Writing

The place for all my plot bunnies, inspirations, short examples, and anything else about writing. This is where I save my inspirations and post my work, but this is not only for myself. If you have any requests, challenges, or would like some of your own, please feel free to message me anytime. I love writing. And if you like my work, you can follow me on ao3, ff.net, gotvg.net, and pretty much anywhere if you look up AlexC or MrsAlexKurosaki (On a slight side note, please don't follow if you're younger than 18... I would love your support, but my writing isn't usually directed to people of a younger age bracket. I don't want to give any incorrect perspectives, nor do I want to corrupt any innocent minds >.< )

[black-quadrant]

when in doubt about whether or not to make a thing, do it for your 3 hardcore fans.

[black-quadrant]

nothing is too niche. even if it's 1 person. even if the 1 person is you. just create. make it exist.

[wondrousworldbuilding]

How do I make a villain totally detestable and loathsome, I've no protagonist as the narrator is also a morally dark grey guy. Also all of my villains turn into anti heroes because of their grand ideas for the future bring a bit skewed in execution. Tips, ideas? Open for anything really.

Hello!

Your question isn’t really under the umbrella ofworldbuilding, but I don’t mind giving you a few tips.

(Quick note: Your protagonist is your main character, it doesn’t matter what their moral standing is. TylerDurden is the chaotic evil protagonist of FightClub, but that doesn’t make him a good guy. Your antagonist is the mainopposition to your protagonist. If your protagonist is a chaotic evil, thenit’s totally possible that your antagonist is lawful good. The terms arerelative to whose POV the story is being told through. Think Les Miserables. If that story was toldthrough the eyes of Javert, then we would undoubtedly view his lawful goodmorality as superior to Jean Valjean’s chaotic neutral/good. And if anyone wasever the good guy in his own version of the story, it’s Javert.)

The most important thing is not making your reader hate yourantagonist, or your villains, but make them lovehating them. Making them compelling, but repulsive characters is what youwant. If your readers just hate them, then it’s easy to develop a indifferentattitude to the entire work. We don’t like reading about characters that aren’tcompelling and interesting, even if they’re simultaneously detestable.

So here a handful of things to keep in mind or try:

Your antagonist is the hero of their own story.They have legitimate motivations, and they see themselves as in the right. Totheir story, your protagonist is likely the villain.

Spend as much time developing your antagonist asyou do on your protagonist. We can’t empathize and feel true revulsion for aflat character. We can sneer and snicker, but ultimately, shrug them off.

Make your antagonist’s strengths the weaknessesof your protagonist. Give him the ability to really undermine yourprotagonist’s abilities, quest, or relationships.

Give him likable qualities. They need to fitwithin his moral code, of course, but if there are elements of his personalitythat the reader can empathize with or see in themselves or those close to them,then that will go further to making his horrible traits more personal.

Moral code – mentioned earlier, but bearsreiteration. Give your antagonist a moral code and don’t let him stray from itcasually. That moral code can be anywhere on the scale, but it makes him a morebelievable character if we can see what he will and won’t do or put up with.

Balance the power of your antagonist. Don’t makehim unbeatably powerful or depressingly weak. We want to feel that sense ofworry about his abilities, but it’s not interesting if he has no real weaknesseither.

Outline your novel from the antagonist’s POV.What does he see as the arc of thestory?

Give your protagonist a moment’s connection withthe antagonist. Letting your reader see that even the book’s MC sharessomething with the villain can go a long way to making their personality morepowerful and more convincing.

Above all, avoid Evil™ for the sake of evil.It’s dull. It’s not relatable. And it doesn’t help make the villainintimidating or scary. It makes them lame. **coughcoughvoldemortcoughcough** What!? I didn’t say anything.

Happy writing!

[wondrousworldbuilding]

@swordoflight18 - in response to your comment on this post.

[writingwithcolor]

How To Blend Cultures (Without Making Impossible Mixes)

This is a guide specifically about fantasy worldbuilding. WWC gets a lot of questions around “I’m mixing two cultures together, how do I do that?” and this is to explain both how to do that and when you very much should not.

