Constant Writers Block

A blog for the stuff I write and likely don't finish. Lots of trash. Come talk to me about my muses. Probably will have novel previews.

[vintrkraka]

New hipster genre: Cybersailpunk

It’s a cross between cyberpunk, pirate clothing, and age of sail naval uniforms. Swords are required.

[thehats]

YES PLEASE. PLEASE WRITE LIKE THE OFFSPRING OF PATRICK OBRIAN AND NEIL STEPHENSON.

IM LOOKING AT YOU, NOVIK.

[alorevwrites]

Favours

A little drabble with Charles Orrock from my rp blog @midshipmancharlesorrock and Decimus from @perpetuallyadrift inspired by the muns October prompts that you should def check out @severinadestrango . Based loosely off our changeling verse with Charles and Decimus.

The boy had danced nearly six hours before I had the chance to ease a little of his suffering. As much as the Midsummer and the thinned veil that brought him stumbling into our ring were to blame, he ought to have counted himself lucky the night would be short. He’d lasted this long, strong not to fall and have the pixies set on him. It hadn’t been easy to watch.

I had received permission from the Lady of these woods to approach him, wading carefully through the shards from wine glasses thrown at his feet. His hair had long since come loose from its queue, stark white and swaying as he danced. He was beautiful, skeletal and pale, almost fae-like. Like he was some sort of death omen descendent. The perfect entertainment for the rowdy fae.

I was careful with the wine glass, dribbling the minimum needed down his chin to make the act seem mocking. I’d spent too many years being raised by humans to find joy in this sort of entertainment. He watched me, eyes wide but cloudy with overwhelming magic.

I counted the minutes till sunrise after that, pulling the boy out of the glass and the ring as the Good Folk dispersed. The magic wore away from him slowly, bringing with it moans of pain perhaps sweet to trolls ears. I could do little but grimace as I tended to his feet.

“Who...?”

“My human name is Charles. What may I call you?”

“Decim-Deci. My nickname is Deci.”

“Deci. You must have someones favour or protection, few survive a fairy ring.” I did my best to soothe him, combing my fingers through his hair. “You’re owed a fae’s favour Deci now too.”

“A favour?” He struggled a little, I assumed his mind had begun to clear. 

“Ask what you desire.”

“C-companionship.”

There are always caveats to a fae’s favour. For Deci it would have meant friends but no lovers, physical companionship but never emotional. Perhaps it was his strength or his beauty that sought me to rectify it. The otherness he had that brought me to greet him on a ship full of iron as though we had never met.

“Midshipman Charles Orrock. Come aboard sir.”

“Deci...mus. Presidos. Midshipman.”

“Deci yes?”

“Yes. Pleasure to meet you Mr. Orrock.”

There is the smallest and softest of smiles on his face. I feel delighted to be the cause. Looking at him makes me feel of wanderlust, eager to experience him and the seas. His feet will not wander as they had before, not so long as I’m at his side. He’ll have his favour fufilled, perhaps a bit more.

[alorevwrites]

Character Sketch

A quick character sketch I had to write in one page for my creative writing class. Based off my modern au for All In Red and Blue.

Bryan sat out on the porch, watching the sun come up lazily over the horizon as if looking for something. All he saw was red sky the colour of Tom’s hair.

With one hand he flicked open the locket around his neck, rubbing the pictures inside with a thumb. He didn’t look at them. On the left was Tom, a week before they’d shipped off to basic, his fiery hair still long. On the right was both of them, Bryan laughing, pulling a face as Tom kissed his cheek over a picnic table. Next to the locket, a glittering ring that Bryan had never worn. He avoided touching it.

"Bryan? Nightmares?” Will’s voice came from the porch door, weighed down with sleep. When he didn’t receive an answer he shuffled over, petting Muffin and laying an arm over the back of Bryan’s chair. “You know I don’t mind if you wake me when you have them.”

"Needed to be alone. You two would’ve gotten along.” Bryan caught Will’s hand. “I just miss him sometimes. Most times really.”

“I know.” Will squeezed his hand gently. “I’ll go make breakfast.”

"I’ll help.” Bryan stood stiffly, Will supporting him as he got his prosthetic leg underneath him. He kissed Will’s cheek softly. “Shouldn’t be sitting out here like he’ll walk home anyways.”

