Tate Lin

YA Fantasy Writer | They/Them | 21+ | PFP Credit: @99__yen (Twitter)

[tate-lin]

JOKER OF ASHES

You set me on fire. You can’t abandon me.

Burnt alive and left for dead by her own mother, Minh wants one thing and one thing only—to get down on her knees and beg for forgiveness. Now on the hunt for a woman long presumed dead, she has to lay low and away from her powerful and influential foster family if she wants to stay ahead of the search. She has the wit, she has the power… But none of the right skills needed. Alone and resourceless, she‘ll have to get creative. A phoenix wasn’t reborn from the ashes that night. A monster was.

BASIC INFO

Genre | Contemporary fantasy

Audience | Young adults

Setting | United States

POV | 3rd person limited

Tense | Past

Format | Trilogy

Status | Planning, starting first draft during Camp NaNo in April

Content Warnings | Graphic violence | Child abuse | Mental illness | TBA

MAIN CAST

Ly Minh (pronounced as Lee Min) | After a series of tragedies that landed her in the United States, the young teenager had been wrestling constantly with the ghosts of her past. Until one day, those hauntings finally proved real. Ever since then, she had gained unexpected powers over fire, a force she can’t control and an ability she might not even want to know.

Drew Scott | With sensory powers no normal human could even dream of, his abilities get put to the test when he is one day kidnapped for it.

Le Hoa (pronounced as Leh Hwa) | Minh's biological mother, the two had been extremely close until the incident at her research lab which finally killed her. Or so Minh had thought.

Kalisha Celestine | Minh's foster mother, she is the guardian of the most dangerous city on Earth; the city which Minh now calls her home.

Major Links (ordered by date)

How does my magic system work?

The History of Ethra

Favourite aspect of Minh's personality

More on Drew Scott

15 Questions with Ly Minh

Possible fanon vs canon of Minh

Character Songs

Theme

Excerpt of Chapter 1

One of my inspirations for Drew

Manga Inspirations

TAGS

#joker of ashes | #joa worldbuilding | #joa excerpts | #ly minh | #drew scott

TAGLIST

Let me know if you want to be added or taken off!

@justahalfling @ihaventpickedausername @iced-ginger-tea @andromeda-grace @kaiyo @iriswords @yors-truly @words-after-midnight @islanded-in-a-stream-of-stars @sabels-small-sphere @leebrontide @pure-solomon @mattresses-and-macaroni @thepixiediaries @poetinprose @arowanaprincess @hd-literature @freedominique @writegriffinsect

[josephbrassey]

“Haha remember when murder-hornets were gonna be a thing? What a nothingburger.”

Yes, because the Washington state government activated like a sleeper-cell and ruthlessly, systematically hunted them down and annihilated them.

“Y2K came to nothing amirite?”

Yes because an army of software engineers working around the clock, losing sleep, and busting ass till the last minute prevented it from happening.

“Remember the hole in the ozone layer?”

You mean the one that was fixed through rigorous world wide government action?

One of the root problems of our society is a refusal or inability by media to articulate that all those “it’s gonna be an apocalypse” disasters were not disasters because we collectively did something about them.

The good news is this is actually quite correctable. I maintain my firm belief that we as humans are capable of solving almost all of our problems, when we decide to do so.

And I still think that’s going to happen. I don’t know when or how, but I do know that abandoning hope won’t help bring it about.

And I refuse to let the cynics own a chunk of my heart.

[gudamor]

Happy Smallpox Eradication Day

[adelle-ein]

"asa and gabby share a bed because gabby is asa's bodyguard," "asa and gabby share a bed because asa's scared of being alone in the dark," and "asa and gabby share a bed because they are girlfriends" are all statements that can be true at once

[babblingbranches]

Reading anime episode reviews by people who haven't read the manga makes me appreciate the writing of Yomi no Tsugai. Reviewers are asking a bunch of questions (as they should) and they aren't dumb questions, they are good understandable questions, but manga readers know the answers to those questions. Things are the way they are, not because "We need to move the plot along," but they are the way they are because of the plot.