For starters, you should avoid blending empires with their surrounding properties, especially if there is recent political strife along those lines. This is why Japan/China/Korea (or even China/Tibet) mixes should not be done. For more information on that, take a look at Research:Large to Small Scale, Avoiding Homogenizing East Asian Cultures, & Paralleling Regions Appropriately.

Next up, mixing Greece/Rome with far-flung cultures gets a little bit eyebrow raising. Unless it was a direct trading partner/conquered property, Greek/Roman cultures do not mix with non-European cultures. The Greek empire only went to the Northern regions of India at its very peak, and that is limited to the ancient world. Rome stopped in the Middle East, so, again, you don’t have the cultural backing for a mixing of anything outside of its borders. 

Depictions of Rome and Greece in ancient literature shows other ancient cultures found them quite backwards, and were adverse to mixing with them. By many standards they were very backwards, and it’s only Europe (and, as an extension, America) that revered them to the extent they do. Asia and Africa had no reason to see them as advanced, because they made many more technological advancements than either. North America and Oceanic cultures hardly interacted with either, and had both their own technological advancements+ cultures closer by to borrow advancements from, instead. 

Outside of that, cultures are born out of the environments that made them. As a result, places with wildly dissimilar climates and resources pools will not be able to blend harmoniously unless you’re taking a modern analogue society where globalism has happened. This is plain old because resources only travel so far, and people are more likely to build culture around resources they have easy access to (even well-established trade links can lead to people re-creating things: Han purple and Egyptian blue point to an ancient trade link, but they were made with local materials processed differently).

Roman architecture exists because the Romans had access to copious amounts of concrete materials/marble and lived in the Mediterranean, which got very hot summers, heavy rains, and not a whole lot of cold. As a result they created structures that worked for this, which included open airways, pillars, easy to clean floors, shade, and ventilation. Places that lack these resources will not be able to replicate Rome.

Their resource pool was very specific to their regions, and there’s a reason Rome had the rule that anybody who did’t live like Romans were slaves: it was really hard to live like a Roman, and they wanted their slave pool as large as possible. 

Different cultures with different resources formed in wildly different ways, and might not even have anything similar to Greece or Rome. Because of this, you need to look really close at why culture developed the way it did. If it’s because they had extremely dissimilar resources pools, it’s wise to not blend the cultures (or at least not think they’ll look anything like their original cultures) 

Which brings me to value systems. Cultures put value on different things. Each culture ends up with a base philosophy for what they esteem and how they use resources, which proceeds to influence how it develops. Architecture has meaning to it. So does what colours you use in different applications. Because these things are sacred and/or practical for certain social orders. “Sacred” in cultures ends up becoming a shorthand for “this ritual helps us survive.”

There is no such thing as “aesthetic” when you get down to the root of each single item, because that aesthetic has a practical purpose. There is also no such thing as a “solely religious reason” under the same logic. Cows have become sacred in most varieties of Hinduism— because cows (and oxen) have been the main farming animal in the Indian subcontinent for millennia. They provide milk for sustenance, power for ploughing fields, and dung, which can be used as a floor polish and, when dried, a source of fuel for fire that gives off a more even heat than wood. As a single provider for crucial elements of agrarian life, their sacredness developed from their practicality. Having cows roam freely meant absolutely everyone could have access to an efficient cooking fuel.

Chinese brush painting has meaning. Jade sculpture has meaning. Pagodas and sloped roofs and gates have meaning. The philosophy, environment, history, and present circumstances of a culture is built into every. single. little. thing. about that culture, meaning you cannot just change it out.

Unless you learn the very root of culture, their values and stigmas and honours and shames, you cannot modify it accurately. Cultures survive because that was the best way to respond to the world at the time. A long-standing culture such as China’s has to be functional and incredibly well suited for the environment, otherwise it would not have survived. There is something about Chinese culture that works extraordinarily well for it to perpetuate itself, and you cannot disrespect that.

Learn the “why” of culture. Learn how it came to manifest and the reasons behind its manifestations. Study the geography and resources available to the people at hand. Know a culture so well you can explain how it works in real life and how your world’s history parallels the circumstances that created a similar culture in fantasy.

