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[laylainalaska]

Okay I was watching some scenes in 7x02 (the peace talks episode) again, and this little interaction while Hawkeye is talking to BJ just slays me:

The fact that a) it has nothing to do with what they're talking about, Hawkeye just decides to do that, and b) Charles doesn't react AT ALL. 🤣 

He just calmly stops working on his letter (or whatever it is) and waits it out and then resumes once the jacket is removed from his face.

Also relevant:

Charles does not actually have to be where he is. He'd be way less likely to be bothered (although not entirely safe from being bothered) if he was over on his side, but no, he's opted to write his letter in their sort of "common area" middle of the tent.

Hawkeye isn't even interacting with him at the moment, he's just talking to BJ about army uniforms. But the urge to incorporate Charles into the conversation (and mess with him at the same time) is too strong.

[gingerly-writing]

Prompt #3527

"You need to change sides," the villain said, "before they leave you behind with a hero killer."

"You are a hero killer."

"No, I'm a superhero killer. Class A only. Killing a Class D like you is like killing a puppy: it's an asshole move." They crouched down next to the stranded hero, cocked their head. "But if I recruit you...that's close enough to adopting a puppy to count as my yearly good deed. What do you say?"

[xyywrites]

The Power of Silence in Dialogue

We often think of dialogue as something that’s just about what characters say, but let’s talk about what they don’t say. Silence can be one of the most powerful tools in your writing toolbox. Here’s why:

1. The Unspoken Tension

When characters leave things unsaid, it adds layers to their interactions. Silence can create a tension that’s so thick you could cut it with a knife. It shows things are happening beneath the surface—the real conversation is happening in what’s left unspoken.

Example:

“So, you’re leaving, huh?” He didn’t look up from the table, his fingers tracing the rim of his glass, slow and deliberate. “Yeah.” “Guess I should’ve expected this.” (Silence.) “You’re not mad?” “I’m not mad,” she said, but the way her voice broke was louder than anything she'd said all night.

2. Building Anticipation or Drama

Sometimes silence can heighten the drama, creating a pause where the reader feels like something big is about to happen. You don’t always need words to convey that sense of dread or anticipation.

Example:

They stood there, side by side, staring at the door that had just closed behind him. “You should’ve stopped him.” She didn’t answer. “You should’ve said something.” The room felt colder. “I couldn’t.” (Silence.)

3. Creating Emotional Impact

Sometimes, saying nothing can have the biggest emotional punch. Silence gives the reader a chance to interpret the scene, to sit with the feelings that aren’t being voiced.

Example:

He opened the letter and read it. And then, without saying a word, he folded it back up and placed it in the drawer. His fingers lingered on the wood for a long time before he closed it slowly, too slowly. “Are you okay?” He didn’t answer.

TL;DR

Silence isn’t just a pause between dialogue—it’s a powerful tool for deepening emotional tension, building anticipation, and revealing character. Next time you write a scene, ask yourself: what isn’t being said? And how can that silence say more than the words ever could?

[artsy-writy]

What if aliens couldn't differentiate between humans' faces?

Many studies have shown that even we humans can recognize faces better if they are of our own race. And similar to how we find it harder to differentiate between two pigeons unless completely used to the pigeon, what if aliens couldn't differentiate faces of humans?

Alien: Human, get over here and fix this engine.

Human: Who, me?

Alien: Yes, you. You built it.

Human: Uh, no. I did NOT build that monster of a machine. I am not an engineer of any sort.

Alien: What do you- You said you would fix this yester-

Human 2: Hey guys, here to fix the engine.

Alien: ...

Human: ... really? we look nothing alike.

Alien: You both don't have tails.

Human: No human has tails.

Alien: Right...*turns to human 2* human, remind me to buy a collar and tag for you next time, with your name and my contact system address.

Human 2: What no- I am not your dog-

Alien: I'll buy you food on our way back to the space pod.

Human 2: Yes, sir. Woof woof, sir.

[promptsforthestrugglingauthor]

Writing Prompt #2916

"I'm not lovable. Not in the long term. I know that."

