When you keep getting easily distracted while writing:

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tannertan36

⣠Chile in a Photography âŁ
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Love Begins

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let's talk about Bridgerton tea, my ask is open
occasionally subtle
Not today Justin
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@clevergirlhelps
When you keep getting easily distracted while writing:
What Did People Use Before Toilet Paper?
Different materials were used as toilet paper, which depended on the country, weather conditions, personal preference, and status in society. For example, wealthy people often used wool, lace or hemp.
The first recorded use of something resembling toilet paper comes from 6th century China where the more affluent members of society would use wads of paper (squares made from ricepaper which was cheap and plentiful) to clean their nether regions. The Chinese emperor commissioned large 2ft x 3ft paper sheets to use. However, even after the invention of the flush toilet in 1596, commercially produced toilet paper didnât catch on until 300 years later.
In Ancient Rome, they were a bit more sophisticated than the Greeks when it came to cleansing. The wealthy used wool and rosewater to clean themselves. But the rest of the people cleaned themselves after using a public latrine with a sponge lashed to a long stick, which was stored in a bucket of salt water or vinegar. It was considered polite to give the sponge a cursory rinse and a squeeze before putting it back in the bucket to get it ready for the next person.Â
In Ancient Greece, they too had a sponge on a stick called a xylospongium, but the preferred method was pieces of ceramic called pessoi. These were used in a left to right scraping motion and historians have estimated that your average wipe would use three pieces. Sometimes these pottery fragments would be inscribed with the name of an enemy before being used.
In Ancient Japan, they used a flat wooden sticks called a chĂŒgi that looked similar to a tongue depressor to clean themselves. In earlier days seaweed was used for cleaning, but by the Edo period, these had been replaced by toilet paper made of washi (traditional Japanese paper). In the mountainous regions, wooden scrapers and large leaves were used too.
For those living in the cold, northern regions of the world, tundra moss was readily available during the summer, and clumps of snow would do the trick for the rest of the year.
People in the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent use the water (from the tap and a jug or maybe even the luxury option of a little hose pipe) and their left hand to direct the stream of water to their nether regions. Of course, they make sure to thoroughly wash their hand afterwards. This method is still in use in some developing countries, which is why itâs offensive to greet someone with your left hand or to use it to eat with, even touching food.
Parts of Europe, too, use strategically aimed jets of water, or separate fixtures known as bidets. In those cases, toilet paper is simply used to dry off. In Europe it was common to use rags which could be washed and used again, many of these rags ended up in the sewer system, so itâs impossible to know how many times these rags were used before being thrown away.
In the Middle Ages, the wealthy had built stone toilets called âgarderobesâ, which jutted out of the sides of their castles. The waste would fall threw the vertical chute and land outside in the courtyard or bailey. Some garderobes emptied into the moat (or ocean, depending on where the castle was built). The wealthy people mightâve used sheepâs wool to wipe their behinds (or cloth in which their servants would wash it for them). Chamber pots existed too and they were often used to collect waste overnight. When they were finished, the contents would be thrown over the balcony or out the window (some would be toss out into the river). Ordinary people often used a plant called common mullein or woolly mullein. They mightâve even used hay, grass, moss or rags too.
In pre-colonial America the Native Americans dug latrines away from their homes and fresh water. During the most brutal weather, these latrines would be placed close by. Human waste froze in the winter and didnât smell nearly as much as in the summer. They used whatever that was available: twigs, dry grass, small stones, leaves, and even oyster or clam shells.Â
Pioneers would used grass, leaves or just plain dirt. Bark was also a option. When they made camp, they would find a private spot away from a source of water and dig a deep hole. It would be for everyone to temporarily use until it was time to travel again. The dirt they dug out would be off the side with a shovel and when someone poop, the dirt would be sprinkle on top.
