Show & Tell
art blog(derogatory)
Three Goblin Art
d e v o n

ellievsbear
tumblr dot com

PR's Tumblrdome
Peter Solarz
TVSTRANGERTHINGS
styofa doing anything
he wasn't even looking at me and he found me
PUT YOUR BEARD IN MY MOUTH
Aqua Utopia|海の底で記憶を紡ぐ
I'd rather be in outer space 🛸

oozey mess
hello vonnie

No title available
No title available
Misplaced Lens Cap

❣ Chile in a Photography ❣
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Malaysia
seen from United States

seen from Brazil

seen from Australia

seen from Singapore

seen from United States
seen from Norway
seen from United States

seen from Canada

seen from Austria

seen from United States
seen from United States

seen from United States
seen from Indonesia

seen from T1

seen from Indonesia
seen from United Kingdom
@ajbrooks-writes
Don’t forget to imagine the best case scenario too
Anyway heres a list of things I think solarpunk is really good for:
Another angle for green movements - a lot of green movements have been skewed into ecofascism, dieting and various other capitalist interests. We risk this too, but with work, this is a path those who seek to live alongside the earth without falling into a cult or buying a bunch of crap.
Getting a hobby- I've seen so much wonderful textile work, eco- gardening and people developing skills - particularly during events like action week. For a world so focused on consumption, this is lifechanging. I'm learning hobby electronics and now I can fix my friends phones. That is tangible and immediate change. Graffiti and sewing go hand in hand here.
Gathering social groups and communities of likeminded folks - ALL OVER THE WORLD. The support network it creates makes forming structured movemements easier. Punks have known this since forever. Small music venues, library book clubs, and political groups all because of random groupchats. [I'll admit, forming structure should become a priority - with WORK, TIME and TRUST, it's happening.]
The mission of solarpunk as a literary subgenre is to show what is possible. Its aligned with science fiction in this respect. Science fiction inspires so much in the world, and solarpunk will do the same.
You actually cannot skip to being good at a creative endeavour that you haven't put much practice into. You cannot trick your way out of the 'knows that your work is not what you want it to be but don't know how to improve it' stage by planning or reading or talking about it really really hard. At some point you just have to craft through it until your brain finds it's own unique way back to the 'everything I make slaps' stage and be prepared to start the cycle all over again. You just have to make that project you're excited about slightly less good than you want it to be. (Says this standing in a pool of blood and covered in blood and also coughing up a little blood)
I do feel like half the writing discourse boils down to this, as if you can somehow outline-edit-15 draft your way into being a good writer, instead of just sitting down and writing.
I've seen people trying to twist the famous many pots story into somehow meaning you should spend years doing endless drafts of the same story.
Just to avoid accepting that your earlier stuff is going to be beginner level work.
You wanna be a better writer? Write more. Write something new, finish it and then start something new. Repeat.
The skills will come. If you practice.
Solarpunk has failed. It's time for the Solar Gothic. Show me an environmentally conscious world that is haunted by its past; where its failures still intrude upon the present. Where the characters live in the shadow of a decadent but much more materially wealthy past whose crumbling edifices mock them with the waste and the missed opportunities they represent. Show me characters who remember the promise of modernity, the story of ever-growing progress, and either lament that it is not for them or continue to cling to it like madmen. Show me a world that's trapped, claustrophobically, in an anthropocene that they are only gradually learning to manage, and where all former illusions of mastery or permanence have been dispelled.
me after writing "she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding"
A little more Fall of the Black Masks, for @ajbrooks-writes, who was kind enough to ask <3 This is a little excerpt from a scene where Ragnar has to tell Qays that his daughter, Mila, has been taken by the Black Masks.
Perhaps that could have been the end of him, were Qays a different man. But the physician was not in the business of taking lives. He pushed himself off of the warrior with a guttural yell that echoed through the hall, and a hushed silence fell across the space. All attention turned to Qays as he began pace back and forth in the room, wild eyes and shaking hands. Hands which, for many years, had been devoted to healing, and which were now all too ready to devote themselves to untold violence, if it meant her return. “Fool!” he strained, a scream held back by a thin and fragile cord. “Fool!”