[inuitakumi]

blue lock has exactly one female character and i do love anri i think she's sweet it's just that bc she has such a small roll it feels like every 100 or so chapters the mangaka goes oh fuck i forgot i need to appeal to dudes and then draws her in a vaguely fanservicey way before going back to sweaty soccer guys

[lovefordanielmatthews]

Something that will never fail to annoy me is when people say “it’s a soccer anime/manga” in response to people shipping blue lock characters. Like is it not also about the characters and their (platonic or romantic) relationship to the other characters ? Do you think they just play soccer 24/7 ?? Even when they do play soccer do you think they can’t have thoughts and feelings outside of it ??? It’s a character based story ???? Can you read ?????

[reoonagi]

ATLA AU where Nagi is an Airbender and Reo is (undecided but it would be extremely funny if he was either a nonbender who can copy benders or the actual avatar) and Nagi gives up airbending because he can't let go of Reo

[what2wha]

I love this meme so much

[brigriv]

about the FMA AUs post:

tldr: YES I WANT TO MAKE MORE!!

There's one idea where's it's simply roles reversed. Ed's in the armor, he's probably super reckless since he feels nearly invincible. Must protect Alfonse at all costs, now to the extreme. (also does not flinch when mistakenly called the FMA, maybe Al plays into the joke)

Other AU takes place at the end of 2003 when Ed's trying to sacrifice himself to bring Al back. Instead of passing through the gate, he is placed in a timeline where he had died, replacing this timeline's dead Edward. (I know this makes no sense, maybe god/Truth is having fun here or something) In this version, Al didn't have the strength to attach Ed's soul to armor in the very beginning, thus losing his brother forever. When Ed appears, Al believes he is a homunculus and is understandably very upset.

I wrote a little something for the latter, but writing is not my strong point. ^^; I'm tempted to make a little comic of it instead.

(in response to @elibii @skytastiic @doin-a-heckin-science @dontforget-oct3 and several others, thanks!!)

[brigriv]

some AU stuff to think about...

(god I love the misery and despair so much 😭)

[paper-mario-wiki]

hey here's a website for downloading any video or image from any website.

works w/ youtube, soundcloud, twitch, twitter (gifs and videos), tumblr (video and audio), and most other websites you're probably lookin to download stuff off of.

[paper-mario-wiki]

for anyone wondering about privacy and whatnot, i'm happy to say that the developers are pretty committed to have 0 trackers and 0 data retention. you can read more in their "about" section, but here's the basic important stuff:

[wukker]

COBALT MENTIONED OUTSIDE OF TWITTER???

[paper-mario-wiki]

^ (one of the lead devs that made cobalt)

thank you for your thingy, it's real useful 🙏

[flightyalrighty]

never sand down your story or your characters to make them more appealing to a wider audience, ok? Do what YOU want

🫵

[cripplecharacters]

is there a good reason to wear eye patches, or is it just to make ableds more comfortable? i can't find a good reason on google, but i thought i should double check with someone who might actually know what they're talking about - i'm writing a character who lost an eye in an explosion and they don't bother with eye patches unless they're getting dressed up fancystyle

Hello!

We've talked about eyepatches a bit in the past. You may find this post [link] helpful as it talks about reasons somebody may wear an eyepatch but you could also look through our #eyepatches tag.

The post I linked talks about a lot of the technical reasons that somebody may wear an eyepatch but I'd also like to mention that it could just be a fashion thing too.

I had a friend in high school that had only one eye and would usually wear an eyepatch over her prosthetic eye. She'd alternate between a plain black eyepatch and ones with some bright colours. I remember a bright pink and black striped one but I know there were others. Because she had the prosthetic already, there wasn't necessarily a medical reason for her to wear the eyepatches but she liked to because it fit with her style.

As the post I linked mentions, using an eyepatch over other alternatives is pretty rare and honestly, in most cases I've seen, adults and teenagers that use them generally seem to use them more in a fashion-sense than for any particular medical reason.

From what you described, your character using the eyepatches only when they're getting dressed up fancy is pretty feasible and fits with what some folks do but I'd suggest digging into it a bit more:

Why do they wear an eyepatch when they're dressing up?