"What?"

"I'm fun for a little bit, but there's too much when you dig down. It's more than anyone else should have to handle. I'm like trash TV—you put it on for a little bit and it makes you feel better about how normal you seem but grating if it's all you watch."

[jadedanddark]

Telepathic aliens enjoy that humans will "play music" for hours at a time. When it's too mentally quiet on deck, they just announce the catchiest song titles they know and the humans will start thinking about it automatically.

The humans hate this so, so much.

Zorf: Human Steve, can you please play that song I like, the one with all the females

Steve: what

Zorf: A little bit of Monica in my life

Steve:

Steve: mother fu--

[artsy-writy]

Humans are so fucking destructible yet so...indestructible...

Like, imagine an alien species whose body does not 'heal' befriends a human

Alien: Hey human- WOAH WOAH WOAH, PUT THAT BOX DOWN!! *immediately grabs and puts the heavy box away*

Human: Oh- did it have anything in it you didn't want me to see? Cuz if you did, I promise I didn't open-

Alien: *scared and slowly approaches their arm* D-didn't you break this a few weeks ago? *slightly pokes their arm to check*

Human: Oh yeah, it healed now. *extends arm and flexes muscles*

Alien: *horrified* What in the inter-galactical forces do you mean by 'healed'?

Human: Well, us humans can heal from broken bones quite easily with the right approaches and medical professionals to help.

Alien: *goes into traumatic relapse* My brother once broke a bone...his hand is now a squiggle.

Human: ...like a noodle?

Alien: THIS IS SERIOUS!!

Human: right...if it makes you feel better, we can't grow an arm if it's cut off...

Alien: Yeah...it would be weird if you could- I mean, imagine if you guys could grow back internal organs after they were injured-

Humans: But we can transplant them from other humans though!

Alien: *slowly backs away* Shut up. You may not take my parts...monster. *squints scared as they leave, hissing*

[creativepromptsforwriting]

Second Day of Gift-Giving

Two People Dialogue

Fluffy

“You’re important to me. And I want you to know that.” "I do know that, but thank you for telling me."

„Oh, you’re cold! Do you want my hoodie?”

“Nothing is as cute as you scrunching your nose.”

“Sorry for staring. I just can’t stop looking at you.”

“I feel like today will be a good day for us.”

Flirty

“I feel like you wouldn’t be opposed to me kissing you. Am I correct?”

„Oh oh, is that a threat or a promise?”

“You’re making me crazy and I’m not mad about it.”

“I don’t flirt a lot, so if you could give me some feedback, I would appreciate that.”

“You’re always so flirty.” “Just with you.”

Funny

„You really look delicious. I think you still have some food in your hair.”

„Still unsure if I should kiss you or kill you.”

“I think we’ve known each other for some time now, so… here is my wifi password.”

“Wanna hear a joke?” “Absolutely not.”

“I’m feeling actually really good today.” “But for how long?”

24 Days of Gift-Giving

[yukurie]

So a lot of the “humans are ______” scenarios I’ve seen have been great but I haven’t seen anything about how many ways the human body can attack itself or injury itself.

Imagine explaining the process of a fever to an alien with an efficient immune system. Better yet imagine being that alien and the small squishy human tells you that their body “plays chicken with the infection”. When asked for an explanation the human explains that their body raises its internal temperature to kill the infection while also explaining that fever is one of the highest cause of death in human history because the body basically decides to try killing itself slowly hoping the disease dies first.

What about explaining to an alien about the fact that the human body would rip itself apart if our brain didn’t stop us from doing so. I read somewhere a while ago that the muscles in your torso could shatter your ribcage if they contracted all at once without the limit your brain puts on you.

I often see adrenaline rush actions in these prompts but those are basically just the body being allowed to access the above mentioned strength. Imagine an alien with a very strong body where their species’s bones kept up with the strength of their muscles. Now imagine being that alien and seeing the small human help you lift something heavy for most species during an emergency and then after checking the people in trouble and finally starting to relax from the fright the human collapses. Why did the human collapse were they also injured during the incident?! You rush the human to the infirmary to have them checked and find out they have several broken or cracked bones and they have multiple strained and torn muscles. After they are treated the doctor asks if they were injured in the accident for the record but the human answers in the negative, now there’s a lot of confusion. The human explanations adrenaline and that their muscles are capable of strength their brain doesn’t let them access unless in a dire circumstance because doing so often injures or even ruins the body entirely.