Ragnar rose to his feet unsteadily, watching the man warily. It seemed at any moment he would explode, like an injured beast that might strike you down in his anguish. Ragnar could well understand what monster raced through Qays’s veins in that moment, for he, too, had suffered this rage - it came to him like an old friend of whom memories often resurfaced, but never quite like that first time, when he'd first been given the news. And now...
It's happened again.
But this was different. Mila was alive, and there was time yet to save her.
“I swear to you,” Ragnar coughed, rubbing his sore throat. “I will bring her back to you, or perish trying.”
“Bring her back,” Qays growled, turning on him like a lion upon his prey. “Fine words, warrior, when you could not even keep her! Bring her back? Do you know what the Black Masks do to the women they steal? Do you?!"
Ragnar felt his fury thrumming through his neck, on the bruises that now formed where moments ago Qays had chosen mercy. "If anything happens to my child, Ragnar, you needn't worry about the Punisher, for I will be your death.” The man seemed to tower over him, all gentleness swept from his manner. His eyes had turned dark, his whole body quivering under the strain of his rage.
“I swear it,” Ragnar repeated, his wretched lungs grasping for air still. He backed towards the door, his hand searching for the hilt of a sword that was no longer at his side. It was his fault; he knew they were looking for her. It was he who had offered to protect her, he who had allowed himself to be distracted, he who had lost that which was most precious to Qays. His remorse was well-placed, for the blame was solely his, and no one else's. This time, too.
He shook his head, as if to clear away any uncertainty which pervaded his mind, and met her father's eyes, even as it shamed him to do so. He poured all of his conviction into the words: “I swear I will find her, and bring her back to you.”
He felt Qays's presence behind him, every step of the way back to the house, and though the man was not there, Ragnar knew that he would make good on his promise should any misfortune befall Mila.
But it was not concern for his own life that spurred Ragnar on. It was the thought - a creeping, silent thought that existed only in the vague corners of his mind, so that even he did not realize it - that perhaps he could save Mila where he couldn't save his wife.
That perhaps this time - this time, he would not be too late.
This time.
I won't be resurrecting the tag list because most of the blogs there have disappeared after so many years, but I may be moving these posts to their own blog to make it easier; instead of a tag list, anyone interested will just be able to follow the blog. Will update when that's ready to go.
Oh no... RIP Ragnar, not sure you're gonna make it back with Mila in one piece 👀 based on the other excerpt which I assume happens later 👀
I really like the character voices and the way you focus on the internal response with just enough outside detail to picture the scene.
Side note, how does one pronounce 'Qays'? Like Keys? Kways? Usually we dont have the option of asking the writer directly 😄
If you share more in the future can you please tag me I would love to read it. Good luck drafting!
Moments that reveal your Character's Loneliness!!
✧ Keeping a running list in their head of things to tell someone, even though there's no one to tell.
✧ Talking to the cat. Not in a playful way. In a confessional way.
✧ Lingering at the checkout counter a beat too long because the cashier made eye contact.
✧ Watching the clock on Friday evenings and feeling something they can't quite name drop in their chest.
✧ Answering "what did you do this weekend?" with something tidied up and social-sounding, leaving out the two days they saw no one.
✧ Muting their TV just to hear how loud the silence actually is.
✧ Ordering too much food and eating alone with the plates set out, taking up the whole table.
✧ Spending longer than necessary in public places (bookshops, grocery stores) because being around strangers is close enough.
✧ Re-reading old messages from people who don't talk to them anymore, not out of longing but out of proof they existed to someone.
✧ Getting very invested in strangers' lives online: their updates, their kids, their ordinary days.
✧ Starting conversations with service workers and then feeling ashamed of how much they wanted it to continue.
✧ Making plans they know won't happen just for the brief warmth of having something to look forward to.
✧ Dreaming about people they barely know.
✧ Waking grateful, then embarrassed.
✧ Keeping their coat on too long at parties, as though they're still deciding whether to stay.
Signs Two Characters Have Chemistry
teasing that never quite becomes mean or crosses certain lines
finishing each other’s thoughts
arguing more passionately than they would with anyone else
noticing when the other person is upset before anyone else does
standing closer than necessary
lingering eye contact
remembering details about each other
