in war, victory

27 | follows from acakechi

[bursting-at-the-memes]

GrayStillPlays Quotes: Sentence Starters

All quotes taken from 'Barely Possible Stunts in GTA 5'

"So, we have to do it the right way." "You have the best colour scheme." "A lack of death is what I need." "I am highly allergic to dying." "We're gonna do this just based on pain tolderance." "Well that was luck." "Well, my pelvis just got crushed." "I love spleen money." "That car tire ain't got nothing on me." "Ah yes, something I hadn't enjoyed in a long time: blood poisoning." "Don't worry, I didn't just jump into the water. I was trying to wash away my pain with some delicious salt." "We're close to the water, I can taste it." "It tastes like agony." "The best superpower in the world is a high pain tolerance." "Look at the agility! Look at the lack of self-preservation!" "Let me fall to my death here, in order for you to truly appreciate just how elaborately dumb this is." "If I can get this to work, this should look amazing." "That felt really good, right up until it didn't anymore." "I know just how to tap my back end." "Green is the colour of money and lettuce, and I like both of those things." "Today I learned that the best educator is agony."

[iphysalian]

Small fantasy worldbuilding elements you might want to think about:

A currency that isn’t gold-standard/having gold be as valuable as tin

A currency that runs entirely on a perishable resource, like cocoa beans

A clock that isn’t 24-hours

More or less than four seasons/seasons other than the ones we know

Fantastical weather patterns like irregular cloud formations, iridescent rain

Multiple moons/no moon

Planetary rings

A northern lights effect, but near the equator

Roads that aren’t brown or grey/black, like San Juan’s blue bricks

Jewelry beyond precious gems and metals

Marriage signifiers other than wedding bands

The husband taking the wife's name / newlyweds inventing a new surname upon marriage

No concept of virginity or bastardry

More than 2 genders/no concept of gender

Monotheism, but not creationism

Gods that don’t look like people

Domesticated pets that aren’t re-skinned dogs and cats

Some normalized supernatural element that has nothing to do with the plot

Magical communication that isn’t Fantasy Zoom

“Books” that aren’t bound or scrolls

A nonverbal means of communicating, like sign language

A race of people who are obligate carnivores/ vegetarians/ vegans/ pescatarians (not religious, biological imperative)

I’ve done about half of these myself in one WIP or another and a little detail here or there goes a long way in reminding the audience that this isn’t Kansas anymore.

[nondelphic]

there are two types of writers.

“this plot has been in my head for 10 years and finally it’s perfect.”

“what if frogs had a secret government?”

[assassin1513]

🌞🌛The Story of Moon and Sun🌜🌞

[alltoowsll]

ONE DAY (2011) dir. Lone Scherfig

[ao3commentoftheday]

A useful thing to know about AO3 tags is that they're wrangled by humans. A human being will read your tag, understand what it means*, and then connect that tag in the backend system to other tags that mean the same thing (if there are any)

that's why, for example, the tags

not beta read

no beta

no beta we die like men

no beta we die like mne

no beta we die like [insert character who dies in canon]

unbetad

unbeta'd

unbeta-d

un-beta'd

and a million more versions are all searchable and filterable if you just tag one of them. A Tag Wrangler (the job title of a human volunteer who manages AO3 tags) has made sure that AO3 understands that those are all synonyms, so AO3 treats them that way.

When you're tagging your fic, or searching for a fic, or filtering a tag to find or remove works from the list you do not have to use every possible version of a tag. You just need to pick one - unless using more is a stylistic choice you're making, in which case have at it.

*or research what it means - which is why wranglers really appreciate it if you put (OC) behind the name of your original characters so that they don't have to scour every source they can find to see if it's a named background character in canon.

[ao3commentoftheday]

If you want to learn more about tag wranglers, I had a wrangler take over the blog 5 years ago (gah, the passage of time!) as a guest mod, and they answered the questions you guys submitted. You can read all of the posts here. Please note that it's possible some answers have changed in the intervening time.

In this post, they point out that wranglers don't see your tags attached to your fic. They just see the tags without the story attached. That post is actually full of other things that wranglers wish that users knew, and it's worth a read if you're curious!

This post and this one and this one talk about how to become a volunteer tag wrangler and what that position is like, for those of you who want to know more about that.