[hayatheauthor]

10 Lethal Injuries to Add Pain to Your Writing

Prev: Non-Lethal Injury Ideas

Need some creative ways to give your characters a real fight for survival? Here are 10 ideas: 

1. Punctured Artery

A puncture to major arteries like the femoral artery (thigh), the carotid artery (neck), or radial artery (arm) can cause rapid blood loss. It starts off with a sharp pain, weakness, lightheadedness and eventually can lead to hypovolemic shock. Requires urgent medical attention.

2. Punctured Eye Socket

A punctured eye socket will cause blood vessel damage leading to internal bleeding. I would use this for non-combat characters trying to get away. The eyes are an easy weak spot + you don’t need much strength to cause a critical injury/puncture. Also good for a protag's tragic backstory.

3. Torn Achilles Tendon

A torn Achilles tendon can result in severe bleeding if nearby arteries or veins are damaged. Your character will be forced to hobble away as pain causes their foot to swell and bruise. Plus, you can easily adjust the pain levels per your scene, from swift cuts to explosive jumps. 

4. Neck Hyperextension (Hangman’s Fracture)

This injury will fracture the C2 vertebra and can lead to spinal cord damage, paralysis or sudden death. This isn’t a light injury your character can come back from, so I would suggest using it only when you’re aiming for death.

5. Pierced Lung

A punctured lung will lead to a pneumothorax where air escapes into the chest cavity, collapsing the lung. Characters with this injury may have difficulty breathing, chest pain, and a cough that produces frothy blood (all the dramatics you need). 

6. Severe Concussion

A severe concussion will lead to confusion, vomiting, immobility and memory loss. More dangerously, brain swelling, internal bleeding and damaged brain tissue. Plus, it has a long recovery period. 

7. Shattered Pelvis

If you need something severe that restricts mobility but also causes severe pain then this is perfect! Involves signs of shock, internal bleeding, numbness, swelling—really a lot of things. Can occur if OC falls from a high place, hit repeatedly, car accident, etc.  

8. Internal Bleeding from Blunt Force Trauma

I like using this when you need something subtle since it doesn't show immediate symptoms. Over time, they will feel weak, cold, nauseous, and intense pain. Perfect if you want that 'everyone made it out then suddenly someone collapses' moment. 

9. Intestinal Perforation

A sharp blow or penetrating wound can cause a tear in the intestines, leaking bacteria into the body cavity, then peritonitis. It can go from small stomach pain to near death pretty quickly. Without prompt medical care, sepsis can set in, causing organ failure and death.

10. Cut to the Jugular

If you need something more visibly dramatic then go with the classic cut to the jugular. A warm rush of blood will pour out, and blood would spurt with every heartbeat. Causes panic, choking, and internal bleeding too. All the blood and gore you need. 

This is a quick, brief list of ideas to provide writers inspiration. Since it is a shorter blog, I have not covered the injuries in detail. Remember the worse the injury the more likely your character is to die (so be realistic folks). Happy writing! :)

Looking For More Writing Tips And Tricks? 

Check out the rest of Quillology with Haya; a blog dedicated to writing and publishing tips for authors!

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[promptsforthestrugglingauthor]

Writing Prompt #2890

"Please don't perceive me."

"Yeah...I didn't spend the last twenty minutes looking for you to immediately turn around just because you're embarrassed."

"Embarrassed? I'm a monster!"

"So?"

[hayatheauthor]

12 Red Herrings to Keep Your Readers Distracted

I’ve seen mystery/thriller authors use the same handful of red herrings too many times to count. So here are some (hopefully not as common) red herrings for your writing. 