Only then will you be able to pull it off with respect.

~ Mod Lesya

[wondrousworldbuilding]

Foundation of currency and its use

Money! My fictional world needs money! 

No worries. If you’re writing a fictional country, nation, kingdom, or alliance that uses currency, then chances are you’re going to need to make one up. All you or your fictional country need to start a currency are three basic things:

A bank of stuff (gold, silver, anything of value to serve as the base)

A system that people understand

Trust

What bank foundation will make sense for your world? Gold and silver are easy, but there might be other metals or gems within your world that are valuable. 

(Now, currencies often start of with backing, but don’t necessarily cling to that forever. A system like the United States’, where currency is backed by a promise, not a stack of gold, is called a fiat currency. A dollar is worth a dollar because that’s what the government tells us. Good news: in a fiat system, you can print money when it’s needed, when the economy tanks. Bad news: if you lose the faith of your people, then the money loses its value entirely. Just ask Zimbabwe.)

Then, do you have independently-named increments (penny, nickle, dime, quarter, dollar)? Or do you have a single unit that people exchange in large amounts ( 円 /yen)? 

You’ll also need to name your currency. This can be difficult if you’re trying to go for something new, but there’s a generator for everything these days, isn’t there? 

Then, you basically just need to figure out how currency fits into the lives of the people in your world. Consider the following:

Do they use coins, bills, or both?

How much value does your fictional currency have to the USD/Euro/your real life currency?

Does currency reign, or is it balanced with barter?

Does the currency come as easily to the poor as it does to the rich? (i.e. do the poor barter instead of use currency because that’s all they can manage?)

How does the bank system work? Do people store physical money within a bank? Or do the banks use fractional-reserve banking? Are banks regulated? Or, conversely, are people responsible for storing their own funds (personal vaults, holes in the backyard, what-have-you)?

How much does the physical money matter at all? Think about how much “money” is exchanged daily over the internet. The twenty bucks I just spent online came out of my bank account (which is basically imaginary money, right?) and transferred to another seller’s bank account. They might spend it online again, and then that person again…without a single coin or bills touching anyone’s hand.  In a sci-fi world, or any futuristic setting, holding a coin in one’s hand might mean basically nothing. Units, credits, bitcoins, or something of that sort might have evolved out of a gold- or silver-based system from long ago. That type of system takes a lot of trust, but if you have centuries or more of use under the same treasury, that trust might be inherent.

Multinational currency

How will interacting countries within your world exchange goods? Do they convert their own independent currencies or have they established a single unit for trade?

The Euro is a good example of this. Glance over its history to see how that worked (if you don’t remember living through it). 

There are many ways you could go about this, but it basically amounts to the governments of these nations coming to some kind of agreement to implement a new currency for ease of trade. If they are all very close to one another, like Europe’s countries, then it makes sense for day-to-day lives of citizens. Traveling becomes easier without needing to convert money frequently. 

You’ll want to consider the relationships between these nations, and how any future disagreements could affect the value and acceptance of the currency. Do individual countries keep their own currency in addition to the international one? 

Now, go! And write about all the money we writers don’t have.

[wondrousworldbuilding]

[wondrousworldbuilding]

“A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit.”

— Richard Bach (via writerniche)

[clevergirlhelps]

A friend of mine and I are trying to write a story in a fantasy world where there is no sexism or homophobia. What would be some things to keep in mind while we do that?

Don’t make the world/society a utopia just because you’ve solved this one problem. There should be other problems present within society.

I feel like a lot of gender-equal or no-sexism societies solve everything by essentially giving women the green light to act masculinely without the reverse happening. Women tell lewd jokes and cut logs and refuse to have families, but men don’t cry, giggle, or expressly pine for children.

Your cast should have explicitly queer memberS

Please don’t make a group of female characters who oppress male characters or a group of homosexual characters who oppress heterosexuals. You’re not being revolutionary; you’re delegitimizing oppression that actually happens to these groups.

Where do nonbinary and trans people fit into this world free of sexism? 

