Tenebrism VI

[teromain]

Title: Tenebrism
Status: in rewrites
Chapter word count: 19,333
Warnings: language
Additional notes: Even longer chapter than the last one, which will also be split in a more finalized version of the story. But you get both halves because not a lot happens in the first part. The link below is a fake cut to my dreamwidth again. Fictionpress version

Comments

[potatoe1988]

I'm just gonna comment here because it's easier than doing the Dreamwidth login thing, okay? Okay

[teromain]

I'm only linking to DW because splitting the chapters here on LJ is SO annoying and takes twice as long and I wasn't even sure if a 19k+ chapter would fit in just two posts!

I really have a weakness for any kinds of fish-out-of-water type characters, both reading and writing, so having Keyd be a confused derp occasionally is really fun for me~ :)

And yeah, I do think that the chapter-by-chapter updates are probably really hurting a new readership that isn't familiar with the arc of the story, because Alan does appear kind of useless, but it'd only been five chapters! Also, I think that having male characters who aren't super confident/bad-ass from the get go isn't something people expect, because it's not a usual trait for them, so it maybe upsets/annoys people on some kind of unconscious level. Which strikes me as kind of frustrating/unfair - in the same way we have these expected portrayals of female characters that don't actually reflect real women very well - because it starts feeling like all men/male character HAVE to be

[potatoe1988]

Hmm... that makes me wonder if perhaps having Rysa, as a woman, be so competent compared to Alan might on some subconscious level be making people more uncomfortable with Alan not being insta capable hero. Hard to say though really and I don't want to go down the social justice finger pointy path. Something's going on there, though, and I think the issue is the lense some people are viewing the story through rather than the story itself. I mean, these are people who feel the need to leave comments about this stuff. They're not just getting bored and closing the tab. You have offended them by making a male protagonist who doesn't behave in the way they expect male protagonists to act.

[teromain]

Yeah, quite possibly. That was something of a thing I was trying to do...the fact that Rysa is more capable and prepared and that Alan realizes it, and so looks to her in a situation like this - irrelevant of gender or whether or not it's 'emasculating' or 'weak' to have a man depending on a woman, it's just the most capable person. And of course Rysa comes from a place where women being the most competent in these situations isn't unusual/uncommon, so she's obviously not going to think it's weird that Alan is mostly deferring to her - really, she'd expect it. I didn't want to call attention to it as BEING unusual though, since I'd like to hope that if that type of situation stops being presented as "omg how weird/special' then we'll stop thinking of it like that.

[mikauk]

FLAILFLAILFLAIL

MY SECOND FAVORITE SCENE

100% ADORBZ

i have nothing of substance to contribute i'm flailing and everything is adorable forever

[teromain]

ahaha I'm glad you enjoyed~! :D

[moraph]

I love awkward Keyd-and-Alan-interacting scenes. You always write them so realistically, and as an incredibly socially awkward person myself, I can usually smile, nod, and think to myself, "Yep, I've said/done something derpy like that before". These sort of scenes were what drew me to the series when I first discovered it, however many years ago. And, as much as I adore your world-building, I think deep down they're still my favourite parts to read.

It's also interesting to come back and revisit the very beginning of their relationship, before they became a couple, when they're struggling to understand each other and don't really know how to behave around or speak to each other. It's really nice to reflect on how much their relationship has developed over the course of the series, and how much they've both grown.

And on a random note, I loved the line, I’d bet the guy was weird on his home planet, too. It always makes me smile when Alan thinks these sort of things about Keyd, probably because they're so... true. Keyd is genuinely

[teromain]

Aww thanks! Writing them interacting is really one of my favorite things, even when they get more comfortable with each other and less awkward it's still a really fun relationship to write. It's also interesting (re)writing both this early stage and the last book at the same time, since the differences in how they interact could really not be much different! :)

[tohruhonda113]

Man, it's always super exciting when this story updates! I never realize how much I missed it until it comes up again and then I'm just longing for more and more and more! I have the others on my kindle, but I was waiting to read them until this one finished re-writing. But now maybe I'll just read those again, first.

[teromain]

Ahaha I would love to say just wait for the rewrites before you reread, but since they'll take another...forever...I probably shouldn't. :) Glad you're enjoying though!