Day 41 (1:14) Of Rewriting My Novel

Novel In Progress Update

Last week, I made a Poll asking if I should edit and release the first draft of my novel for public opinion or wait to finish the whole thing

The results are in, you fuckers have spoken, I will release the first chapter. Absolutely all criticism, feedback, or just general opinions are welcome. All will be acknowledged and appreciated

If Tumblr shuts down, we should all move to github. We can make github pages and fork each others' repos as an alternative to reblogging.

All gender is made up but my gender is more made up than yours because I am a conlanger.

Another OC Questionnaire

An open tag from @authorcoledipalo.

This time, I'm doing this with the four most integral Heroes: Izi, Hota, Tagif, and Lozef:

Would you team up with your worst enemy if it was your only option?

Izi: It depends on what, I think. I promised Vimir I would make the train tickets free, so I can't really team up with the train company to make that happen. But to save Meiste? Obviously if there's no better choice, I'd do anything to save our world.

Hota: Izi's too trusting. I make very few enemies, and I keep my closest friends near my chest. If I've decided I can't trust you, I will never decide to trust you again.

Lozef: Regrettably, I'm more like Izi on this one. I've had to swallow my pride twice and admit that I'm wrong in order to do what's right. That's what's most important, anyways.

Tagif: Hota's got the right idea. I pound my enemies into the dust!

What is your pet peeve?

Izi: Hota always tells me I don't handle people questioning my authority very well, and they're right about that.

Hota: Izi says I am such a good planner that I can't stand when there isn't a plan, mostly emphasizing that I'm not flexible enough sometimes. Izi's gung-ho attude is just as anxiety-inducing as it is refreshing.

Lozef: Ok, doing shit that pertains to me without asking first is my biggest pet peeve. It's usually pretty small-like Izi changing the windows in the chapel. I swapped them for a reason! Don't swap them back!

Tagif: I don't care about authority, I care about expertise. Like, you're going to explain to me how to to build a chestplate with bulit-in holographic computer screens? Nobody's done that, yet, but Hota and I have butted heads over political expertise.

If a monster asked you your worst nightmare what would you tell it and why?

Izi: Well, it's gotta be believable, but not something you're actually scared of, right? Otherwise the monster will terrify the living daylight out of you. So, I guess I would say something like beetles.

Hota: I think it depends on whether or not I know what this monster is capable of. If it's Tev? I'd be honest: the death of Izi-or Tagif or Lozef-would kill me mentally, I think. If it's an sort-of evil Meiste? Beetles.

Lozef: No point in lying to the damn thing, I can take it. Losing my magic is my biggest nightmare, and I grapple with how Dolgof and Pagjom must've felt every day. My second-biggest is if something happened to Tev.

Tagif: My biggest nightmare is if Heja'umak thinks I'm weird or something. I can live with that, but it would hurt a lot. I guess I'm fortunate that my biggest nightmare is just wondering if my crush likes me back?

Open tag for anyone interested!

Y'all, I just got curious at one point, and I hope this isn't a repeat of a previous post. So, if you don't mind:

Wiktionary

orange - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Wiktionary has a couple of recordings if you're curious about the difference/don't know linguistics and can't read IPA.

Follow-up question:

What words/phrases (if any) rhyme with orange?

This is a hotly-debated topic in the English language. I sincerely believe that in my dialect, no single word is a true-rhyme with orange that isn't also either a portmanteau or explicitly related to the word "orange." (E.g. blornge does not count for me, even though it does rhyme, because it is a portmanteau of blonde and orange.)

Reblogs are appreciated!

The High Valyrian adjective jessie "joyful" was coined in honor of my fiancée, Jessie Sams, and the glyph was made thinking of her. I've known Jessie for ten years at this point, but our lives led winding paths that eventually led us to each other. We started working together in 2019 on Freeform's Motherland: Fort Salem, and I've wanted to work with no one else ever since. When I proposed to Jessie, I gave her a ring with a Valyrian inscription inside. That inscription featured her name glyph: Ao jessives ñuhys iksā, which means "You are my joy".

I'd never planned on getting a tattoo in my life, but we came up with an idea that meant a lot to both of us. I'd created a glyph for the word "joy" in High Valyrian and based the sound of that word on Jessie's name. She, in turn, had created a word based on my name in her language Zhwadi (it means "create"). Her writing system is also logographic, so there's a character associated with that. Consequently, we each decided to get each other's "names" tattooed on ourselves. Now a part of us will always be with the other. :)

Y'all,

I took a class on conlanging this semester, and today was the last day, so the prof presented snippits from conlangs.

My snippit was that really sad quote I made in an earlier post, and I had to explain how the Sêi (the Time God) works and how she exists at all times kinda deal.

But tone of my classmates made a language with classifiers from set theory and discrete math.

Snippits from his conlang included phrases like "for all boys they are smarter than him" and "there exists a boy such that he is smarter than him."

I failed to ask him about what possessed him to do this, but I may get back here after that.

Day 36 (1:06) of rewriting my novel

Today was a day I didn't even think would be hard for me writing-wise, but it was. The vision in my head was "and Tagif, Hota, and Izi all go to Tolftorrijv uneventfully," but I decided to torture Tagif and Izi with their father's journal.

Xajas, Izi and Tagif's father, kept a journal off and on for like 900 years, and the last entry is about him battling his cancer. Here's a quote:

I told him to be loyal to himself first. Above all else, that is what he needs. I will always regret that I was not there to be with him when he needed me most. I believe it is his love that has kept me alive since Dolgof went away. That luck has run dry.

Last month, Lozef helped me write my will. I left everything to Izi. I explained to him everything I never could. About his mother, his sister, Lozef, the Heroes, and how his mother left the throne of Zeneste to him. Lozef promised she would see to it that I got it. 

But I know better than to be so blind to how lawyers work here. They're greedy. They'll rip the will to shreds if they ever get their hands on it. The courts refuse to digitize it, so once it's gone, it's gone for good. Lozef is smart, and she's clever, but she'll never be more cunning than those damn lawyers.

My only hope is that Izi is clever enough-and bold enough-to find this journal before it's all spoiled to him. That he may remember me for who I was: not through the rose-tinted glasses of a child, but through the retrospective eyes of a century-old man who died before he could ever truly know me.

And to Iziser, my loving son, if you are reading this, I owe you the world. You're a strong kid. You'll be an even stronger man. Whoever is lucky enough to share your company I adore. Relish your life while you have it, young man. There is no Hero of Life to keep us alive. Only ourselves.

Part of this is also to highlight how brutal and capitalist the Zenestian legal system is. After Xajas dies, no matter how hard Lozerief fights to protect him, everything is taken from Iziser, including his house. The lawyers destroy the will and take everything, agreeing never to speak of this. This is an unfortunately common practice in Zeneste.

every time i see someone call kirk and spock the oldest ship, i'm filled with the urge to go "hmm actually the holmes and watson girlies have been here for a hundred years now", and i refrain because i know the natural conclusion of this game is gilgamesh and enkidu