eloise. This is a stark contrast to her previous statements about her viciousness as a knight, furthering the idea of Eloise being the exception. 'Drown' not only shows the metaphorical death of Bek's moral values, but also reflects their kingdom's divide again, showing her death as caused by water (the *blue* kingdom), using the symbolic concept of the swan's habitat being the antithesis of what Bek stands for.
'A single scarlet strand must hold it there.' And this is the obvious point that Bek's love for Eloise is restrained by her pledge of loyalty to the red kingdom. The 'single' shows that her loyalty may be fraying or running thin in favour of love, and 'must' displays the necessity of her diligence. I haven't been entirely strict on watching everything from all povs, but from what I can tell, the knights take their duty extremely seriously, and betraying their values means betraying themselves. 'Hold' enforces this, hinting at Bek's desire to simply be free of kingdom constraints with Eloise, and having to be held back by her pledge. The fact that the red kingdom is reflected by a 'strand' also means a lot -- her loyalty to her kingdom is encouraging her work as a needle -- a weapon -- her knighthood and kingdom go hand in hand, both opposing Eloise.
'Yet needle seeks sweet plumage, fraught with fear.' The 'yet' compliments the 'but' from line nine, both together portraying her emotional turmoil and confliction as she weighs up both sides of the argument. The plumage being 'sweet' is another example of Bek's affection, and this persistent motif of gentleness juxtaposes the needle and its enemies, showing how Eloise's gentleness and Bek's towards her completely destroys how Bek is meant to feel. The 'seeks' is also interesting- throughout the extended metaphor, the needle has been seen 'piercing' the cloth, which raises the question of what she seeks if not to be with the swan. She doesn't just want to be with Eloise, she searches eagerly for her love to be requited. It is not enough to simply 'weave through the fabric', the fabric must embrace the needle in return. 'Fraught' is a fundamentally negative term, contrasting the 'seeking sweet plumage'. Specifically, the fact that she's 'fraught with fear' is another example of her confliction and emotional turmoil, as she's filled with the anxiety of what will happen once she has to choose. She definitively 'cannot' hurt Eloise, yet any other course of action would be betraying the principals she grew up to uphold.
'Perhaps the pen is mightier than the spear.' The 'perhaps' is the key word here, but this is her answer to the question of loyalty. Although she is unsure of her decision, she is choosing to take the side of Eloise (as a pen is a female swan). 'Mightier' shows that she belives love is an objectively more powerful force than duty, and 'spear' is a direct reference to the metaphor of the needle. This is also a play on words on the phrase 'the pen is mightier than the sword', which suggests that violence can be overcome through writing or peace -- writing can be interpreted as a metatextual reference, hinting that poetry like her own can mend the wounds of war. The other interpretation, that the 'pen' represents peace, shows Bek's desparation and hope that peace between kingdoms can allow her to love Eloise without betraying her loyalty.
In conclusion, they are so in love your honour they literally make me sick the doomed yuri ever <3
OR — there was another ending to Reversal and it was much worse
I got an interesting question from @blockcat-safari on my self-indulgent post, so I guess here’s another one. The short answer is:
YES, Reversal had a different ending, originally
This is how I got over my initial (bad) idea and turned it into something objectively better.
(writing talk under the cut, plus SPOILERS for Reversal)
(warning: LONG)
Not a lot survives of my original outline — I tend to overwrite documents with updated stuff rather than start a new document. But here’s vaguely what I remember:
Chapter 5: Scott throws a horribly burned doctor back into the tower with human Owen. Doc is half-feral with hunger and out of his right mind. Owen just barely manages stop Legs (silver chains), and only bothers to fight for his life because he knows that it would destroy Legs to kill him. Legs still injures Owen badly, but comes to his senses with his fangs buried in Owen’s neck.
Chapter 6: Doc saves Owen’s life with medical kung fu (yay)
Chapter 7: Human food and water have been left in the cell. Owen manages to feed Legs, but they aren’t going to be able to keep that up for long (humans can’t give blood that frequently, you know). This is their “heart-to-heart” chapter.
Chapter 8: Shelby (or Cleo?) helps them escape
Chapter 9: Legs and Owen flee, knowing that they can’t save anyone else. I think I was going to leave it as a sort of bittersweet ending, with a conversation by the lake.
The two find themselves back at the lake under a blood moon, the same spot where they had that horrible conversation from Episode 6.
The two sit by the side of the lake for awhile, unsure of what to say.
Owen: “If I threw myself into the lake, would you let me drown?”
Doc: “You know better.”
Doc: “Besides, I don’t want to give Scott the satisfaction.”
Owen: “What’s your plan, then?”
Doc: “Eternity is too long for someone like me. But I will use the years you have left to do… whatever I can. Whatever I have been preserved for.”
Owen: “I’ll die.”
Doc: “One day. And then I will lay down the burden, too.”
(Yes, I did keep some of these lines for Reversal. I don't like wasting good dialogue xD)
NOTE: This is an objectively *horrible* ending.
Shelby wasn’t (at that time in the outline) so much under Scott’s thumb, and I think that I vaguely hoped that she would be able to “save” him if the object of his ire (Owen) was gone. But that still left Pyro, Cleo and Pearl at his mercy.
So why did my first outline suck so bad?