[alorevwrites]

Emergency Commissions

Hey guys. Once again I'm in a tough spot. My work reduced my hours too much and until tutoring starts up I don't have a second source of income. So I need to make at least an extra 70 dollars on top of my paycheck in two weeks or I won't be able to make my mortgage payment and risk losing my apartment. Moving back in with my parents is not an option.

So that being said and the sad story no one wants to hear being over, here's what I'm asking. I'll do commissions at a base rate of $5 for a 1,000 words, no matter the genre, content or style. I'll even do freeverse poetry.

I know a lot of you are in just as tough a position as I am, but if you could reblog this and get word out I'd be grateful for that too. Thanks in advance everyone! Please inbox me at @alorevwrites or @mistahboosh or email me directly at [email protected]

[alorevwrites]

I realize no one really pays attention to this blog itself I just want to put a new note at the top and reblog to other blogs. I’m always accepting any sort of writing commissions and have examples of my work on this blog, my ao3 and drafts you can request excerpts of if interested. Hit me up!

[alorevwrites]

So...um...my car got towed bc my condo manager gave me the wrong info and I have the money rn but it's gonna leave me short on my bills by the end of the month which if I don't pay I get kicked out of my house a month in. I could really really use whatever someone's willing to give for a fic or drabble or whatever. Basically anything is open for the moment. If anyone is able to commission even a little bit it would help me out a lot in the long run. I have other writing examples on my rp blogs @dadmiraledwardpellew and @midshipmancharlesorrock too...

[alorevwrites]

I realize no one really pays attention to this blog itself I just want to put a new note at the top and reblog to other blogs. I'm always accepting any sort of writing commissions and have examples of my work on this blog, my ao3 and drafts you can request excerpts of if interested. Hit me up!

[peashooter85]

What fighting like a girl was all about in Georgian Era Britain —- Elizabeth “Lady Bare Knuckles” Stokes

Think that women’s boxing or MMA fighting is a recent development in fighting sports?  Think again.  From the 18th to early 19th century it was not uncommon for women to fight in the ring as well as men.  Back then boxing was not the boxing of today, not by a long shot.  Venues tended to be saloons, pubs, small arenas, or even open streets and back-alleys.  Rules differed from venue to venue, but for the most part fights were done bare knuckled, and many fights were a no holds barred type setup.  Some fights even included deadly weapons such as clubs, swords, and staves.  Needless to say, injury and death was common.

One of the most famous female fighters in early 18th century Britain was Elizabeth Stokes (born Elizabeth Wilkinson), a mother and fighter whose career lasted mostly throughout the 1720’s.  In 1722 she was challenged by Hannah Highfield for a prize of three guineas.  Stokes accepted the challenge by offered a counter challenge,

 “I, Elizabeth Wilkinson of Clerkenwell, who had earlier had some words with Hannah Hyfield, ‘challenged and invited’ her adversary to meet her on the stage for three guineas. Each fighter would hold half-a-crown in each hand and the first to drop the money would lose the battle”

Elizabeth won after a 22 minute fight, giving Hannah Hyfield a savage thumping that caused her to drop her coin.  Later in the evening she won another fight against a woman named Martha Jones.

After the fight with Hannah Hyfield Stoke’s career took off, making her the most popular female fighter in Britain and earning her the name “Lady Bareknuckles”.  After marrying her husand James Stokes, the couple often fought in paired and tag-team matches.  Incredibly Stoke’s even fought men on a number of occasions, something that was rare in bareknuckle boxing.  Even more incredibly, she trounced them every time, beating the crap out of them with her swift and powerful fists.  Not only was she a master pugilist, Stokes was also skilled with weapons as well.  She was known to be particularly skilled with the cudgel and short sword.

By the mid 19th century women’s fighting had come to a close as professional organizations, rules, and Victorian Era prejudices against women drove the sport underground and turned fighting into a gentlemen’s sport.