And if you're curious about "tumblr style tagging" on AO3, they have an answer about that too! (tl;dr if you like doing it, don't stop on their account but depending on how you write those tags, they might or might not end up searchable/filterable)

[browniefox]

We don’t talk enough about how fanfiction writers love to give character large amounts of non-specific paperwork they hate doing

[streamofsalmon]

say more pls

[browniefox]

Yeah sure why not.

So most stories take place when Events are Happening, and this means that no matter what kind of job the characters have, they’re probably not too focused on them. Fanfics, on the other hand, often show the down time. Which means that the writer has to figure out what the hell these characters do in their jobs. Unless the characters have a job the author understands or knows well, the author is often at a loss for what to have the character doing.

So they sit them at a desk and give them paperwork. What is the paperwork for? Rarely specified. It is Paper Work for the characters Important Adult Job they have and they need to read or sign it or something. And there’s always a line about how Character Hates Paperwork. Doesn’t matter if Character is a Mafia Boss or a General or a Diplomat, here they are in an office trying to get out of Doing Paperwork.

There’s also a sense of, like, humor and mundanity that comes with it. Like the examples above, it always particularly stands out to me when a dangerous individual is griping about some paper they need to sign or something. The less you can picture Character doing paperwork, all the better to force it upon them. If Character is saddled with Paperwork, they’re usually now concerned about the physical damages their motley crew causes, because damage = More Paperwork.

Anyway I just think it’s fun or funny, Sephiroth doing paper work and Sawada Tsunayoshi doing paper work and this just in, Tony Stark is doing paperwork. Sorry, Phoenix Wright can’t play right now. Yeah, it’s paperwork.

[elumish]

A very non-exhaustive list of actual paperwork they could be completing/reviewing/approving, in no particular order:

Timesheets

Expense reports

Requisition requests

Budget justifications

Payroll

Performance evaluations

Incident reports

After action reviews / post-mortem analyses

Incident Action Plans

Contracts

Contract proposals / grant applications

Reports / briefings

[redwingedwhump]

Your Royalty or Nobles in your feudal society should be doing this constantly unless you want to show how they're losing the kingdom and about to be usurped or overthrown.

petitions, speech-writing, complaints, requests, assignations, disputes, judiciary forms, declarations that need signing off on, matters requiring the Royal seal, matters requiring a royal endorsement, pardons, judgments, invitations, rebuttals, census data, crop yields projected or actual, livestock records, water rights, Sumptuary laws, taxes taxes taxes...

[val-ritz]

solid point there!

even when the royalty look like they're just fucking off to have fun, they're doing Socially Mandated Fuck-Off and Have Fun Time

Tournaments? Gotta show you're manly and virile through sport, or the nobles will supplant you. Feasts? Gotta show you're wealthy through conspicuous consumption, or the nobles will supplant you. Patronizing the arts? Gotta show you're cultured and erudite, or the nobles will laugh at you behind your back and probably supplant you.

[delicatefury]

Lawyer here. Here’s some more mundane/modern ones for you:

Invoices.

Intake sheets (information about new clients. The one for my firm is 13 pages and requires an hour long meeting. Then you have to do something with the info gathered)

Data entry for invoices and intake sheets.

Billing. (More involved than timesheets because you’re justifying to clients why you’re getting paid so much).

Form letters.

Taxes. Including 1099s for any contracted work.

Bank statements/accounting spreadsheets. Gotta track how expenses are trending.

Insurance documents.

General messages. Lots of office still use a paper system for missed calls and “important” stuff because it just works better than emails and chats for some people.

Memos. Big enough office to have at least one attorney on payroll? You’re getting memos about every legal question and concern and contract. It’s how we’re trained to communicate in formal settings.

[letslipthehounds]

And if you want to get into modern military, the forms are numbered, and people will refer to them by either their actual name, or the number. (Have you filled out the 4187 for this? Yes, I filled out the personnel action form.)

The military has so many forms.

[leebrontide]

If you want to add a rage level, there’s the Regular Paperwork and then the special hell of Fuckup Paperwork.

Cause there’s the invoice, and the follow up invoice and the we are about to have a problem follow-up invoice.

There’s the incident report and then the I swear I yelled at that worker about this don’t be mad at me if they do it again second warning documentation

The requisition form and the it has been six months now get me the fucking thing or you’re gonna hear from Cindy escalations form.

Paperwork has layers and protocols and backups.