The rural agrarian communities had outhouses and would used handfuls of straw as toilet paper. But the most common material was the corn cobs, specifically when the corn kernels had been removed from the cob. This was a popular option because the cobs were readily available and surprisingly soft and flexible (especially when boiled first).Â
Later on they realized they could use squares of old newspapers, and catalogues to clean themselves with. Some would even resort to using the pages of the Old Farmersâ Almanac, which was often faithfully (and conveniently) hanging in the outhouse. There was also a bag of lime with a scoop usually placed in the corner of the outhouse. After every use they would sprinkle a scoop of lime in the hole as a chaser to keep down the smell. As for what happens when the outhouse gets full, easyâtheyâd simply dig a new hole, and move the outhouse over it.
It wasnât till 1857 that Joseph Gayetty came up with the first commercially available toilet paper in the United States. They were sold in packages of flat sheets that were moistened and soaked with aloe. Gayettyâs toilet paper sold for about 50 cents a pack ($12 today), with 500 sheets in that package. This wasnât terribly popular, presumably because up to this point most people got their wiping materials for free from whatever was at hand. Such as old newspapers, or something more natural like a piece of moss, piles of dirt, or a bit of fur, or even in some cases mussel and oyster shells.Â
But in 1867 Philadelphia, the brothers Thomas, Edward, and Clarence Scott managed to successfully market their own toilet paper. It was much cheaper because it wasnât coated with aloe or moistened, but was just rolls of somewhat soft paper (often with splinters). This was the year when the perforated toilet paper in rolls, as we know it today, saw a wider use.
look. look at this beautiful sword meme. iâm going to cry
@petermorwood
I saw and reblogged this one a while back, but itâs always worth repeating, and this time Iâm adding a bit of background info comparing common fantasy sword features to the Real Thing (with pictures, of course.)
Leaf-bladed swords are a very popular fantasy style and were real, though unlike modern hand-and-a-half longsword versions, the real things were mostly if not always shortswords.
Here are Celtic bronze swordsâŠ
âŠAncient Greek XiphoiâŠ
⊠and a Roman âMainz-patternâ gladiusâŠ
Saw or downright jagged edges, either full-length or as small sections (often where they serve no discernible purpose) are a frequent part of fantasy blades, especially at the more, er, imaginatively unrestrained end of the market.
Real swords also had saw edges, such as these two 19th century shortswords, but not to make them cool or interesting. Theyâre weapons if necessaryâŠ
âŠbut since they were carried by Pioneer Corps who needed them for cutting branches and other construction-type tasks, their principal use was as brush cutters and saws.
This dussack (cutlass) in the Wallace Collection is also a fighting weapon, like the one beside itâŠ
âŠbut may also have had the secondary function of being a saw.
A couple of internet captions say itâs for âcutting ropesâ which makes sense - heavy ropes and hawsers on board a ship were so soaked with tar that they were often more like lengths of wood, and a Hollywood-style slice from the Heroâs rapier (!!) wouldnât be anything like enough to sever them. However swords like this are extremely rare, which suggests they didnât work as well as intended for any purpose.
I photographed these in Basel, Switzerland, about 20 years ago. Look at the one on the bottom (I prefer the basket-hilt schiavona in the middle).
A lot of âflambergeâ (wavy-edge) swords actually started out with conventional blades which then had the edges ground to shape - the dussack, that Basel broadsword and this Zweihander were all made that way.
The giveaway is the centreline: if itâs straight, the entire blade probably started out straight.
Increased use of water power for bellows, hammers and of course grinders made shaping blades easier than when it had to be done by hand. This flamberge Zweihander, however, was forged that way.
Again, the clue is the centre-line.
Incidentally those Parierhaken (parrying hooks - a secondary crossguard) are among the only real-life examples of another common fantasy feature - hooks and spikes sticking out from the blade.
Here are some rapiers and a couple of daggers showing the same difference between forged to shape and ground to shape. The top and bottom rapiers in the first picture started as straights, and only the middle rapier came from the forge with a flamberge blade.
Thereâs no doubt about this one either.
The reason - though that was a part of it - wasnât just to look cool and show off what the owner could afford (any and all extra or unusual work added to the price) but may actually have had a function: a parry would have been juddery and unsettling for someone not used to it, and any advantage is worth having.
However, like the saw-edged dussack, flamberge blades are unusual - which suggests the advantage wasnât that much of an advantage after all.