[cinquespotted]

#THIS IS FREAKIN COOL AS SHIT #can we just note the last paragraph #’victorian era prejudices against women drove the sport underground’ #you’re saying ‘turned fighting into a gentleman’s sport’ but all i’m seeng is VICTORIAN LADY FIGHT CLUB#WHERE ARE THE NOVELS? GIVE ME NOVELS #MAKE THE LADIES KISS#MAKE THE LADIES TELL THEIR HUSBANDS THEY’RE OFF TO SEE THEIR SISTERS FOR TEA #MAKE THE LADIES SWAP TIPS ON HOW TO BANDAGE THEIR KNUCKLES AND CONCEAL BRUISES WITH POWDER #MAKE THE LADIES PASS EACH OTHER FLASKS OF BRANDY WHILE THEY’RE SITTING ON THE SIDELINES TENDING THEIR INJURIES AND WATCHING THE NEXT FIGHT#MAKE THE LADIES WEAR LOOSE BREECHES AND PRACTICAL RIDING BOOTS#MAKE THE LADIES COME FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE; MAKE A PICKPOCKET STRIKE UP A FRIENDSHIP SLASH RIVALRY WITH THE DAUGHTER OF A COUNTESS #MAKE THE LADIES KISS!!!!!!!!!!!!! #i’m fine. i’m fine. #history (via marthur)

[allerasphinx]

fic writers i promise you–on my life–that readers remember that finn’s skin is dark brown. 

i promise that if you use a descriptor besides “the darker skinned man” in relation to all the characters around him, people will know who he is in your sentence.  

e.g. the sun’s golden rays made his dark amber skin glow as it slid lower in the sky.

e.g. the harsh white light surrounding his body roughened the soft lines of his face and made his skin appear greyish as though he were a wraith. 

e.g. the only imperfection marring his skin was the raised brown scar that slashed jaggedly across his back. (finn’s skin’s rich with melanin, so even if his fresh scar’s initially raw and pink, eventually it’ll heal to a brown shade–either slightly lighter, same tone, or slightly darker)

i promise that you can describe him as you do rey or poe and your readers won’t forget that it’s finn you’re talking about. 

i promise you, you can describe poe without making him sound like a white dude.

n.k. jemisin’s a master at writing her characters, who are predominantly people of colour. for this reason, she usually describes them in relation to each other and doesn’t rely on their skin tones. she explicitly describes her white characters’ skin tones to flip the dominant perspective that assumes white as default. here are some of her tips: 

describing characters of color

describing characters of color pt. 2 (some of her rowling thoughts are ehhh, because rowling does otherise her characters of colour, but this is an old post)

describing characters of color: other people’s poc

other resources: 

7 offensive mistakes writers make 

writing with color: poc and food comparisons (john boyega can call himself chocolate and black people might describe him as such, but you probably shouldn’t)

writing with color: words for skin tone 

words to describe hair (i’ve read a couple fics where y’all are clueless about finn’s hair)

describing natural hair 

writing with color’s colorful critiques 

describing poc and avoiding caricatures

writing authentic characters of colour in first person pov

in depth guide to drawing different ethnicities 

[hoosierbitch]

thank you so much for this post. it is so important and so helpful. 

[thecheshirecass-deactivated2018]

Heads up for all my writers out there.

[kakaphoe]

reblogging so I can find it later.

[feralkwe-deactivated20210912]

a seconding for jemisin’s lead here. she does descriptions so beautifully. and most of these resources (there are a few i haven’t seen before so yay! more!) have been extremely helpful to me.

[inkys-resources]

need refs/inspo for period clothing?

here you go:

Medieval (9th-15th century):

10th century and earlier

Romance (1000-1250)

11th century

12th century

13th century

more 13th century

14th century

more 14th

15th century

and more 15th century

Gothic (1150-1550)

Renaissance (1520-1650)

16th & 17th century

16th century

more 16th

Tudors (1500-1550)

more Tudors

Elizabethan Period (1558-1603)

Jacobean Era (1603-1625)

17th century

more 17th century

and again

and even more

this won’t stop

Baroque (1600-1750)

Georgian Period (1714-1830):

18th century

more 18th century

18th century women’s fashion

18th century men’s fashion

Rococo (1720-1770)

Classicism (1770-1790)

children 18th-19th century

Regency Preiod (1811-1820)/ Empire (1800-1820s):

1790-1820s

more stuff on regency and georgian era

even more

that’s not enough regency

and more

how is there so much

early 19th century men’s wear

early 19th century women’s wear

Victorian Period (1837-1901):

Romantic Era (1820-1840s)

Civil War Era/1850-1860s

1870-1890s

more victorian

Edwardian Period (1901-1910):