A lot of insults are gender- or sexuality-based, or tied to assumptions about gender or sexuality. For example, calling a woman who has sex a slut degrading to her because women are not supposed to have a lot of sex. Calling a man a slut doesn’t have the same sting because of the whole virility thing. In a gender-equal society, a woman should be no more insulted than a man if you call her a slut. (The exception being if you vilify slut for a different reason – such as your society has ridiculously Puritan views on sex.)

Similarly, compliments are also gendered. The word pretty denotes something delicate, wholesome – and therefore feminine. Basically you’re going to have to think through every sentence and every comment you ever make about anyone … which sounds really fun.

[wondrousworldbuilding]

Using prophecies in fantasy without making eyes roll

Good ol’ stand-bys, ubiquitous fantasy tropes, are difficult to avoid. And sometimes we don’t want to avoid them. Goddammit, sometimes you just need a good, solid prophecy to write the story your want to write. 

“It’s not my fault all these other people before me have written prophecies, too!” you say. 

And you’d be right. Unfortunately, they did. So us modern-day writers have to live with the it. So what do you do when you want or need to use a well-worn trope? 

Know the trope. Make it your own. 

Know that, no matter what you do, some readers will still hate it.

But you can’t make everyone happy, right? So let’s get started.

How-to guidelines from our predecessors

Prophecies in fiction have been used countless times. But there are reasons why we continue to use them. And while you don’t want to completely copy how it has been done before, we can all learn something from the basic form of real and fictional prophecies. 

1. Prophecies are often vague and general

The language and phrasing used in prophecies, because of its important and symbolic nature, tends to go for sounding mystic and grand over sensible and utilitarian. This language achieves its poetic goal, but as a price, the meaning can be allusive, vague, or even seem contradictory. 

A man named Jerry will kill a man in a fight on the corner of 3rd and Main on the fifth of January, 3820. 

On the dawn of winter in a forest of gray, when one life dims, another remains.

One of these actually gives you some useful information. The other could mean a vast array of different things at any point in time, but technically applies to the same situation. One of them (though poorly) reads more like something you’d find in a piece of fiction. 

2. Prophecies are often misinterpreted

There’s likely to be disagreement on the meaning of any yet-to-be-fulfilled prophecy. If it’s well-known, then common folk might take it to mean one thing, while the wealthy another. The well-educated might take it to mean one or two (or three or a thousand) things, while the uneducated take it to mean another. If there are two prominent schools of thought, then people might passionately disagree about the meaning. It’s possible that none of these interpretations are true. 

‘Tis the nature of vague and metaphorical language.

The culture of your world will influence how people treat the prophecy. Conversely, the prophecy and its interpretation might have a huge impact on the culture, government, or religion of your world. 

3. Prophecies are given in context

In the example above about the murder in winter, with no context that “prophecy” means basically nothing. Part of what creates nuances in interpretation of prophecies is variations in the understanding of the prophecy’s context. 

Upon the rebirth of the emperor, the dark messenger will be slain; the eagle will conquer the land.

In this sample, very little is made clear when there’s no context. We have no reason to care, let alone believe, what these words are trying to convey. But say that our myths tell the story of a vanished young emperor who would someday reappear to take his throne, that the messengers of evil are immortal, and that the eagle is symbolic of peace…

It all starts to make a bit of sense, doesn’t it? Any alteration in context, however, could vastly change the meaning. 

Prophecies don’t stand alone. They only work within their context. They aren’t created in a vacuum and they are not understood in a vacuum. Creating the vibrant world that surrounds your prophecy will go a long way to making it interesting and important.

4. Prophecies require a prophet

Why do people believe the prophecy? Why don’t they? When implementing a prophecy into your world, you need to pay attention to how people receive its message and ensure that that belief has a sensible backing. 

A prophecy came from the mouth (or pen) of a prophet. If the people of your world totally buy into the words of this prophecy, then there needs to be a reason. What made this prophet reliable? 

What not to do: There was this old woman and everything she said was totally batty…all except this one thing. This one thing will definitely be absolutely true, so help me, God.

Like any aspect of culture, the “why” factor is important. Why do people believe the prophecy? Why has it survived so many years? Or perhaps people don’t believe the prophecy…so why is that? 