What do they use when they're not wearing the eyepatch?

Are there pressures to wear the eyepatch to make other people more comfortable?

Do they wear the eyepatch at any other times?

Do/did they need the eyepatch for medical reasons?

etc.

If you haven't already, I'd definitely suggest taking a look through some of our #eyepatches posts as they have some good info!

Cheers,

~ Mod Icarus

[cripplecharacters]

Hello! I wanted to make a character who wears an eyepatch, but I don't know how to make it, exactly? And I thought you may know

I've read that the most common reasons to wear eyepatches are generally temporary, wich it's not what I wanted. I thought maybe he was really sensitive to light in one eye and chose to wear an eyepatch rather than sunglasses, but I've also read that may deteriorate the vision in that eye? (Maybe he's blind in that eye too and he's not worried about it?)

If not that I've read that they are used to hide a missing eye, a lazy eye or something else, but that it was more used in the past bc medicine wasn't as good, and nowadays most of that can be changed with surgery or a prosthetic eye, wich... I don't know why he wouldn't have?

Also, all of this was found via google, and I couldn't find any first-person experience (?) Like - I've found a lot of youtube videos, reddit forums and tumblr users from blind people to ask and learn about my other blind characters, but I couldn't for this? Maybe they're not really used anymore??

I'm not sure if you know but I had to ask - Maybe you know of somewhere I could read more about it?

(Also sorry fot any mistakes or confusing wording, english isn't my first language)

Hey! Your ask is very clear, don't worry.

Eyepatches can be used long-term to treat amblyopia, help someone who has unilateral photophobia, or be used by those who have double vision to help with visual tasks (I do that with my "DIY eyepatch", aka closing the one eye I have actual eyelid control over). Photophobia could be a result of a bunch of things, my bilateral one happened as a side effect of nerve surgery. There are too many ocular conditions to list, probably. Permanent double vision is usually caused by brain or nerve damage, like in my case, or an autoimmune condition like myasthenia gravis. With that said, eyepatches among all of the above are still a rarity. For all the time I spent in eye clinics since I was a baby, I have never personally met anyone who would wear one permanently into adulthood - many wore it only as children, or only around the time of surgery (like I also did), etc. Modern medicine simply has better options.

They are rarely used for missing eyes as well, other solutions (prosthetic eyes, conformers) are more common. An empty eye socket isn't ideal a lot of the time.

It's rather hard to find first-person resources for eyepatch usage because it's simply rare. I looked through some of our resources and while we had multiple for prosthetic eyes or similar, nothing for eyepatches, so I can't help with that, unfortunately.

Important thing about eyepatches is that they're not used 24/7. People take them off sometimes. Depending on why he uses it, you might be interested in this (if he's blind) or this (if he has a facial difference) post. Also think of the reason he wears it outside of just the eyepatch; does he need medication, eye drops, does he get headaches, etc.? Remember that it shouldn't just be an aesthetic, and it should cause other symptoms too.

I hope this helps,

mod Sasza

[fixyourwritinghabits]

Also, like, any time you see hyped up traditional publishing drama about debut writers, it often boils down to something most writers would not do anyway. Don't review bomb books using the same mythology with sockpuppet accounts. Don't sexually harass your female peers. Don't publicly sneer at other writers because they write books you don't read. Don't create "secret" group chats targeting specific writers and expect them never to get leaked. Don't harass Goodreads reviewers and DO NOT stalk them. Don't plagiarize. Don't plagiarize. For Prime's sake, do not plagiarize you will get caught, so many debut writers have ruined their careers doing this.

[this-is-anti-brain-injury]

I'm a writer. I was wondering if you can give pointers on realistic and respectful writing of a character who has had a brain injury. Especially things to avoid that may be wrong/hurtful.

I'm sure this person would love extra contributions in replies or reblogs too! But here's some stuff I compiled so far

1.

I think it's important to think about why you want to portray a character with a brain injury

If your reason for wanting to portray it is anything related to using that character's brain injury as a major plot inconvenience (eg. they forget a piece of information and the whole mission is ruined), I really don't recommend it. It's not entertaining writing as it is and just it makes the character seem like a burden to the plot.