[dancing-thru-clouds]

For law firms, there's also the 'I am asking nicely for you to send me this legally mandated document' and then the follow-up 'My please was a social nicety, I am no longer asking, I am telling you to send me this document or explain to a court why you refuse to do so' which, depending on the type of law, can fill a significant amount of the day

[writing-prompt-s]

"Magic users look down on us normal folk because they think their powers make them better than us, but they still eat and drink; and they always fall into a peaceful sleep, self-assured that no one can get past their defenses." The assassin spoke as he placed the mage's head on the table.

[promptsforthestrugglingauthor]

Writing Prompt #2976

"I thought you were supposed to be the nice one!" The man buried his head behind his arms, as it he could truly shield himself.

"I was. Thanks to you, I've learned to save that for people who deserve it."

[n-jostcn]

the song of achilles — madeline miller

night shift — stephen king

euripedes — anne carson

circe — madeline miller

a conjuring of light — v.e. schwab

west wind — mary oliver

the song of achilles — madeline miller

the fragile threads of power — v.e. schwab

[writing-prompt-s]

The other dragons laughed when you shared your thesis that humans should be capable of learning magic. Infuriated, you fly off to capture a human and teach it the ways of magic.

[i-will-write]

what they don’t tell you about writing is AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!! AAAAAAAAAAHH!!!

[bittersweetresilience]

one of my favorite things to do in limited perspective is write sentences about the things someone doesn't do. he doesn't open his eyes. he doesn't reach out. i LOVE sentences like that. if it's describing the narrator, it's a reflection of their desires, something they're holding themselves back from. there's a tension between urge and action. it makes you ask why they wanted or felt compelled to do that, and also why they ultimately didn't. and if it's describing someone else, it tells you about the narrator's expectations. how they perceive that other person or their relationship. what they thought the other person was going to do, or thought the other person should have done, but failed to. negative action sentences are everything.

[syn4k]

burning text gif maker

heart locket gif maker

minecraft advancement maker

minecraft logo font text generator w/assorted textures and pride flags

windows error message maker (win1.0-win11)

FromSoftware image macro generator (elden ring Noun Verbed text)

image to 3d effect gif

vaporwave image generator

microsoft wordart maker (REALLY annoying to use on mobile)

you're welcome

[mmelete]

[creativepromptsforwriting]

Fic Titles: Song Edition

Part VI

Teach me how to get my smile back - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, HAN feat. BAE

You keep a lot of secrets (and I keep none) - Fireproof, The National

Too much darkness for a rainbow - Gone, Rosé

I always say goodbye - World spins madly on, The Weepies

We can set the world on fire - You are the solution, Loving Caliber

Drop a single tear drop - Tomboy, (G)I-DLE

I still dream of you - Ghost towns, Radical Face

Love is not a competition - Collide, Rachel Platten

Demons are friends, angels are enemies - @ my worst, blackbear

We're such a mess together - Using you, Mars Argo

I've found a love to love like no other can - Nara, alt-J

All for freedom and for pleasure - Everybody wants to rule the world, Tears for Fears

Why you asking? (No, I'm not ok) - Not ok, Loco feat. Minnie

In the fantasy it's so convincing - Dirty thoughts, Chloe Adams

The only memory is us kissing in the moonlight - Can't remember to forget you, Shakira feat. Rihanna

Searching for something that ain't lost - Don't waste my time, Victor Lundberg

A little more delicate - Clementine, Sarah Jaffe

Tonight we are victorious - Victorious, Panic! at the Disco

I want you so much, but I hate your guts - Landfill, Daughter

Your idols betray you/Your heroes will fail you/′Cause we are no saints - We are no saints, Blind Channel

Are we best friends? Are we somethin' in between that? - Heartbeat, Childish Gambino

'Cause sometimes the wrong ones are just what you need - James has changed, Phoebe Ryan

Heart made of glass, my mind of stone - Lovely, Billie Eilish & Khalid

Chasing visions of our futures - Youth, Daughter

Why is love so contradicting? - Contradicting, Hyunjin

I wanna be found by you - Adore, Amy Shark

Somebody might die (but nobody gets hurt) - Honey, Måneskin

The history books forgot about us - Samson, Regina Spektor

I like us better when we're intertwined - Cool, Dua Lipa

Baby don't go away (love me like you loved me) - Miserable (You & Me), HAN

More titles!

