Some of my favorite writing comes from when you set zail.
I never get tired of the image of smooth, mirrory black water no matter how many times I read it.
Much of the text in dreams is lovely, too. The Fire Sermon in particular. And a dream about a stable has this most memorable description of a dream horse:
coughs.
Do you recall how they came to that place…
Mr Eaten’s endings are veeery beautiful. The imagesdepicted are splendid.
I have to second that the writing behind the Mr. Eaten finales are very beautiful. It’s some of the finest writing in the game.
The one that left the most impression on me is writing in Fate Locked “12:15 from Moloch Street”, if you choose to visit Hell.
Personally, I’m in love with the text for succeeding in gaining a Sanguine Ribbon.
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/MidnightVoyager?fromEchoId=12160716
Not just the finales. "Red as yes" wins my personal award for ‘maximum beauty in fewest words’.
Despite the claims of Mahogany Hall’s earworm composers, ‘memorable’ and ‘beautiful’ are not always synonyms.
edited by Passionario on 9/18/2017
There’s one bit of writing that stuck with me for a while, though I’m afraid I can’t find an echo for it. It was when you had tea with the Duchess after discovering her ties to the brutal Cantigaster Venom. Something about how you’re frightened she might be trying to kill you, but politely drink your tea anyway. It is very good tea.
Despite the claims of Mahogany Hall’s earworm composers, ‘memorable’ and ‘beautiful’ are not always synonyms.[/quote]
I agree. But some of the writing will, inevitably, be both memorable and beautiful. Thus the relevancy.
edited by Optimatum on 9/18/2017
FL has much writing that is memorable, and the posters above have alluded to my favorite segments. But beautiful? It’s hard to think of most of it as beautiful. (There is a part of the Eaten story that lies Beyond the Gate, but because it lies Beyond the Gate I cannot quote it.)
The most beautiful thing I know of in FL is the sunrise image that is used as the “Visions from the Surface” icon.
I’m usually not about all these…- romances and loves and feelings, but this line from the ending to Once-Dashing (Always-Dashing) Smuggler’s romance keeps haunting me. Something about the way it’s written, like it’s meant to be breathtaking.
[quote]He mentions that secrets are inscribed upon the interior of tomb-colonist bandages, and says you are welcome to his.
All the secrets that you find pale in comparison to his face.
[/quote]
And speaking of love, all the answers to Millicent’s question about it are also quite striking.
From the Fidgeting Writer’s of Cat, Seprent and Red Bird;
And from Sunless Sea, though it’s not Fallen London, but still, by failbetter. And incredibly descriptive in its laconic-ness.
[quote]The wind screams, like a god cut in half.
[/quote]
honestly, if I wanted to put down all my favourite quotes here, this post would get really long. A testament to failbetter’s writers’ incredible and enviable skills.
Hunter’s Keep. The mystery, the quiet serenity with that subtle danger just under the surface… I really enjoyed staying there, talking to the strange trio and trying to piece their story together.
I think this one from getting married is touching:
You step outside with your new spouse. A hesitant Neath-wind brushes against you. The night is deep. Overhead, false-stars glow in the velvet gloom. There’s no sun to announce it, but a new day is coming. It’ll be different to the ones before.
[quote=Catherine Raymond]FL has much writing that is memorable, and the posters above have alluded to my favorite segments. But beautiful? It’s hard to think of most of it as beautiful. (There is a part of the Eaten story that lies Beyond the Gate, but because it lies Beyond the Gate I cannot quote it.)
The most beautiful thing I know of in FL is the sunrise image that is used as the "Visions from the Surface" icon.[/quote]
Fallen London has so many aspects that it would be hard for me to just pick one to describe it. There’s the comedic, and then the comedic itself comes in different types. Sometimes it’s dry wit, sometimes it’s very tongue-in-cheek, and sometimes it’s just plain silly. Sometimes the Gothic and the horror aspects range from befanged hats and bat motifs to things like the truly disturbing origins of red honey. But if I were to do my best to describe the Neath to someone unfamiliar with the game, I would say the Neath is a Dark Place.
It’s a place where you’re forcibly reminded that human ideas of fairness and goodness and loveliness have very little relevance to the order of the universe. Even in a place hidden from the gaze of the stars, when things break the rules, they rarely break them in a way that’s in human favor. And so, when the Neath manages to be beautiful, I get the feeling it’s its own strange kind of beauty, independent of what humans might prefer. That’s what makes the setting unique. A smooth, black subterranean sea and stars that could be jewels or insects, or jeweled insects. A rainbow of colors that don’t exist, like cosmogone and violant. The idea that even beings of unimaginable greatness and alien psychological makeup can be heartbroken, and that even though humanity may be of very little importance to those beings, we have that much in common with them. That perhaps our own frequently doomed endeavors to love and be loved might matter on some cosmic scale in spite of our assigned roles in the stories. That’s the beauty of the Neath. Since those things stand out to me the most I can see why the emphasis on beautiful imagery might be strange, because it’s also the same game that gave us the Pre-Emptive Guinea Pig and the Ratskin Suit. ("Your ‘umble ratskin is hard-wearin’, it’s waterproof, and it’s remarkable warm. And silk comes out of a worm’s arse.") I think it’s a mark of the versatility of the writers that makes both co-exist so naturally in the same universe.