1. The Unreliable Narrator's Bias

Your narrator can play favourites and scheme and twist the way your readers interpret the story. Use this to your advantage! A character portrayed as untrustworthy can really be someone innocent the narrator framed, vice versa. 

2. The Loyal Traitor

A character with a history of betrayal or questionable loyalty is an obvious suspect. They did it once, they could do it again, right? Wrong! They’ve actually changed and the real traitor is someone you trusted. 

3. The Conflicted Expert

An expert—like a detective, scientist, or historian—analyses a piece of evidence. They’re ultimately wrong, either due to bias, missing data, or pressure to provide quick answers.

4. The Overly Competent Ally

You know that one sidekick or ally who’s somehow always ahead of the curve? They’re just really knowledgeable, your characters know this, but it makes it hard to trust them. Perfection is suspicious! But in this case, they’re actually just perfect. 

5. The Misleading Emotional Clue

Maybe one of your characters is seen crying, angry, or suspiciously happy after xyz event. Characters suspect them, but turns out they’re just having a personal issue. (People have lives outside of yours MC smh). Or it could be a cover-up. 

6. A Misleading Alibi

At first this character’s alibi seems perfect but once the protag digs into it, it has a major hole/lie. Maybe they were in a different location or the person they claimed to be with was out of town. 

7. The Odd Pattern

Have a seemingly significant pattern—symbols left at crime scenes, items stolen in a specific order, crimes on specific dates. Then make it deliberately planted to mislead.

8. The Misinterpreted Relationship

A character was secretly close to a victim/suspect, making them a suspect. Turns out they were hiding a completely unrelated secret; an affair, hidden family connection, etc.

9. A Forgotten Grudge

Create a grudge or past feud and use it to cast suspicion on an innocent character. Introducing an aspect of their past also helps flesh out their character and dynamics as a group + plant distrust. 

10. The Faked Death

Luke Castellan, need I say more (I will)? A supposedly innocent character dies, but turns out they faked it and were never a victim in the first place. They just needed to be out of the picture. 

11. The Mistaken Eavesdropper 

A character overhears a threat, argument, etc. They suspect B based on this convo, but turns out they just came to a false conclusion. (Or did they?)

12. The Forgetful Alibi 

Someone confesses to hearing/seeing a clue, but turns out they were mistaken. Maybe they thought they heard a certain ringtone, or saw xyz which C always wears, but their memory was faulty or influenced by stress.

Looking For More Writing Tips And Tricks? 

Check out the rest of Quillology with Haya; a blog dedicated to writing and publishing tips for authors!

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[literaryvein-reblogs]

more words for characterization (pt. 4)

Age

adolescent, afresh, ancient, antiquarian, antique, big, childish, crude, doddering, elderly, fresh, full-grown/full-fledged, green, hoary, immemorial, infant/infantile, junior, late, medieval, mint, modish, new, novel, older, old-fashioned, originally, outdated/out-of-date, passé, quaint, refreshing, secondhand, stale, state-of-the-art, undeveloped, up-to-date, well-preserved, youthful

Appearance

adorable, aesthetic/esthetic, artistic, beautiful, comely, crisp, dapper, decorative, desirable, dressy, exquisite, eye-catching, fancy, fetching, flawless, glorious, good-looking, graceful, grungy, hideous, homely, irresistible, natty, ornate, plain, pretty, refreshing, resplendent, seductive, spiffy, striking, stylish, ugly, unbecoming, willowy, with-it

Genuineness

abstract, actually, alias, apocryphal, apparently, arty, authentic, baseless, beta, bona fide, circumstantial, concrete, contrived, credible, deceptive, delusive, dreamy, ecclesiastical, empirical/empiric, enigmatic/enigmatical, ersatz, ethereal, factual, fallacious, fantastic, far-fetched, fictitious, foolproof, fraudulent, good, hard, historical, honest-to-God, illusory/illusive, imitative, indisputable, invisible, just, lifelike, made-up, magic/magical, make-believe, matter-of-fact, metaphysical, monstrous, mystic/mystical, mythical/mythological, nonexistent, openhearted, ostensibly, paranormal, physical, positive, pretended, quack, quite, realistic, right, sincerely, specious, spurious, supernatural, synthetic, tangible, true, unearthly, unnatural, unthinkable, unvarnished, unworldly, valid, veritable, wholehearted/whole-hearted, wrong