“You write the beginning and then you go back and rewrite the beginning, and you never got off page one. It’s kind of a syndrome, and I have a rash piece of advice which is — Go on, page two, page three, and never look back. Get something finished, no matter how lousy it is. […] Perfectionists cannot get going unless they kind of do violence to their own instincts, and just blast ahead.”
— Ursula K. Le Guin, The Last Interview and Other Conversations
How to Write Angst That Hurts <3
Enemies to Lovers - Relationship Roadmap
Enemies to lovers works best when the change feels inevitable. Here's a guide to progression their rivalry to a real, loving relationship
Initial Hostility:
This is the hatred. It's the rivalry. The chance to show the readers their deep-rooted resentment for each other.
Forced Interaction:
Avoidance is no longer possible. Perhaps they're forced to work the same case/project or be on the same team. Limited space/forced proximity works great here.
Recognition:
They recognise each other's competence/incompetence and suddenly insults become more personal. Arguments become less about winning.
Emotional Slips:
Care appears where it shouldn't. Protectiveness, possessiveness and vulnerability.
Denial:
Denial of feelings from one or both parties. One side pulling away while the other side pushes. Something new blossoms.
The Change:
The old dynamic no longer works. One of them makes a choice or takes a risk they wouldn't have done before. Let it be messy. Let them break trust, or push boundaries.
Resolution:
Consequences, love and a transforming relationship. Shared hardship turns hatred to love. They understand their feelings and are no longer in denial.
Mila's hands trembled against the hot stone, the sun beating against her skin but never quite overcoming the cold that had taken her. She knew these symptoms. She had seen them on countless others, and now...
It was her turn.
"I think..." she gritted out, jaw clenched to keep the shaking at bay. "You need... to take me... to my... father."
Ragnar's hand, firm still despite the gruelling battle, gripped her shoulder. "You're exhausted," he told her, as though to explain it all away. "You need rest."
If only it were that simple.
"N-no," she managed, shaking her head. "They were all... sick. All... the other... prisoners." She looked up at him, and the very motion set alight a fire of pain behind her eyes. I'm sick, too, she wanted to tell him, but the words wouldn't come out. Instead, she said, "My father, Ragnar... please."
If she was to die, then she would die at home. Not here. Not in the streets. Not beside the slaughtered corpse of the Vakkarian Punisher. Not like this.
- The Fall of the Black Masks
In which Mila succumbs to the mysterious and deadly plague. 👀
Found this in the caverns of my blog, thought I'd share it. It reminds me how much I enjoyed writing The Fall of the Black Masks. Hope to get back to it one day soon!
Oh this is super cool. Please write/share more 👀
Suggested reading: What Is Procrastination & How Do Writers Beat It?
The Progressive Outline — How I balance my plotter and pantser tendencies.
When I first started writing at 13, I was a pantser. I’d develop an initial concept for a story, then just write – making everything up as I went.
Within a year or so, I became a plotter. I wrote extensive character sheets, deeply developed the worlds of my stories, and wrote detailed outlines that spanned not just the current novel, but series-long arcs.
In the years that followed (high school, college, MFA), I oscillated between the two approaches, navigating the benefits and challenges of both, as well as my own evolving preferences – before settling on my current method.
I call it “progressive outlining,” and it helps me do two somewhat conflicting things:
Create an outline for structure and direction
Allow my characters the freedom to organically grow, surprise me, and influence the story
The Progressive Outline
There are three parts to my outlining process:
Initial preparation
Creating a rough outline
Incremental journeys
1. Initial Preparation
Here, I do my initial brainstorming. Starting with the original concept, I generate ideas for the setting, characters, motivations, plot points, magic systems, etc. You can spend as much time as you want in this stage, but for me, the most important things to firmly establish are:
Your main character (and what drives them emotionally)
A small, initial cast of characters
Any core magic or sci-fi elements
The opening setting of your story
Those four things are important, because they’re the foundation of the story – the launchpad, both for the writing and the outline.
2. Creating a Rough Outline
Next, I create a rough outline of the story, and I really do mean “rough.” Instead of detailing every beat of the story from beginning to end, I allow the outline to become increasingly broad and vague the further out it goes.
For example, let’s say my story is made up of three parts. The most detailed section in the outline would be Part 1; Part 2 would be pretty broad; and Part 3 would have just a few high-level bullet points.