I like your example of the sunrise image, because I myself tend think of it as a visual representation of the other kind of beauty in Fallen London, the kind which is shaped by human sentiment: Wistfulness.
[quote=Lamia Lawless][quote=Catherine Raymond]FL has much writing that is memorable, and the posters above have alluded to my favorite segments. But beautiful? It’s hard to think of most of it as beautiful. (There is a part of the Eaten story that lies Beyond the Gate, but because it lies Beyond the Gate I cannot quote it.)
The most beautiful thing I know of in FL is the sunrise image that is used as the "Visions from the Surface" icon.[/quote]
Fallen London has so many aspects that it would be hard for me to just pick one to describe it. There’s the comedic, and then the comedic itself comes in different types. Sometimes it’s dry wit, sometimes it’s very tongue-in-cheek, and sometimes it’s just plain silly. Sometimes the Gothic and the horror aspects range from befanged hats and bat motifs to things like the truly disturbing origins of red honey. But if I were to do my best to describe the Neath to someone unfamiliar with the game, I would say the Neath is a Dark Place.
It’s a place where you’re forcibly reminded that human ideas of fairness and goodness and loveliness have very little relevance to the order of the universe. Even in a place hidden from the gaze of the stars, when things break the rules, they rarely break them in a way that’s in human favor. And so, when the Neath manages to be beautiful, I get the feeling it’s its own strange kind of beauty, independent of what humans might prefer. That’s what makes the setting unique. A smooth, black subterranean sea and stars that could be jewels or insects, or jeweled insects. A rainbow of colors that don’t exist, like cosmogone and violant. The idea that even beings of unimaginable greatness and alien psychological makeup can be heartbroken, and that even though humanity may be of very little importance to those beings, we have that much in common with them. That perhaps our own frequently doomed endeavors to love and be loved might matter on some cosmic scale in spite of our assigned roles in the stories. That’s the beauty of the Neath. Since those things stand out to me the most I can see why the emphasis on beautiful imagery might be strange, because it’s also the same game that gave us the Pre-Emptive Guinea Pig and the Ratskin Suit. ("Your ‘umble ratskin is hard-wearin’, it’s waterproof, and it’s remarkable warm. And silk comes out of a worm’s arse.") I think it’s a mark of the versatility of the writers that makes both co-exist so naturally in the same universe.
I like your example of the sunrise image, because I myself tend think of it as a visual representation of the other kind of beauty in Fallen London, the kind which is shaped by human sentiment: Wistfulness.[/quote]
Well said, Lamia; very well said. You have made my see FL in a different light by your words, and that doesn’t happen often to me. Thank you.
[quote=Catherine Raymond]
Well said, Lamia; very well said. You have made my see FL in a different light by your words, and that doesn’t happen often to me. Thank you.[/quote]
Thank you, too. I’m glad that I was able to convey my passion for the writing effectively! I was a little worried I had gotten long-winded.
The SMENdings are really good, but not to be quoted here, so…
Something else from SMEN, from the ‘Pervert your studies’ storylet:
"Each word that you forget from that Last Alphabet opens a commensurate space in your brain. Untrace sigils. Unmake the promise. Unwrite yourself."
And the success of the storylet:
"He came up (you do not write) to offer a little. They hooked him (you do not declare) like a fish. Their knives (you do not suggest) were dark and sharp as the Mountain’s daughter. He screamed then (you have not recorded) and they opened their mouths, red and white and rich with treasure. O but the feast was too short: sweet as the stars, bitter as the sun, all with that old redolence (which you might well footnote) of a certain ammonia. He breathed (your ink does not flow) until his vents were stifled with tears. If he had a soul (you might conjecture; you do not conjecture) it would have skipped and sizzled like rich blood on a griddle."
edited by oblivion on 9/21/2017
I find some of the descriptions of Is-Not really touching.
"She will rise from the zee and the ice like dawn. She will be garlanded with red and decked with gold."
"If you burn, you burn like a candle. If you die, you die like dawn."
I think the sharp contrast with the darkness and grittiness of Neath makes it easier to truly appreciate the splendour of Parabola.
[quote=John Moose]I find some of the descriptions of Is-Not really touching.
"She will rise from the zee and the ice like dawn. She will be garlanded with red and decked with gold."
"If you burn, you burn like a candle. If you die, you die like dawn."
I think the sharp contrast with the darkness and grittiness of Neath makes it easier to truly appreciate the splendour of Parabola.[/quote]
Ooh… Agreed.