1900-1910s

Belle Epoque (1880-1910s)

more edwardian/belle époque

Modern:

1910s-1920s [Fashion between the World Wars]

1920s

more roaring 20s

so much 20s

1920s hairstyles

1930s

1930-1940s

1930-1950s

1950s

more 50s

1960s

1960-1970s

1980s

lots of periods in one spot/fashion through centuries:

here, here, and here is almost everything (and properly ordered)

also here with lots of historic fashion magazines

historic fashion

costumes of antiquity

more historical clothing

history of fashion

more history of fashion

“vintage” clothing

historic costumes

children’s historical fashion/toys

details

historic wedding dresses

historic assecoires (hats, shoes…)

hats

masks

parasols

lots of embroidery/jewlery

it indeed is western/european centric, I’m sorry for that, but for other cultures I simply don’t have so many references

[tummydrummer-deactivated2014022]

me nd my pirate girlfriend

[holdin hands]

me: bb ur hands r so cold

her: that me hook

[gneerly]

having ocs really is like being a parent because they try so hard to b cool and impressive and ur jus sitting there handing out their embarrassing baby photos to every single stranger and ruining their reputations 24/7

[weloveshortvideos]

when someone tries to wake me up before lunch time

[musicbooksdragons-blog]

Person A tries to be romantic and leaves a trail of rose petals leading to the bedroom where they are waiting for Person B. But Person B is a clean freak and pretty soon Person A finds their angry partner in the doorway with an armful of petals.

[mythrilreflections]

Victorian Language of Flowers - Floriography

Flurs , Wirt( 1831), Shoberl( 1839), Waterman( 1840), Edgarton Mayo( 1843), The Flowers Personified( 1847), Dumont( 1853), Language and Sentiment( 1866?), Tyas( 1869), Greenaway( 1884), Diffenbaugh( 2011), Victorian Bazaar, aka, season, Sci. name?, origin( on Earth) abatina, fickleness abeceda...

Behold! The grand chart for flower language compiled by @hasty-touch & @halonic. After being introduced to it, a number of folks have taken to using bouquets, delivered within Ishgard (and perhaps without) to convey messages. Can confirm that House Pepin delivers discretely and provides excellent service.

[hasty-touch]

:3 This is just a thing I compiled from loads of PDFs and stuff because I was going batty from flipping between 20 different browser tabs.

Since it’s publicly viewable now I may work on neatening it some over the next few weeks!

[gwenneth-in-wonderland]

Once upon a time @hasty-touch and I somehow ended up screeching “FLORIOGRAPHY???” at one another, and then weeks later he and @halonic made this gem happen, and suddenly the sea of books and browser tabs parted, and I was at peace. I never close this spreadsheet.  It is my home.  We are one.

[tea-and-conspiracy]

(( Signal boosting because these are the most thorough nerds I’ve ever seen and this list is wonderful.I’ve referenced it countless times already! ))

[starrypawz]

@daraasum this suddenly feels very important for certain things

[sifaseven]

@elbywoggit

[elbywoggit]

I dare say, I think Sifa remembers our little flower bouquet RP! It was weird and fun, yes? 

Keeps elaborate AU Plans to self What? No I haven’t anything sweeps plans under a rug with a foot hiding, nope, nope. Whatever gave you that idea? 

[elexuscal]

Talking with writers online

Their stories: Amazing grammar, soaring vocabulary, beautiful imagery and prose which flows like a river.

In chats: no capitalisation or punctuation, swears like a sailor, misspellings everywhere, acronyms and abbreviations every five words, idek

[alwaysboth]

#listen #listen do u know how much braining it takes to make the words go? #it is a lot #it’s like wearing fancy clothes all day #and then when you’re at home and comfy #u just put on ur pj’s ( @feynites)

[insomination]

I have never related to a statement more than “do you know how much braining it takes to make words go?”

[weloveshortvideos]

“Thats alright, its just yer legs fell off”

[john-paul-jonesing-for-liberty]

“Es less weight” “Dun’t stop cause yer leg’s fell off” @lastgunfighterballad

[lastgunfighterballad]

God bless the Scots

[nyxillian-nyxus-night]

@thebibliosphereyour people are nice and encouraging :)

[thebibliosphere]

Hahahaha oh my.

[joshsundquist]

My conversations with children