Movement

ambulatory, brisk, clumsy, fleet, fluent, frozen, gawky, graceless, immobile, indolent, itinerant, leisurely, lifeless, liquid, lithe, maladroit, migrant/migratory, motionless, moving, nomadic, oafish, passive, pendulous/pendent, portable, restless, roundabout, sedentary, slow, speedy, static, vibrant, winding

Style

adorable, baroque, becoming, black, bold, brassy, cheap, class, classy, contemporary, country, cultural, dashing, dowdy, eat high on the hog, exquisite, featureless, flamboyant, floral, flowery, formless, futuristic, garish, gay, glamorous, gorgeous, grand, graphic, hot, improvised, informal, innovative, kinky, loud, lush, luxurious, mean, meretricious, modish, neat, new, obsolete, old-fashioned, orderly, ornamental, ostentatious, outdated/out-of-date, palatial, picturesque, plush, posh, prevalent, quaint, refined, resplendent, rustic, scruffy, sharp, simple, sleazy, smart, snazzy, spiffy, spruce, stately, state-of-the-art, stylish, swank/swanky, tacky, tasteless, tousled, two-bit, unbecoming, unworldly, up-to-date, vogue

NOTE

The above are concepts classified according to subject and usage. It not only helps writers and thinkers to organize their ideas but leads them from those very ideas to the words that can best express them.

It was, in part, created to turn an idea into a specific word. By linking together the main entries that share similar concepts, the index makes possible creative semantic connections between words in our language, stimulating thought and broadening vocabulary.

Source ⚜ Writing Basics & Refreshers ⚜ On Vocabulary

[the-raindeer-king]

The thing with living with a man like Simon, who's been through so much, is that you pick up habits to help the both of you. There is no tiptoeing through the house, no jumping around corners. Not like you could anyway. He's got a habit of keeping you in sight most of the time.

When he's deployed, you leave a note on the fridge saying where you've gone, in case he comes home without telling you. Sometimes you leave more information, like what time you should be home, which of your friends you left with. Sometimes its just the location and a reminder to take care of himself.

You started doing this after the first (and only) time it happened. You had been out with friends, when he'd returned home from deployment. Home to an empty house. Your car sat in the driveway (you'd carpooled with your friends), and Simon assumed the worst.

He'd torn through the house, desperately trying to find some sort of evidence that you were still there. That you hadn't been kidnapped, or left him. His search ended empty handed, and he'd had a panic attack in the bathroom, reliving the events of losing his family.

You came home thirty minutes later, almost giddy when you'd seen his truck in the driveway. That feeling quickly evaporated, when you stepped inside the house. It looked like a tornado had swept through, living room torn apart, all the kitchen cabinets thrown open.

"Simon?" you call, setting your bags down by the front door.

You've never been scared of Simon, never had a reason to be. But when he came out of the bathroom, staring you down, eye black smeared across his face, looking more like Ghost than Simon, you suddenly understood why people gave your boyfriend wide berth.

"Simon?"

He doesn't respond, backing you up against the door. When he reaches out to gently caress your face, you notice his hands are shaking.

"Thought something happened to ya," he whispers, voice hoarse. And then he's dragging you into a hug, crushing you against his chest, arms like a vice around you. It takes you a second to realize he's shaking all over, that there's tears in his eyes.

"No, baby. I was just out with friends," you reply softly, gently running your fingers through hair, nails scratching against his scalp. Guilt eats at you, feeling horrible for causing him this kind of distress. You hadn't expected him today, didn't think to leave a note or something.

"I'll leave a note next time," you promise. And that's stuck since then.

[metallictastinglifesupportliquid]

Ghost: I'm getting married Y/N: Congra- Ghost, slamming a marriage certificate on the table: to you, sign here

[depsidase]

[daily-prompts]

Prompt 2520

You came back wrong, but I like this version of you better.