Honestly, Ever Since Becoming A Fanfic Writer Myself I’ve Become Like 500% More Understanding And Patient

yet another ‘characters posing for a camera™’ case

this time with siblings of the previous generation

heeppy hoolida

THE DANCE OF DRAGONS for the Game of Thrones: Season 5 blu-ray

Last year I had the opportunity to work on an animated featurette for Game of Thrones! 

The Dance of Dragons is a 20 minutes animation based on G.R.R. Martin’s novella The Princess and the Queen, which takes place 200 years before the events in Game of Thrones. It tells the story of the struggle in which Targaryen turned against Targaryen, resulting in civil war and destroying most of their dragons in the process.

In addition to being in the blu-ray, it was shown at a few events in the run-up to the season 6 premiere. Pretty much a dream project, thanks to the people at  Buddha Jones + LAssociates - particularly the producer Adam Vadnais.

(Tumblr // Twitter // Instagram)

(Just a note: I was in charge of drawing the characters + dragons; the colours and background were handled by other people for the finished product. So it looks fairly different to these frames.) 

Some tips for using a few words to describe voices:

1. Tone Words: Use tone words to convey the emotional quality of a voice. For example, you can describe a voice as "melodic," "soothing," "sharp," "gentle," or "commanding" to give readers a sense of the tone.

2. Pitch and Range: Mention the pitch and range of the voice. Is it "deep," "high-pitched," "raspy," or "full-bodied"? This can provide insight into the character's age, gender, or emotional state.

3. Accent and Diction: Describe the character's accent or diction briefly to give a sense of their background or cultural influences. For instance, "British-accented," "Southern drawl," or "formal."

4. Volume: Mention the volume of the voice, whether it's "whispering," "booming," "murmuring," or "hushed."

5. Quality: Use terms like "velvet," "silken," "gravelly," "honeyed," or "crisp" to convey the texture or quality of the voice.

6. Rate of Speech: Describe how fast or slow the character speaks, using words like "rapid," "slurred," "measured," or "rambling."

7. Mood or Emotion: Indicate the mood or emotion carried by the voice. For example, a "quivering" voice may convey fear or anxiety, while a "warm" voice may express comfort and reassurance.

8. Resonance: Describe the resonance of the voice, such as "echoing," "nasal," "booming," or "tinny."

9. Timbre: Mention the timbre of the voice, using words like "rich," "thin," "clear," or "smoky."

10. Cadence: Highlight the rhythm or cadence of speech with descriptors like "staccato," "lilting," "rhythmic," or "halting."

11. Intonation: Convey the character's intonation by saying their voice is "sarcastic," "apologetic," "confident," or "questioning."

12. Vocal Characteristics: If applicable, mention unique vocal characteristics, like a "lisp," "stutter," "drawl," or "accented 'r'."

having a bad start doesn’t mean everything is ruined. having a bad week doesn’t mean your whole year will be bad. everything could be going wrong right now but you can still have a nice ending.

STAR WARS VISIONS S2 IS SO GOOD

Writing agent Jonny Geller gives advice to young writers. 

Shalio sighed with relief and began to approach her. “My lady,” he said, stopping right in front of her. “How are you feeling?” Hayam stared at him for a while. “I’m…I just…” She lowered her head and closed her eyes. “I just miss him already…” A tear began to roll down her face. Shalio instinctively reached his hand out to try and wipe it away, before stopping himself. I can’t, he thought as he lowered his hand back to his side. No matter how hard I want to.

pov: you're waking up and it's june 1st

(happy pride month yall!)

Yeah sure we’ve all binged a long fic, but have you ever read a WIP and followed someone’s life?

Tidbits of information - (“I graduated today!”) - and small joys (“It’s my birthday!”) and you get to be there to say “This chapter made me cry, happy birthday, thank you for gifting us this”.

I remember reading this fic of someone at the end of high school, older than me then. They seemed infinitely wise, spoke of their future career and getting into the college they wanted. I remember them posting on days they felt like nothing could bring them down - and on days the whole world did and it’s the aftermath of a hospital visit. Cancer, I think it was, their father. I got to the end of the story, I know their father was fine, but also they got to finish their WIP. I graduated three years later than them, still dutifully wrote thank you notes in every comment. I wonder if they remember me, or just the collective of people reading the story as it updates.

Four years ago I was into my first year of university, my first year of figuring out being out in public spaces. I made excuses as to why my name didn’t match my paperwork and read a fic on the train, the same five chapters over and over again for the next years as I thought the story abandoned. It updated this week after such a long hiatus, I left another thank you comment.

There’s an author I love, they update their stories like a clockwork. When they don’t, I check their blog, just to see if their doing alright, not because I feel like they owe me, just to ensure whether I better get out my laptop to write that really detailed university level essay chapter analysis to get them smiling when their day sucked.

And then, once, when I was 17, I read a fic that hadn’t updated in over a decade. I wasn’t even in primary school when it started posting. On the last chapter, I left a comment that, in retrospect, was horribly rambly and most likely full of grammar mistakes. The author replied and though I couldn’t see their face, I thought of them crying. They were married now, had children, and hadn’t thought about this fic in years. They went through their files again, found another half written chapter and an outline. I got two new chapters to read that year.

And then, recently, someone told me they got back into writing original fiction because of my comments. I get to read nearly weekly chapters.

I love binge reading a finished fic, but nothing is ever going to top the feeling of anticipation of waiting for a chapter, the pure joy when someone tells you I was done with this, but you made me think of it again, so this is for you.

Anyway, I think we should romanticize reading WIPs more, growing up alongside the authors writing the stories we love.