#similies

[spaceshipsandpurpledrank]

[adamofingolstadt]

So I was just watching this video about colour symbolism in Into the Woods, and it never clicked for me how important the Hair as Yellow as Corn semantic was; Repunzal's hair doesn't work because, in the logic of the witches spell, she had disobeyed and hadn't listened. So instead the hair-like strings are pulled from AN EAR OF CORN.

[spltlvlhous]

movies are like novels

tv shows are like comics

[skylerchasesbooks]

What’s the Difference Between Metaphor, Simile, and Analogy?

Metaphors, similes, and analogies are three literary devices used in speech and writing to make comparisons. Each is used in a different way.

Identifying the three can get a little tricky sometimes: for example,

when it comes to simile vs. metaphor, a simile is actually a subcategory of metaphor, which means all similes are metaphors, but not all metaphors are similes.

While these figures of speech are used to compare different things, here are some clear rules to help you distinguish between metaphor, simile, and analogy:

°•°

1. A simile is saying something is like something else.

2. A metaphor is often poetically saying something is something else.

3. An analogy is saying something is like something else to make some sort of an explanatory point.

4. You can use metaphors and similes when creating an analogy.

5. A simile is a type of metaphor. All similes are metaphors, but not all metaphors are similes.

Hope this was helpful! You can send in asks or requests for content, I'd be glad to respond! Like, share and follow for more! :)

[seldomscilence16]

When I first entered the Voltron Fandom, Lance had blue eyes. It was a truth throughout all the fics I read. Coming to tumblr @autisticlancemcclain introduced me to a whole new world, where brown eyed Lance was fighting to be the norm. I hadnt questioned it before, a scottish/questionable origin of a last name and the blue theme had me easily convinced.

But with this whole new world I fell into a wonderful exploration of the love of brown and dark eyes. But my original love of Blue was so ingrained that I found myself simply combining them. My rant thing below, not very long, but my addition to the eye color thing. Cause I love both and think they can co-exist, at the very least in my head :]

Lances birth was scary. The doctors had been sure he wouldnt make it, and while his mother put on a brave face, she could feel it too. She prayed to whoever would listen.

The Blue lion, hidden on Earth for such a long time, on reserve power and far too far from a balmera crystal to be fully powered, feels the beginning of a new dawn. She knows shes not supposed to, but this is for the future- and more importantly her beautiful Paladin.

Lance is born with one Bright Blue Eye, and one Lucious Earthy Brown Eye. Lance- once old enough- buys contacts in both colors, switching every few days to confuse people. When asked he gives the most confused look he can manage, looking at whomever asked like they'd grown a second head, its his longest running joke. Students at the Garison have a running pool on which color is true.

Years later, when the Earth is invaded and lost ones return, the people see him again. When in space, one can imagine the difficulty of finding contacts- and the lack of importance of such a thing- so here comes Lance in his heterochromatic glory.

Except this is not the Lance with watery blue eyes or cocoa brown ones either. His Blue eye is like ice, an otherworldly color, a viel, and his Brown eye is deeper than any mudden brown one could dig up from this Earth. But Lance isnt the only one with new eyes.

Beside him, the Hero, the Legend, Shirogane Takashi. People who know his posters like the back of their hands, or had watched him florish in the program, stare in awe as once sun warmed dirt, has turned into a void not unlike those in space. Deep and tired, ageless and old, but oh so kind, a tint of michieviousness remains.

But they do not stop there, these are not the eyes of those they had lost, but ones who had to find themselves over and over again. On rainy days and nights, a blue eye ripples like a clear puddle. A black eye flashes bright and in time with every stroke of lightning. It is otherworldly. It is not of Earth. It speaks of volumes they will never hold.

Because one does not leave this plane and return the same.