To be honest? I was stuck. And my goals were too small. When I started the fic, I had wanted to accomplish only 3 things:
1. Doc is turned by Owen
2. Owen is force-cured
3. Bloodletting is “fixed” and gets to live
But I'd made Scott too much of a threat. He was *too* smart. Too overwhelmingly powerful. I could think of no way (at chapter 4) to defeat him credibly. He held all the cards, made all the rules, and there was nothing *anyone* could do to keep him from just throwing Legs back in the tower for that little extra bit of cruelty.
That is, until the folk at Tumblr convinced me to write Chapter 5 from Legs’ perspective.
(Shoutout to @lemn-crystal and @starmars-jacam here, btw, for giving me "permission" to finally jump off the rails. You two unknowingly changed the story in quite a fundamental way)
I’d gotten some interesting comments on Chapter 4 about how the body on the pyre was never clearly defined (another shoutout to @200magpies here!). I'd left it a little vague just so that I could veil the horror for myself, but that unintentional choice opened up a gap:
What if that wasn’t Legs?
I still didn’t know how I was going to defeat Scott at this point, but leaving Legs uninjured gave him the chance to *talk* to the bastard. The entire conversation between Scott and Legs in that room was unplanned. By allowing myself to let go of the outline long enough to let the characters have a conversation, I discovered a couple of very interesting things:
1. I found out what Scott wanted besides revenge (the forced cure)
2. I found out what Legs and Scott’s dynamic was going to be like (reluctant student / evil mentor)
3. And I found out that Legs had something to bargain with
Planting seeds
Which brings me to the meat of this little ramble. How I envision my own writing process has definitely matured over the years, and with Reversal I finally figured out the right metaphor.
I don’t plot or pants, really: I “plant”
I sow little narrative seeds throughout the first chapters and wait to see which ones I like most. And, while I do give them a general direction to grow in (goals), like trellises under roses, I also have to leave enough space for them to go in unexpected directions.
Shelby wasn’t a big part of my original plot, but I planted the seed of her resistance in chapter 6 when she reminded Owen that glass could cut.
The force cure wasn’t in that original plot at all, but now it was a narrative thread that *had* to have some consequences. It allowed part 2 to happen.
Sire bonds were something I initially threw into chapter 2 because I liked reading about them in @cityofangeisislying’s Childe Verse. If Doc and Owen weren’t escaping, though, I would need to explore that idea a lot more. Scott was definitely not averse to making fledglings — where were the rest of them? That particular seed turned into chapters 10-12.
So. While I did write and maintain an outline after chapter 5, it was a lot looser. It was *constantly* evolving. By leaving myself a little room for surprise, and giving myself permission to throw away that original outline, I ended up with something that I was a lot happier with.
Remember that it was at the end of chapter 5 that I gave you all three promises:
1. Bloodletting would be fixed
2. Some people would be saved
3. Scott *motherfucking* Goldsmith would pay
That’s why Chapter 5 is my favorite in the whole manuscript. It’s when the fic stopped being just a “torment nexus” and truly became Reversal.
( And, isn't is amazing how small, seemingly-unrelated interactions can have such a huge impact on an author? I just.. I don't know. I think it's really neat! )
So, to everyone who ever commented on Reversal or yelled at me about it on Tumblr, *thank you*. The story would not have been the same without all of you. <3
This is the poem that bf!bek sent to bf!el! I was jokingly saying that bf!bek wrote poetry while in character, but decided to put my money where my mouth is. I don't write poetry much so was just messing around but would like to see what you make of it! Posting here for the literary analysis girlies xo
for those who care, it's structured as a shakespearean sonnet or as close to it as I could manage. also a female swan is known as a pen!
_________________________________
When pierced by needle, doth pillow protest?
Nay, for beyond the sharpened point it wields,
‘Gainst sapphire cloth the needle holds no contest,
When with enthusiasm soft fibres yield.
‘Tis not to say the weapon cannot wound;
For many a cry it wrings from feeble foe:
Upon its thread its victories are festooned,
When crimson rivulets from fingers flow.
But as it weaves through fabric, feather-down,
Both know it cannot injure, rend nor tear;
No purchase in the plumage, it would drown:
A single scarlet strand must hold it there.
Yet needle seeks sweet plumage, fraught with fear;
Perhaps the pen is mightier than the spear.
AS SOMEONE WITH AN UNHEALTHY OBSESSION WITH SONNETS:
- Not all of it is in iambic pentameter but the rhythm of it is there throughout, it's just the syllable count that doesn't match, and even then many lines are
- SHE USED THE RHYMING STRUCTURE SHAKESPEARE USED FOR ALL 154 SONNETS THIS IS DELIGHTFUL
- SHE! ADDED! A! VOLTA! In many modern written Shakespearean style sonnets there's no volta but SHE HAS ONE AND IT'S IN THE SAME PLACE AS SHAKESPEARE PUT ALMOST ALL OF HIS
- Moment of appreciation for the fact this genuinely sounds like it could've been written by Shakespeare. Like ignore the syllabic unevenness for a second, the prose is incredibly accurate
If anyone wants the clip of El going into it as well, https://www.twitch.tv/soupforeloise/clip/NaiveLuckyPanPrimeMe-L4E6_40NCNGIVZf1?tt_content=clip&tt_medium=mobile_web_share
But basically like genuinely what the hell Bek this is actually amazing
My truth #mytruth is the reason bannerfall owen won't remove his helmet is because his big beautiful brown eyes would distract the enemy on the battlefield or whatever
theartofmadeline
germansingergirl
kaledo-art
dailybridgerton
gummygunk
blakekathryn
snowghoul
origamiaround
dededos