In all those sections, however, I try to mark key turning points for the characters and the plot, even if I don’t know exactly what will happen. For example, I might say, “Our characters clash at the festival,” or, “A friend will somehow betray the main character’s trust, hurting their relationship.“
The point of this outline is to provide long-view guidance wherever I am in the story. However, I keep things relatively vague, because I like to delay making specific decisions until my characters are closer to each event.
3. Incremental Journeys
Now the fun part. Writing.
To start, I take my rough outline and make sure the first couple sections are nicely fleshed out. Then, considering everything I learned during my initial preparation and using my outline as a general (but not set-in-stone) guide, I write those first few chapters.
After finishing those chapters, I do three things:
I think about what I’ve learned about the characters and story so far.
Using what I’ve learned, I flesh out the next few chapters in the outline, which might include some further world building or character development.
I write the newly outlined chapters.
Then I repeat those three steps, again and again – progressively outlining and writing my way through the story in short, incremental journeys.
Why do I write this way?
As I said at the beginning, this approach gives me the structure and direction of an outline, without denying my characters the freedom to grow and surprise me.
That’s why I write this way – outlining, yes, but leaving much of the outline initially broad and vague so that I can let my characters play a more active role in shaping how each plot point comes to life. The process is pretty similar to Flashlight Outlining, if any of you are familiar; the main difference, as far as I can see, is that I also maintain an overarching outline.
Should you write this way?
You’d know better than me! A key part of every writer’s development is figuring out their process, and we do that by writing and experimenting. So give this outlining process a shot if you’re dissatisfied with your current process or want to try an approach that draws from both plotters and pantsers.
And if you already love your process?
Please share it below! I’d love to hear how you write (with or without an outline) and why it works for you.
— — —
Hey there! My name’s Mike, and I’m a writer and copywriter with an MFA in fiction. For more tips on how to hone your craft and nurture meaningful stories, follow my blog.
stumbled upon this and my writing process somehow incorporates this way of outlining as well!
i go into my WIP with specifics especially in the beginning–two main characters, an object, and a unlikely situation where these two are thrown into. once that is settled, i just throw in a vague idea of where the plot will be going usually highlighted in some bullet points. this way, it has room in case i want to change things up for the better too~
i also like to write scenes out of order and just kinda shuffle them around in slots where i think would make the story flow better. (hence, the amount of dialogue prompts and mismatched POVs standing in my notes app or scribbled in my drafting notebook)
I will always respect and be mystified by writers who can jump around and write scenes out of order! So much of my own process is based around the character’s current context, evolving linearly, that I have no confidence in my ability to accurately jump ahead.
Glad to hear this outlining approach jives with your process, though. And thanks for sharing how it fits in!
What are some chronic illnesses that can only occur in a fantasy setting?
Partial transformation - mummy rot is slowly turning you to sand, a near miss from a medusa left you with partially stoned body parts, etc.
Hypnotic suggestions from being mind controlled persist after the controller’s death, causing the victim to occasionally take actions to support the cause of a mind flayer cult that no longer exists.
Repeated demonic possession has left the patient with permanent gaps in their soul’s defenses, causing them to immediately get re-possessed if they go outside a consecrated area.
Post-resurrection trauma as the revived soul remembers an unpleasant afterlife.
Magical healing can get very weird if something is stuck in the wound. It’ll get you back on your feet, but you can get outcomes like “there’s a chunk of wood fused into your chest because the magic couldn’t figure out how to get the arrow out of your chest and just healed it in place,” and this can cause mobility issues or infection vectors down the line.
SHealth tied to something else - the health of a tree, the amount of frost on the ground, the inverse of another person’s, the political power of whoever cursed you
Curse of bad luck - makes any small illness or injury potentially fatal if not treated with anti-curse in addition to anti-infection procedures
Magical reliance on a magical or nonmagical substance - can have any number of side effects
Repeatedly being drunk by vampires can cause an increase in blood production and therefore high blood pressure and related ailments. Can be treated by blood letting.