Hereâs a Circassian kindjal, forged wigglyâŠ
âŠand an Italian parrying dagger forged straight then ground wigglyâŠ
There were also parrying daggers with another fantasy-blade feature, deep notches and serrations which in fantasy versions often resemble fangs or thorns.
These more practical historical versions are usually called âsword-breakersâ but I prefer âsword-catcherâ, since a steel blade isnât that easy to break. Taking the opponentâs blade out of play for just long enough to nail him works fine.
NB - the curvature on the top one in this next image is AFAIK because of the book-page it was copied from, not the blade itself.
The missing tooth on that second dagger, and the crack halfway down this next oneâs blade, shows what happens when design features cause weak spots.
So there you go: a quick overview of fantasy sword features in real life.
Hereâs a real-life weapon that looks like it belongs in a fantasy story or film - and this doesnât even have an odd-shaped bladeâŠ
Just a very flexible oneâŠ
If you want more odd blades, Moghul India is a good place to startâŠ
i could not ask for a better addition to my meme post than blade education thank you so much
I love this more than I love my left foot. (Seriously, fuck you left foot, why arenât you a freaking wiggly sword? Huh?).
Resources For Writing Period Pieces: 1600s
Major Events of The Century
First established English colony in Jamestown, Virginia. Pocahontas saves John Smith. (1606)
Laws of Planetary Motion published (1609) and Galileo sees Jupiterâs moons through telescope (1610) which both showed that planets orbit the sun.
King James version of the Bible published in England
Thirty Yearsâ War (1618-1648)
The first African slaves are brought to Jamestown. (Slavery is made legal in 1650.)
Pilgrims from England arrive at Plymouth, Massachusetts, on the Mayflower (1620)
English Civil War (1642-1651)
End of Ming Dynasty in China (1644)
Louis XIV begins personal rule as an absolute monarch and starts to build Versailles (1661)
Issac Newtonâs experiments with gravity (1664)
English seize New Amsterdam and rename it New York (1664)
The Great Plague in London kills 75,000 (1665-1666)
French Settlers movie into Mississippi and Louisiana (1699)
Extensive list of events in the 17th century (by decade)
Popular Culture and Society
1600s Food
1600s Musicians
1600s Visual Artists
1600s Literature
1600s Explorers
1600s Science and Philosophy
1600s Inventions and Discoveries
Names
Popular Girl Names of the 17th Century
Popular Boy Names of the 17th Century
Clothing
1600-1650 Western European Fashion
1650-1700 Western European Fashion
Chinese Clothing during Qing Dynasty
(Native)Â American Clothing during the 1600s
Western Womenâs Fashion in the 17th Century
By Country
1600s in Australiaâ
1600s in BrazilâÂ
1600s in the British EmpireâÂ
1600s in British IndiaâÂ
1600s in Canadaâ
1600s in the Caribbeanâ
1600s in Chinaâ
1600s in Denmarkâ
1600s in the Dutch Empireâ
1600s in Dutch Indiaâ
1600s in the Dutch Republicâ
1600s in Englandâ
1600s in Franceâ
1600s in Germanyâ
1600s in GreenlandâÂ
1600s in the Habsburg MonarchyâÂ
1600s in the Habsburg NetherlandsâÂ
1600s in the Holy Roman Empireâ
1600s in HungaryâÂ
1600s in IndiaâÂ
1600s in IranâÂ
1600s in Irelandâ
1600s in ItalyâÂ
1600s in JapanâÂ
1600s in the Majeerteen SultanateâÂ
1600s in MaltaâÂ
1600s in MexicoâÂ
1600s in MoroccoâÂ
1600s in New FranceâÂ
1600s in New SpainâÂ
1600s in NorwayâÂ
1600s in the Ottoman EmpireâÂ
1600s in the Papal StatesâÂ
1600s in the PhilippinesâÂ
1600s in the PolishâLithuanian CommonwealthâÂ
1600s in PortugalâÂ
1600s in the Portuguese EmpireâÂ
1600s in Romaniaâ
1600s in RussiaâÂ
1600s in ScotlandâÂ
1600s in SiamâÂ
1600s in the Kingdom of Sicilyâ
1600s in SpainâÂ
1600s in SwedenâÂ
1600s in SwitzerlandâÂ
1600s in the Thirteen ColoniesâÂ
1600s in TongaâÂ
1600s in the Grand Duchy of Tuscanyâ
1600s in the Republic of VeniceâÂ
1600s in Walesâ
Faerie List
Alvens: These are Water faeries who float around on bubbles and hate fish. During a full moon, they come on land to dance and play. They are not particularly friendly.
