#hurricane laila

[akindofmagictoo]

For ask game:

(5) describe what Hurricane would look like if it were bad. (alternatively: list out what hypothetical horrible interpretations of the work would look like. fake socmedia discourse emulator optional but encouraged.)

hello!

i think i'm approaching this as "what would make an adaptation bad", because that's what makes sense to me.

some things you could do to ruin an adaptation of Hurricane (fun fact, one of these was actually suggested in the drafting stage by someone i no longer take advice from)

give Anvindr a ✨tragic backstory✨ (he has some backstory that explains some of his motivation. it does not absolve him of his many crimes.)

miss the point of Anvindr's verbal abuse; several of the things he does are physically violent, but one of the biggest reasons he's scary is because of a) power dynamics and b) emotional/verbal abuse. don't downplay it, don't miss the point.

make Laila completely helpless (she doesn't have a lot of power, which is part of the point, but that doesn't make her completely helpless)

make Aella either incompetent (she's ADHD and impulsive; she makes mistakes, but she's not incompetent) or helpless (see above). or, on the flip side, a stone-cold competent badass. she's not that either. (that said, there are probably a lot of ways you could screw up Aella. she's young and optimistic, but not a complete child. she makes poor choices, but she isn't incompetent. she's a capable fighter, but she's not grumpy or cold. through the story, she lacks power in a few ways, but that doesn't mean she has no character, and it isn't a moral failing of hers.)

make Tempest flat and one-dimensionally angry, and/or a bad or absent mother. Tempest and Aella certainly have a complex dynamic, but Tempest isn't neglectful or abusive. she loves her baby girl.

have Theo be completely disapproving of the Hurricane women swearing/drinking/fighting, and/or surprised about women doing those things

frame [climactic moment redacted for spoilers] as a triumph. in fairness, in early drafts i think it was. and then i grew up and realised it... wasn't, really.

this one was fun once i got my head around it! i apparently have Many Thoughts. thank you :))

ask game is here!

[bae-in-maine]

Hurricane Laila being a shit again. @klarkgriffin-dor @loosesushi

[akindofmagictoo]

first and last line tag game

thank you @zmlorenz!

this is the start and end of Hurricane chapter 24 (”lock and key”) 

Aella curled into a ball, her back on fire. Someone had bandaged it while she slept, which was unexpected. It hadn’t done much for the pain, though. 

Is Ma coming for me? Can she? She had no idea what had happened on the other paths. Maybe Tempest had been ambushed too. Even if she hadn’t, could she come? Would she know where to find her? She shivered, eyeing the bars on the brig door. A shiver ran down her spine. 

She is coming for me, she’ll always come for me—

- 

“I see.” She turned away, too quickly for Aella to see if she’d really understood, then paused. “What’s your name?” 

“Aella. Aella Onyeisi.” 

“Laila Hajjar.” Without another word, she put her back to the cell door and crossed her arms once more, like nothing had happened. 

But something had happened. Aella knew it. 

I wanted to do chapter 19, bc that covers a decent chunk of emotional ground but it starts and ends on the same kind of vibe (theella and romantic tension lol)... so maybe another time 

I’ll tag @ellatholmes @writingbyjillian @diphthongsfordays and anyone else who wants to play :D 

[akindofmagictoo]

writing questions tag game

this comes from @sedonawritess :)) 

sedona asks from most to least, which of your characters is more likely to start a fight? 

in Hurricane, the scale ranges from Theo (least) to Aella (most). 

Theo - Laila - Tempest - Aella 

Theo would quite like to never end up in a fight ever. he’s not very confrontational. Aella, on the other hand, starts one and a half bar fights in canon. both are defending someone else, but still. impulse control and Aella are not always friends. 

Laila is not super confrontational but if pushed will fight you. Tempest is perfectly capable and willing to fight, but also has more self-control (and life experience) than Aella. she’s not going to pick an unnecessary fight. 

in Dragonsong, the scale goes from Isi (least) to Brendon (most). 

Isi - Robin - Holly - Sierra - SB - Brendon 

Brendon’s main job in the narrative is antagonising and picking fights with Isi, which is why he gets the top slot. Isi, on the other hand, will choose non-violence wherever possible. she doesn’t start fights. she does finish them sometimes, though. Robin prefers low confrontation but is more easily moved to anger/annoyance than Isi (Isi has very high chill levels). Holly and especially Sierra will absolutely throw down if necessary — like Isi, mostly if someone else is being a jerk, but these two are more willing to go to a physical fight first. 

SB is not a physical fighter but he does kind of intentionally antagonise people, especially to begin with. he figures it’ll make it easier when they do decide to leave him later. so he acts like he’s down to fight, though really would rather not. 