[muthwoom]

there comes a certain power with being well acquainted with words,

a certain je ne sais quoi that’s impossible to describe—

i know i couldn’t do it, cause believe me, i’ve tried—

beyond the reach of those who aren’t familiar with the blurbs

of notes written by what some would consider a madman, others a genius;

but there also comes a certain bliss with being unencumbered

by the weight of the responsibility that can at times outnumber

the wonder and joy that comes with being this:

some simple kind of artist, prose and poetry alike,

metaphors and similes keeping me company at night,

when all i really want is your loving hand to hold;

to keep me when i’m lonely and to warm me when i’m cold.

[gated]

I was going to sleep last night thinking about the specificity of queerness, particularly the need for all the identities in the LGBTQIA+ and replies to present when people (who aren’t just baiting) ask why there are so many.

Person: I just don’t understand, if you’re [e.g., asexual], why not just say that... why [e.g., grey asexual panromantic]?

Response: If you, an Australian, were in Germany and someone asked you where you were from, what would you say?

Person: Australia

Response: And if they asked where in Australia?

Person: New South Wales

Response: Oh in Sydney?

Person: No... Byron Bay (etc.)

And it goes on deeper and deeper, because when you get down to it you live in a specific residence on a specific street in a suburb that probably is near, but not actually in, Byron Bay. You don’t live in the house next door, and you know that. But you start at the broadest specificity and go to the most narrow as necessary. If you didn’t have names for those things it would be much harder. And queer is near the top, because it’s all embracing and allows for all the countries in between.

[writing-with-olive]

Similies or Metaphors - which to use

Okay so this is pretty much a stylistic thing, so I’m going to give some pros and cons, but note that this is more heavily my opinion than straight fact. Also note that I tend to favor metaphors, so there’s a bit of bias there.

+++

First a quick refresher:

A simile is a direct comparison. Something is like something else, or shares the same qualitiy as something else. If there is the word “like” or “as” in the phrase, it’s a simile.

A metaphor is an indirect comparison, usually characterized by describing something in a way that’s not technically possible. For example, a common metaphor is “they’re a ray of sunshine.” Technically they’re not, but the indirect comparison is that a ray of sunshine is usually associated with comfort and warmth, as is this person.

Similies:

pros:

clearer and more direct - harder to misunderstand

they’re easier to use, as you can compare almost anything

more effective at incorporating worldbuilding it’s easier to compare things that the readers aren’t going to be as intimately familiar with

you can emphasize exactly what aspect you’re comparing

cons:

can come across as heavy-handed if you’re not careful - many readers can draw what comparison you’re making even if you don’t directly make it

often uses a lot of words - annoying if you’re trying to lower your wordcount

really easy to draw on cliches - avoid this.

fewer sentence structures to pick from - more rigid

Metaphors

pros:

you can do extended metaphors, where you’re comparing two things on multiple different fronts to make a point

tend to flow better - there’s more sentence structures you can use with metaphors, and it’s a lot harder to make them clunky

you’re still able to include what, specifically, you’re comparing, depending on how you set it up (”if he was the moon, she was the sun: hot, soulless, impossible to look at without squinting and maybe hissing a few curses.”) - okay to be fair, that’s basically a simile with the word “like” cut out, but it doesn’t technically follow that rule so I’m putting it here. Fight me.

tend to pack a bigger punch

cons:

if a reader isn’t particularly familiar with one of the sides of the comparison (or both), it’s not going to be particularly useful

depending on the nature of the scene or work, they can feel over the top or just generally too much (I do not find this happens often, but it can)

can feel arbitrary if you’re not careful

How to flip between a simile and a metaphor

To get to a metaphor, drop the adjectives/descriptors that are part of the comarison. Something IS something else, rather than something was LIKE something else. Also drop the likes/as’s

To get from a metaphor to a simile, add in what you’re directly comparing. If you’re saying that a character was a shard of glass, what aspect of the shard are you comparing her to? maybe you’re trying to say she was AS deadly and seemingly harmless AS a shard of glass. You get the idea.