Amadan Dubh: This is a particularly dangerous type of faery that is greatly feared among the Gaels. They are known as the âfairy fools,â and the bringers of madness and oblivion. They play faery enchantments on their reed pipes on hilly slopes and precipices after sunset.
Banshee: The name âbansheeâ means a woman of the faery. It corresponds to the âFear Sidheâ or faery man. The wild banshee wanders through the woods and over the moors at dusk, and some- times lures travelers to their death. Banshee can also travel at will to great distances. Appearing in tattered gray clothes, they are basically a sociable faeries who have become solitary through sadness and grief. They are the honor- able ancestral faery women of the old clans of Ireland, who are heard, but rarely seen. They wail a blood-curdling lament just before mis- fortune, illness, or death occurs in their ancestral families. Their wail can kill or instantly age mortals who hear it. Banshee also avenge the death of their descendants. They generally appear either as beautiful maidens or gruesome crones. Salt water and silver can harm them.
Bendith Y Mamau: They have the ill disposition and ugly appearance of goblins, but the glamour of the faeries. Living in underground caverns, they donât care very much for mortals and they have been know to steal cattle and children, to kill farm animals, and to break important tools.
Billy Blin: A household familiar who is popularized in English and Scottish songs.
Boggart: They are known for breaking things and making trouble, but seldom do serious harm. Most old homes have a boggart. The supernatural boggart is sly, annoying, mischievous, and a prankster. They pull the covers from sleeping mortals, rap or pound on the door at odd times, or rearrange the furniture at night when you are sleeping.
Brownie: They are from 1 to 2 ft. tall and are scattered throughout the highlands and lowlands of Scotland as well as the northern counties of England. They have brown, wizened faces and hair growing all over their body, so they donât need to wear clothes (although sometimes they are seen wearing brown cloaks with hoods). As household faeries, they do unfinished jobs such as mowing, threshing, caring for the laying hens, and tending the sheep and cattle. They bring good luck to a family, providing that the family treats the brownie well. Brownies also love animals and will take care of the household pets. They adore gifts of food and drink such as milk and honey cakes, but abhor gifts and wages. Urisks are the Scottish version of brownies.
Buccas: Residing in Cornwall, they are magickal beings that inhabit mines. Also called tinmine demons, they are the wind goblins that foretell shipwrecks.
Bwca: This is a sort of Welsh version of a brownie, but a more particular one. They can be great help around the house, but if offended they can become harmful, throwing things around the house, spoiling the milk, and ruining the beer.
Callicantzaroi: Naked, they ride about on chickens. They live in troops and are zealous in their celebrations of Yule.
Clim: A mischievous goblin that resides in chimneys and peeks out at children, scolding them when they are bad.
Clurichaun: Residing in southwest Ireland, they are renowned drunkards who both guard and raid wine cellars. The Clurichaun sing in Gaelic and have beautiful, magickal voices.
Coomlaen: These âelven steedsâ appear as tall, thin, white or silvery horses who live in the forest and are always in the company of elves. As shapeshifters, the coomlaen can take the shape of their de- sires, but must return to the shape of a horse once during each day for at least six hours. They are fiercely devoted to one rider at a time and the bond lasts for the lifetime of the rider. The two communicate telepathically. Because the Coomlaen defends its rider, in order to befriend a coomlaen you must first befriend its rider. Coomlaens adore gifts of apples and honeysuckle. Iron is harmful to the coomlaen.
Cooshie: Also known as the âelfin hound,â they live in the forest and appear as large, silver-furred wolves that move quickly with the grace of a large cat. The cooshie stay with their elfin masters, and have heightened senses, including knowing when there is any magickal, spiritual, or physical presence in their territory. Like elves and coomlaens, they have an aversion to iron. Cooshies can heal sick or injured travelers and calm troubled minds and hearts.