Consider Nostradamus. He’s a pretty infamous prophet, even though only some of what he said every seemed true (and almost entirely in retrospect). For the most part, when you mention him, people will kind of laugh it off. It’s mostly a joke. However…his words might also be true! But it’s best not to put all your money on it. 

How are the words of your prophet generally received? How will this affect how your Important Prophecy™ is viewed and understood by the people?

“This Important Prophecy™ is believed because my story needs it to be believed,” is not a good reason. So make sure it runs deeper than that.

Pitfalls to avoid

1. Using a prophecy as a matter of course

Your prophecy should have a very integral part in your story and world. Using a pointless prophecy or using one just because you think, since you’re writing fantasy, you probably should, are one-way tickets to eye-rolls. 

Like any trope, if you’re sticking it artlessly into your story, then you doing the trope and yourself a disservice. Every element you choose to include in your story should drive it forward, should deepen your conflict or characters. No inclusion should be made flippantly. Be sure that if you’re including a prophecy, you use it to its full potential.

2. Making it too simple or mundane

If you’re doing it right, then your prophecy will be super important to your story. And if it’s super important, you’re going to want it to be super interesting. If a dull, run-of-the-mill Chosen One prophecy is, unironically, what your story hinges on, then you’re likely going to get some eye-rolls and, worse, readers who put down your book.

3. Going for too much

On the other end of the spectrum, prophecies that are convoluted or require the ten-page backstory to put into context are likely going to take too much attention away from your actual story. Prophecies tend to focus on one (general) event. It can cover a few facets of this one event, but if you try to outline too much you risk detracting from the here-and-now or getting too far in over your (or your character’s) head. 

Things to consider

Is the fulfillment of the prophecy a mystery even to your reader? Or does the story give the answer, leaving the path to the fulfillment to be the mystery?

Is your prophecy immutable? Is it Destiny and it will come true no matter what anyone does?

Is the prophecy self-fulfilling? How do the characters’ knowledge of the prophecy affect events? How might their ignorance of it? 

How does the fulfillment differ or align with the expectations held by the characters?

Did the prophet speak of their own freewill, with true foreknowledge, or were they a vessel for a deity, or some supernatural being?

How was the prophecy passed down to the present? Was it done so flawlessly, or might there have been translation, oral, or interpretation errors that happened along the way?

How widely accepted, or known, is the prophecy among the common people? 

How common are prophecies in general? Does this one stand out in some way? If so, how and why?

Does the prophecy give away an outcome, or does it simply set up a situation?

How detailed is your prophecy and how have those seemingly specific details been misinterpreted?

How certain is anyone that they understand the prophecy? 

If the prophecy proves to be false, how does that element find resolution within the structure of the narrative? (i.e. if you placed great importance on the prophecy with the intention of pulling the rug out from under your reader, how are you going to resolve the situation to keep them from feeling cheated?)

What do you think about the use of prophecies in fiction? What are some of your favorites or least favorites?

Happy writing!

[dragon-in-a-fez]

I think more media should narratively punish parents for not listening to their kids and specifically I think it should punish them in cruel and terrifying ways. I want real life parents to go through life with a healthy fear that if they ignore their children's boundaries a witch might cook and eat them

[artndetails]

pink moon.

[fair-itself]

I feel like this is the kind of thing you only reblog if you have an aesthetic blog, which I do not, but goddammit I just love it when the moon lines up with stuff

[a-dauntless-daffodil]

dandelion sun~

[sweetd3lights]

[babycharmander]

I love fictional robots learning and growing as characters. Though sometimes people like to present this as a robot’s speech gradually growing more “natural” and “humanlike,” and while that can sometimes work, consider:

Robot character who learns to speak more “naturally” and “eloquently” and all their human friends talk about how much they’ve grown and so on… but when they’re not around humans, they go back to their robotic speech (be it speaking in a way humans consider more stilted, or using a more limited vocabulary, speaking in a completely different robotic language entirely), or just don’t speak at all and communicate in a different manner entirely (through text, through motions, through different colored lights), because that is what’s natural to them. They only speak like a human for the benefit of humans—not for their own benefit.

