essbeejay: stock: raven (Default)
essbeejay ([personal profile] essbeejay) wrote2009-07-09 12:53 pm
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You make me feel alive

I had some posts swimming about in my brain, posts about my favorite stories and movies and what I want to emulate when I'm writing - nothing substantial, just rambling, bumbling words so I can feel like what I'm writing is actually coming from somewhere and I'm exercising what I learn from what I watch and read and listen to. It got to be a little too self-indulgent in my head, though, so all I will say is this:

Punch Drunk Love is one of my favorite films.
Tiffany Aching is my favorite book heroine.
Dos Palabras is one of my favorite short stories.

I bring up "Dos Palabras" (or "Two Words") because I just finished writing ch7 recently, the ending of which felt very familiar, and then I realized it sort of echoed "Dos Palabras." Which is a really lovely short, and I had to find it and share it with those who haven't read it, so here: Dos Palabras, or Two Words by Isabel Allende.

It's even more beautiful in the original Spanish, so if you're fluent, seek that out. Clever people might guess the significance of the title.

For the record, ch7's ending doesn't even compare to Dos Palabras'.

That musing aside, time to get more non-TEF stuff out of my system.

--

The loose gravel beneath Butch's bruised, aching shoulders dig into his skin where his clothing's all torn, and as he reaches a hand for her face he smiles.

Buttercup lets his hand brush against her cheek, leaving a smear of red in its wake. His or hers? Probably his.

"What's that for?" she asks as his grin widens, her fist still digging into his gut.

"It's a good color on you," he sneers, staining her skin red with his blood. "You wear it well."

[identity profile] alicornmoon.livejournal.com 2009-07-10 01:07 am (UTC)(link)
his clothing's all torn

That reads weirdly to me for some reason O.o

[identity profile] laleia.livejournal.com 2009-07-10 07:36 am (UTC)(link)
Tiffany Aching is badass. That is all.

[identity profile] essbeejay.livejournal.com 2009-07-10 05:46 pm (UTC)(link)
I concur.

[identity profile] essbeejay.livejournal.com 2009-07-10 05:47 pm (UTC)(link)
Looking back over it, I would've done better to word it "his clothes are all torn."

[identity profile] alicornmoon.livejournal.com 2009-07-10 06:51 pm (UTC)(link)
I guess I am just a little more use to past tense like 'his clothes were torn to ribbons' etc etc..
Yay styles of writing :3!

[identity profile] essbeejay.livejournal.com 2009-07-10 08:17 pm (UTC)(link)
I like both past and present tense - for some reason I have this affinity for present tense in drabbles/shorter fics. I don't know, something about present tense feels very... fleeting, and that seems particularly fitting for shorter pieces of work.

I'm sure someone's done a future tense piece before - again, that seems best suited for a shorter piece as well.

[identity profile] alicornmoon.livejournal.com 2009-07-10 08:22 pm (UTC)(link)
It's weird, there are moments when I do quick actions and it is hard to slap a tense label on things at all O.o...

[identity profile] philosophicwax.livejournal.com 2009-07-11 03:58 am (UTC)(link)
I owe you, like, a bajillion and three comments. And it is not healthy to keep putting stuff off. SO - I am sending you far-belated TEF responses tomorrow. Really. I am. Stop laughing at me, non-deluded half of my being.

You're just teasing us with all of these little snapshot ficlets. They're really... strangely enlightening, though. It's like each one showcases some facet of a character or relationship that I haven't picked up on before. Like this one, the thing that really jumps out at me is that Buttercup LETS HIM touch her. Even though she doesn't reciprocate, she doesn't run for the hills either. And he's so... I want to use the word bitter (though I'm not sure if that's what you were going for) to describe how Butch feels about that.

[identity profile] essbeejay.livejournal.com 2009-07-11 07:00 am (UTC)(link)
I am frequently impressed by how much you pick up on things that even I forget are there. Or, not so much forget they're there, but they become so deeply buried in my subconscious that often they just show up, without me making an intentional effort to showcase it. Mostly, I eeeeeed when you brought up the bitterness, because that's definitely something that I didn't consciously insert, but once I read your comment I went "YES. NAIL ON THE HEAD. HOW DO YOU DO IT."

I love your freaking e-mails btw and now am so looking forward to tomorrow XB

OMG I FAIL SO HARD

[identity profile] philosophicwax.livejournal.com 2009-07-12 05:26 am (UTC)(link)
D: I sorriez, I woke up and rolled out of bed and was instantly dragged out to the mall to go shopping, then dragged to the ice cream parlor to eat sorbet, then dragged home to watch a movie. I have not had a moment all day; email has hence been delayed.

Tomorrow tomorrow and tomorrow creeps in this petty pace from day to day...

Re: OMG I FAIL SO HARD

[identity profile] essbeejay.livejournal.com 2009-07-13 07:13 am (UTC)(link)
Stop apologizing, you silly bint! RL should always be favored over fandom :9 It gives me something to look forward to another day this week!

Though for the record, I do hope your Saturday was fun.