[broodwoof]

prompts based on unusual or rare words

send the word and a character/relationship (romantic, familial, platonic, adversarial, etc.) and i'll write something based around it! (feel free to use/rb/etc)

accismus - feigning disinterest in something while actually desiring it

aestivate - to spend the summer in a state of torpor or dormancy

agathism - the belief in the ultimate triumph of good over evil

agelast - a person who never laughs

anemoia - nostalgia for a time you’ve never known

apatheia - freedom or release from emotion or excitement

apotheosis - the highest point or peak, often used to describe the pinnacle of achievement or greatness

apricity - the warmth of the sun in winter

apricate - to bask in the sun

aureate - something that is golden, shining, or brilliant

bêtise - an act of foolishness or stupidity

cacography - bad handwriting

chrysalism - the peaceful feeling that comes from being indoors during a thunderstorm

clinomania - an excessive desire to stay in bed or a reluctance to get out of bed

efflorescence - a blooming or flowering, often used to describe a period of creativity or prosperity.

eleutheromania - an intense desire for freedom or liberation

ephemeral - something that is fleeting or short-lived, often used to describe a moment or feeling

eunoia - beautiful thinking or a well-disposed mind

galvanize - to arouse to awareness or action

hypnagogic - relating to the state of drowsiness or transition to sleep, often used to describe the strange, dreamlike experiences that can happen during this time

insouciant - casually or smugly indifferent; nonchalant

irenic - promoting peace or reconciliation, often used to describe a peaceful personality or a peaceful solution to conflict

limerence - the state of being infatuated or obsessed with someone or something

makebate - one that excites contention and quarrels

matrisate - to imitate one's mother

metanoia - a fundamental change in one's beliefs

nihilarian - a person who deals with things lacking in substance or meaning, often in a philosophical sense

noctivagant - going about in the night; night-wandering

nubivagant - wandering in the clouds, often used to describe a dreamer or someone lost in thought

numinous - something that is spiritual, mysterious, or awe-inspiring

obfuscate - to muddle; confuse; bewilder

patrizate - to imitate one's father or forebears

pernicious - causing great harm; destructive

perspicacious - having keen judgement or understanding; acutely perceptive

pessimum - the least favorable environmental condition under which an organism can survive

philostorgie - the love of parent's towards their children

pot-valor - boldness or courage resulting from alcoholic drink

prevaricate - to behave in an evasive or indecisive manner, usually in delay

recogitate - to think over again

redame - to love in return

saudade - an emotional state of melancholic or profoundly nostalgic longing for a beloved yet absent something or someone

scintilla - a spark or tiny amount of something, often used to describe a small flash of inspiration

scripturient- having a strong urge to write

sehnsucht - yearning; wistful longing

selcouth - describes something that is unfamiliar, strange, and yet marvelous at the same time

sempiternal - something that is eternal or everlasting

solivagrant - rambling alone; marked by solitary wandering

supernal - something that is heavenly or divine

timorous - full of or subject to fear; timid

velleity - a mere wish or inclination that lacks the motivation or intention to act on it

verisimilitude - the appearance of being true or real

[transxfiles]

me: *writes fic*

me: great! time to post to ao3-

ao3 summary box: *exists*

me: 

ao3 summary box:

me:

ao3 summary box: 

me:

[rooksandravens]

[rjeddystone]

Ooh, this is actually kinda a neat thing, because you can think of it as a checklist:

Who: Main character(s)

Why: Character goal or desire (stated)

Why: Character need (implied)

When: Inciting Incident

What: Means (that achieves the goal/need)

Where: Place A >> Place B

How: The Plan

Obstacle(s): antagonist or challenge

For example:

Who: Bilbo Baggins, a respectable hobbit of Hobbiton

Why: Treasure, wealth (stated)

Why: Adventure, self-respect (implied)

When: After supper

What: Quest

Where: Hobbiton >> The Lonely Mountain

How: A company of dwarves, a wizard, and an ancient map and key

Main antagonist(s): a dragon

Thus, in less than 100 words:

Bilbo Baggins is a respectable hobbit in Hobbiton, never making any trouble or having any adventures. But when a wizard and a company of dwarves invite themselves to dinner, Bilbo finds himself joining their quest from the shires of Hobbiton to the legendary Lonely Mountain, the home of a long lost treasure, and quite, possibly, a dragon.  

~~~~

The Anatomy of Story by John Truby is a really good book by the by, if anyone’s interested in this sort of thing.

[roguecompanion1812]

This is super helpful!’