There’s a lot of hybridization happening in a lot of fantasy settings, and that’s just asking for a lot of people with weird half-dragon genetic disorders. Works out fine for some people, not so much for others.
Parasitized by (insert creature here). If you don’t take the correct precautions to keep it dormant it will continue to spread and eventually hatch out/transform you.
Repeated contact with the undead has left you open to their influence - leading to hearing or seeing things that other mortals can’t, which can distort or distract from more mundane concerns.
Alternately to being more vulnerable to intrusion, one’s soul can form a scar that makes helpful magic more difficult to take in.
Sleep disorders that make one fall into an impenetrable sleep at a specific trigger, or to do so for years at a time.
Out of phase with 4D space, one’s body not connected to itself or anchored in place/time in the usual way. There could be a consistent two hour gap between the things you hear and what has happened, you might clip into the floor as if it was in a different place for you, or you might slide through the material plane in cross section.
Intermittent intangibility.
Split into two people, each with only half your traits.
Stuck in a mirror.
Sensitivity to ambient magic - like the thing where peoples’ joints ache before a storm but for being near ley lines or people with a lot of magic built up or other magic reservoirs. - The potential for magic, but where the magic has not yet begun.
Heal spell dependency: years of repeated serious injuries being healed by magic causes the body to stop healing naturally. seen often in professional fighters and those with a long career in hazardous occupations.
the forgotten dread: memory modification magic has caused the subject’s conscious mind to forget some past trauma, but their subconscious still remembers, causing them emotions that they cannot explain or justify ranging from mild discomfort to blind panic when presented with triggers related to the aforementioned trauma. often encountered in cases where the subject has paid an unscrupulous mage to make them forget their past as an ill-advised alternative to therapy.
Psychically Transmitted Memories: the subject’s mind has been linked to another person’s and, although the bond has since been severed, they have retained memories or thought patterns from the other person that are difficult to distinguish from their own.
Negative Life Syndrome (previously “False Life Syndrome”): seen most often in cases when the subject is exposed to dark magic while in the womb, Negative Life Syndrome leaves the subject’s life energies tainted by undeath without making them truly undead. common symptoms include intolerance of radiant magic, aversion to sunlight, and the inability to set foot on hallowed ground; rare symptoms include healing from negative energies, sudden necrosis, and the desire to eat flesh or drink blood of living beings.
lycanthropy
Early Life Possessions: the subject was possessed by a spirit or demon during early childhood or infancy, and the possessing presence was in control of them when they learned important milestones, such as how to walk or speak. The subject is now dependant upon the possessing presence to help them perform these tasks or, in cases where the presence has since been exorcised, performs the relevant tasks at a level appropriate for an infant or small child.
Body requires nutrients not found in human food, and you must eat rocks, or gems, or some other alternative. You may or may not have the ability to actually digest these without magical assistance
Awareness of too many dimensions makes it difficult to interact with just this one - either to keep track of conversations, or walk to specific locations without ending up on another planet instead
Telekinetic psychosis - delusions tend to physically affect those around you (but HIGH chance for ableism in this one!)
you have flare-ups where your skin tends to slough off and be replaced by some other substance
After sharing life energy with a dying loved one, you’re now both trying to survive off one person’s supply. Like chronic fatigue, but if your loved one gets too big of a bruise you won’t have the energy to get up until it heals
living in reverse
stuck at a certain age
supersenses lead to constant overstimulation
you’re a changeling, and if you don’t have someone who loves you close by, you’ll turn back into sticks and mud
One that I like is the idea that paladins (and anybody else with supernatural immunity to disease) have their own “disease” in the form of severe allergies. If you’re magically insulated from ever catching any disease, ever, your immune system isn’t getting any kind of natural use. So it overreacts to everything. Being immune to being sick makes them “sick.”
Mages that have complications of their own magic, such as Pyromancers overheating if they don’t let off a fireball now and then, or conversely, being prone to hypothermia and needing their fire magic in order to stay warm.