I shall tag @zmlorenz @ellatholmes @etjwrites and @ardawyn. 

my question is (unrepentantly stolen from a question zmlorenz asked me one time) what is the genre, theme or trope in fiction that you absolutely love to death and will never get tired of, no matter how many times you read it? 

[akindofmagictoo]

HURRICANE: character introduction: Laila Hajjar 

When Rob reemerged on deck to say that Grimmur was coming to take the wheel, a very insistent part of Laila wanted to go and hide. Her mouth had gone dry. She’d already started to make some preparations to make landfall; rigging the sail for maximum speed though it wouldn’t last long that way, and angled the ship in the general direction of land. They would be on their way now, though it was still out of sight.

If he was angry at her—and he probably would be—hiding would do her no good. She clung to the wheel even though her heart pounded and her palms had gone clammy. Footsteps sounded somewhere below her. They sounded like his.

name meanings: 

Laila: Arabic, “night” 

Hajjar: Arabic, “stone” 

basic info: 

29F; Egyptian 

5′2; warm light brown skin; wears a hijab; brown eyes 

Laila summed up: submissive and quiet, but has a very good reason to do what she’s told! (spoiler alert). intensely loyal to her family. not the greatest fan of pirates, despite arguably being one. once forced a pirate captain to make a deal on her terms, but feels like she’s lost that aspect of her character. in a sense, waiting to be given ‘permission’ to act on her own (and she just might get it). Hufflepuff, looks like she could kill you but is basically a cinnamon roll. 

role: first mate to Anvindr Grimmur aboard the Marquess. fourth POV character (aside from Aella, Tempest and Theo) 

non-spoilery fun fact: currently the hijab she wears is grey, but she has some more colourful ones from a previous part of her life. 

TAGLIST

@writingbyjillian @oddsandinks​ @innocentreticent @ahowlinwolf​ @aziz-writes​ 

[akindofmagictoo]

HURRICANE: excerpt: chapter 18 (“eastport”) 

Grimmur had been talking and she’d missed it. “Pardon, sir?”

“I said, relax,” he said, speaking overly slowly.

I heard that part. Thank you, sir.  

“I know how to delay her.” He was still enunciating each word carefully. “Of course we’ll be going through Serpent Run on the way.”

I knew that. I’m not stupid. As soon as she had the thought, she was very glad it hadn’t made it to her mouth.

“If Tempest does figure out where we’ve gone, she’ll follow us through. We make her turn off our trail, and get ourselves some treasure into the bargain.”

Laila opened her mouth to ask him what he meant, but thought better of it. He’d never tell her what she wanted to know, only what he thought she needed to know. If he hadn’t said it, she didn’t need to know. Didn’t she? “Aye, captain.” And yet she longed to know what he was planning. How could she carry out his orders, which he would inevitably give her, without knowing what was going on?

here’s a bit of Anvindr and Laila because I picked a random page  

TAGLIST: (send an ask if you want to be added or removed) 

@writingbyjillian @oddsandinks @ahowlinwolf @aziz-writes @juls-writes @scribbleknots @lookinpeach @zmlorenz @quilloftheclouds @viawrites-andacts @innocentreticent

[akindofmagictoo]

you said you were up to doing the chapter title ask game again, so how about something from "Silver Creek"? 👀

thanks for the ask! this is a cool chapter — it’s exclusively Laila POV and you get some insight into how she ended up on the Marquess, which is fun! 

so below I have given you a bit of that flashback 

(Masoud Hajjar is Laila’s father) 

“You will show me where your strongbox is. If you waste my time, your men will die. Do I make myself clear?” 

Again, Masoud said nothing. The pirate drew a pistol from his belt and fired at random. With a strangled cry, the Nasir’s lookout collapsed. 

Laila clapped both hands over her mouth to stifle her scream. 

Masoud wouldn’t tell this man where his strongbox was. Laila knew it. He couldn’t watch his crew die, but he would offer up his own life before he said a word. She couldn’t let that happen. An idea hit her as hard as two ships colliding.“Wait!” 

The pirate captain’s cold gaze turned to her. “What’s this?” 

She lifted her chin and drew herself to her full height. “I am Laila, the captain’s daughter. I offer you a deal.” 

“A deal? Interesting. Continue, sweetheart.” 

send me a chapter title for a snippet from that chapter! 

[akindofmagictoo]

🃏 + Laila pls

Laila was not originally a pirate; she worked for her father, who was a merchant. Then *spoilers* happened...

(her father’s name, included in this fun fact, is Masoud Hajjar.)