[scribefindegil]

being a writer leads to a genuinely helpful but also very stupid kind of mindfulness where you'll be having a sobbing breakdown or the worst anxiety attack of your life and think "okay, I really need to pay attention to how this feels. so I can incorporate it into my fanfiction."

[beggars-opera]

So I just found the most useful photo album in existence for tumblr arguments

[noldorinwa]

I HAVE FOUND MY FAVOURITE POST ON THE INTERNET

@georgeorwell @lordhellebore @francisperfectionbonnefoy @janiedean and everyone else have you guys seen this gem

[janiedean]

OH MY GOD I’M SAVING ALL  OF THESE RN

[nephilimeq]

This is awesome

[call-me-cee]

@aces-to-apples @elouanwrites thought y’all might like to save these for future use 😘

[queer-cosette]

@ayeforscotland dunno if you’ve seen this but I feel you could use it when the aresholes get a bit too cocky in the reblogs

[ayeforscotland]

Just need one with ‘Foul: Wee fud talking shite’ on it.

[sregurb]

@ayeforscotland

[domina-honoribila]

This man’s name is Ed Hochuli, aka Hercules, the most jacked NFL referee in history. I believe he is in the Hall of Fame, and if he isn’t he will be. His son Steve is officiating in the league now.

[prophetic-writer]

"How do you write such realistic dialogue-" I TALK TO MYSELF. I TALK TO MYSELF AND I PRETEND I AM THE ONE SAYING THE LINE. LIKE SANITY IS SLOWLY SLIPPING FROM BETWEEN MY FINGERS WITH EVERY MEASLY WORD THEY TYPE OUT. THAT IS HOW.

[selfship-quotes]

making a collection

[selfship-quotes]

adding to the collection

[unboundprompts]

Pirate Terms and Phrases

-> Pirate Lingo

-> A Pirate's Glossary

Batten Down The Hatches - tie everything down and put stuff away for a coming storm.

Brig - a prison on a ship.

Bring a Spring Upon 'er - turn the ship in a different direction

Broadside - the most vulnerable angle of a ship that runs the length of the boat.

Cutlass - a thick, heavy and rather short sword blade.

Dance with Jack Ketch - to hang; death at the hands of the law (Jack Ketch was a famed English executioner).

Davy Jones's Locker - a mythical place at the bottom of the ocean where drowned sailors are said to go.

Dead Men Tell No Tales - the reason given for leaving no survivors.

Flogging - severe beating of a person.

Gangplank - removable ramp between the pier and ship.

Give No Quarter - show no mercy.

Jack - flag flown at the front of the ship to show nationality.

Jolly Roger - black pirate flag with a white skull and crossbones.

Keelhaul - a punishment where someone is dragged under the ship. They are cut by the planks and barnacles on the bottom of the ship.

Landlubber - an inexperienced or clumsy person who doesn't have any sailing skills.

Letters of Marque - government-issued letters allowing privateers the right to piracy of another ship during wartime.

Man-O-War - a pirate ship that is decked out and prepared for battle.

Maroon - to leave someone stranded on a. deserted island with no supplies, typically a punishment for any crew members who disrespected the captain.

Mutiny - a situation in which the crew chooses a new captain, sometimes by forcibly removing the old one.

No Prey, No Pay - a common pirate law that meant crew members were not paid, but rather received a share of whatever loot was taken.

Old Salt - experienced pirate or sailor.

Pillage - to steal/rob a place using violence.

Powder Monkeys - men that performed the most dangerous work on the ship. They were treated harshly, rarely paid, and were expendable.

Privateer - government-appointed pirates.

Run A Shot Across the Bow - fire a warning shot at another boat's Captain.

Scurvy - a disease caused by Vitamin C Deficiency.

Sea Legs - when a sailor adjusts his balance from riding on a boat for a long time.

Strike Colors - lower a ship's flag to indicate surrender.

Weigh Anchor and Hoist the Mizzen - an order to the crew to pull up the anchor and get the ship sailing.

If you like what I do and want to support me, please consider buying me a coffee! I also offer editing services and other writing advice on my Ko-fi! Become a member to receive exclusive content, early access, and prioritized writing prompt requests.