If you just want one symptom for plot reasons (like memory difficulties), also ditch the brain injury idea. Either you intend to represent the whole experience or none of it!

I'd say similar things if the character is just going to feel hopeless or awful about it the entire time and it's going to be constantly used to make the readers emotional - we eventually have to live with it, even if accepting it takes time, and learning to accept your disabilities is something that desperately needs representing. Brain injuries are not some kind of eternal punishment for people with them, nor a tear-jerking tragedy for people without them

2.

Do proper research into brain injuries and zone in on what's applicable to your character

What is the cause of their brain injury? What type of brain injury is it?What parts of the brain were affected? How long has it been since they acquired it? How comfortable are they with their reality now? Do they have access to proper medical care and means of recovery? What will their symptoms actually look like?

All of this is important if you want your character to feel fleshed out in this area too

3.

Run your work by people with brain injuries who offer it!!!! You can find people on writing subreddits, discord servers, in-person, all sorts of places, who'd like you to ask questions and help in the writing of your character

Don't just talk about us, include us in the conversation. Acknowledge that you cannot fully understand our experience and so you cannot make the rules on how to portray it respectfully!

4.

Listen to our stories! Spend time with us online and in person if you can! There are so many stories from people with brain injuries on all social media platforms - do not use their words directly without permission, but you can certainly learn from their experiences and think about what your character's experience might look like

I really like this article it goes pretty in-depth into all areas of brain damage & injuries and recovery in writing

5.

Flesh out your character just as much in every other applicable area - if you overly expand upon their disabilities only for the character themself to be pretty lackluster, you're not portraying a real person anymore, you're just portraying the concept of a brain injury

AVOID:

- The 'You're not the same person anymore' trope, where a character experiences an accident or head trauma and is suddenly an entirely different person on every level. It's pretty much just used as an emotional plot device. Severe brain damage can result in significant changes in personality, but they are the same person - Doom and gloom, where you're essentially just writing pure angst intended to make the audience emotional with no real representation of the disability outside the context of 'this is really sad' - Comedic relief, where a character's brain injury is used almost exclusively as a humorous tool (eg. haha they keep forgetting things, haha they talk weird, haha they lost their train of thought, haha they behave inappropriately and don't realise it) - And I'm not saying you can't do something amnesia-related, but if you're looking for a plot device that'll cause a character to do something like forget their entire life before that point for a very prolonged period of time and receive little to no medical intervention, please find a fictional means for it (eg. fantasy/sci-fi elements) instead. It's just so overdone and it's always written as caused by a head injury that you'd expect to result in TBI, but those effects are not realistic for TBI How to write a character with amnesia article

---

I'd love to see what others have to add to this! I know it's not uncommon for some people to say you shouldn't even try to represent other people's disabilities, but I don't think that's a realistic way to approach it, especially when lots of us would love to write fiction about brain injuries but struggle to because of said brain injury

[allthingslinguistic]

This young girl uses “los,” “las” and the gender-neutral “les” — watch her explain why. —from REMEZCLA on twitter.

[jumpingjacktrash]

to all the cowards who whine “how will i explain it to my kids??” i say: how about you shut up and let your kids explain it to you.

[angelbabyspice]

“Ma’am, you don’t have to be a lawyer to defend someone else” wow she snapped

[space-knight-dummy]

dammnn she really popped off with that last line though

[st3vi3charl3s]

IN THIS HOUSE WE STAN THIS KID

[snuffles005]

as someone who studies linguistics, i will never not laugh when someone says “that word doesn’t exist” like, my good bitch. if a word is regularly used by a certain amount of people then it exists. if it has its own grammatical rules then its perfectly valid. it’s part of their lexicon now, sweetie. “It’s a made up word” honey, all words are made up. Linguists didn’t just fucking excavate athens and were like BEHOLD!!! VOCABULARY!! “that word isn’t in the dictionary” dictionaries are not rule books, they’re record books. “Refrigerate” didn’t exist 200 years ago and yet here we are. a language that doesn’t adapt to an ever changing society is bound to be lost because, eventually, it won’t be able to keep up with social progress. you motherfuckers.