The P is Silent

Hello! I dooooo, sometimes. I’m on AO3 as NinjaPancake and I have this blog (with so far 1 short story on it, lol).

Man, now I want to do more Quasar Chronicles.

The rest of it is WIP status and primarily in Google docs. So many things I want to do, and not enough time. :’) The Farron and Noodle comics, an animation project, and my day job are all competing for attention.

Protagonist now remembers key facts about important people. He no longer develops convenient amnesia between cutscenes.

Protagonist now has a cooldown on certain adverbs. Adverbs have been buffed by 30% to compensate.

Developer note: Adverbs are important to writing but they are sometimes overused. This change keeps adverbs relevant while encouraging the use of adjectives and verbs.

The horse now has a name.

Solved a glitch where supernumerary limbs would sometimes emerge during complex physical interactions.

Should no longer display “[insertnamehere]” during conversations and narration. All of such occurrances have been replaced with the appropriate tags.

Conversation continuity has been improved. Characters will no longer inappropriately respond with lines from previous iterations of the narrative.

All references to “Event A” have been purged to reflect changes in narrative structure.

Paragraphs which contained two or more instances of the same adjective have had their adjectives updated to accurately reflect a player’s vocabulary inventory.

Minor time traveling issues have been resolved, all characters should now exist in the same tense.

Punctuation has been improved. Commas have been reduced by half.

Characters sighing has been reduced by 30%.

Characters looking at things or people during conversations has been reduced by 40%. To make up for this, characters thinking about the conversation has been boosted and descriptive narrative has been added.

Want to avoid the action movie effect and make your character’s injuries have realistic lasting impacts? Have a sick character you’re using as hurt/comfort fodder? Everyone has tips for how to write Dramatic Intense Agony, but the smaller human details of lasting or low-level discomfort are rarely written in. Here are a few pain mannerisms I like to use as reference:

General

Continuously gritted teeth (may cause headaches or additional jaw pain over time)

Irritability, increased sensitivity to lights, sounds, etc

Repetitive movements (fidgeting, unable to sit still, slight rocking or other habitual movement to self-soothe)

Soft groaning or whimpering, when pain increases or when others aren’t around

Heavier breathing, panting, may be deeper or shallower than normal

Moving less quickly, resistant to unnecessary movement

Itching in the case of healing wounds

Subconsciously hunching around the pain (eg. slumped shoulders or bad posture for gut pain)

Using a hand to steady themself when walking past walls, counters, etc (also applies to illness)

Narration-wise: may not notice the pain was there until it’s gone because they got so used to it, or may not realize how bad it was until it gets better

May stop mentioning it outright to other people unless they specifically ask or the pain increases

Limb pain

Subtly leaning on surfaces whenever possible to take weight off foot/leg pain

Rubbing sore spots while thinking or resting

Wincing and switching to using other limb frequently (new/forgettable pain) or developed habit of using non dominant limb for tasks (constant/long term pain)

Propping leg up when sitting to reduce inflammation

Holding arm closer to body/moving it less

Moving differently to avoid bending joints (eg. bending at the waist instead of the knees to pick something up)

Nausea/fever/non-pain discomfort

Many of the same things as above (groaning, leaning, differences in movement)

May avoid sudden movements or turning head for nausea

Urge to press up against cold surfaces for fever

Glazed eyes, fixed stare, may take longer to process words or get their attention

Shivering, shaking, loss of fine motor control

Wilfred of Ivanhoe, The Disinherited Knight - Aidan Turner

Lady Rowena - Michelle Dockery

Cedric the Saxon - Sean Bean

Isaac of York - Oded Fehr

Rebecca of York - Gal Gadot

Prince John - Rafe Spall

Brian de-Bois Guilbert the Templar knight - Adam Driver

Reginald Front-de-Boeuf - Ray Stevenson

Maurice de Bracy - Dominic West

Wamba the Jester - Tom Hiddleston

Gurth the Swineherd - Stephen Hunter

Robin of Locksley - Dan Stevens

Original Song, Ivanhoe - Leslie Grace

The intention:

The thing I think is maybe happening which I have no idea how to check or prevent:

Aided by the brilliant @freenarnian, we have come up with the cast for a Lord Peter Wimsey movie or tv show that is just too perfect!

In the title role, we have Domhnall Gleeson! Right build, huge intelligence and sensitivity, great comic skills, and able to play both dumb and brilliant!

In the CRUCIAL role of Harriet Vane, Michelle Dockery! Her singing and voice are the key here - low, musical, and distinctive! And she looks great in the period fashions!

In the roles of Peter's sister Mary and best friend Charles Parker, we have Lucy Boynton and Will Poulter (fresh from their brilliant success in Why Didn't They Ask Evans!)

In the role of Peter's mother and brother, Emma Thompson and Hugh Laurie! (Don't bother me with their ages!)

In the KEY role of Bunter, Peter's manservant, we have Tom Bennett, from Love and Friendship!

A Quasar Chronicles Episode for @inklings-challenge 2022!

Special thanks to @theunforgivenscone for beta and input. I wouldn’t have finished without your advice!

……

“I say again, we shall not suffer these outsiders to defile our sacred moon!”

Shira stifled a sigh as Ambassador Mahaleth launched into another long-winded repetition of his stance. They had been at this for hours now, with no progress. 

Two standard hours and eleven minutes, she confirmed with a quick glance at the time displayed on her tablet.

“And once more,” Rion of Onar interjected, “I assure the ambassador that our people will do nothing to harm T’aochifelia’s moons. We seek only to protect your planet and our people.”

Behind him, his bodyguard nodded. Both of the Onarans were shrouded in masks and robes of midnight blue, a stark contrast to the showy embroidered silks of the Touchy Feelies. 

No, Shira caught herself, the T’aochifeli. It had barely been two months, and already the human crew and their habit of nicknames were rubbing off on her. 

“Touchy Feelies” was accurate enough, considering the T’aochifeli’s emotional nature and general lack of personal space. But if she slipped and spoke that term in front of the flighty Andromedans, it could ruin diplomatic relations beyond repair. 

For now, Ambassador Mahaleth was fond of her—and by extension, the Quasar crew. Perhaps his greatest show of favor was allowing his name to be shortened from its usual nine syllables to three. Whether this was a good thing? Debatable.

Rion, Shira, and Mahaleth waiting in awkward silence for the elevator