Corrigans: From Brittany and Cornwall, they live in the woods, near streams. Corrigans are winged faeries who like to play pranks, such as taking human babies and replacing them with changelings.
Daoine Sidhe: The immortal polytheistic group of goddesses and gods of Pagan Ireland who merged with the land, these are the cream of the crop of faeries that form a faery nation. They appear in human form, dressed in green, and are called the peaceful faeries. They preside over the faery kingdom, play sweet music, dance, ride milk-white faery horses, and are generally accompanied by their faery hounds.
Dryad: They are happy, friendly, and playful wood nymphs who live in and take care of the trees. They are born of the same seed as the place they live. Dryads are the color of tree bark or leaves and their dark green hair is extremely long and flows about them. They can disappear by stepping into a tree, as if stepping into a dimensional door. Sometimes their skin is dappled like a tree trunk. Dryads are usually very charm- ing, sing beautifully, and particularly like willow and oak trees. Damaging a dryadâs tree harms the dryad as well, but the dryad can defend its tree by creating storms and lightning.
Dwarfs: Both male and female, dwarfs are usually from 3 to 5 ft. tall, with broad shoulders, large muscles, long arms, stumpy legs, and lots of facial hair. They are quick tempered, loyal, and immune to physical damage. Working with Earth, Fire, and stone, they are found underground under moun- tains and hills where they mine metals and gems, especially copper. Their craftsmanship is unmatched in the mortal world. They adore gifts of both precious metals and gems.
Eash Uisge: They are the Highland water horses known for being fierce and dangerous. They have the ability to shift into the shape of young, hand- some men.
Elves: According to Norse mythology, elves and dwarves are created in the time before humans from the body of Ymir, the giant. Inhabiting one of the upper worlds, and often found in Natural settings such as woodlands and forests, elves are somewhere between mortal and divine. Originally between 5 and 7 ft. tall, they were thin, strong, flexible, and quick. Their hair was usually red, blond, or light brown, and they had cat-like ears. Their cat-like eyes are green, blue, silver, or gold with slitted pupils. Through time, the elves became Elemental spirits of the land, sea, and forest, who are sometimes por- trayed as small, good-natured creatures with brown skin and delicate features. Iron does not kill elves, but it can injure them. They adore gifts of quartz crystal, pearl, moonstone, and silver. In the Western world, Santa Claus and his helpers are elves.
Ferrishyn: The Manx name for the faeries, also known as the âsleigh beggey.â
Fir Dearg: Also known as the âfear darrigâ or the âred men,â they are a mischievous, rare breed of faery, who dress in red and have red hair. Their only interest seems to revolve around playing practical jokes on humans.
Ganconer (Gean-canogh): Also known as a love faery, the ganconer is a leprechaun-type faery who appears as an incredibly handsome young male. Called the âlover-talker,â he spends most of his time seducing milkmaids and shepherdesses. Appearing in lonely valleys and fields, they are known for playing beautiful songs on their pipes, but their fate is ultimately to be alone.
Gnomes: They are elderly dwarf people who stand from 1 to 2 ft. tall, and like dwarfs, live under- ground except for the few times when they come up to roam in the deep forest. Male gnomes grow long beards. Gnomes live under old oak trees in heavily forested areas, and like gifts of beautiful stones.
Gray Elves: Not choosing to associate with any other magickal beings, they live in isolated meadow- land. Gray elves have either silver hair and amber eyes, or pale, golden hair and violet eyes. They are very intelligent and extremely rare.
Gwartheg Y Llyn: The Welsh name for faery cattle, said to be usually milk-white in color. A farmer who gained the favor of this magickal cow was said to be richly rewarded, but the farmer who tried to lift a hand to hurt the animal would find misfortune would come to the farmer.
Gwradedd Annwn: The Welsh name for the âlake maidens,â they are beautiful and desirable, but are not like sirens and nixies. They are known for marry- ing mortals much like the Silkee or âseal maidens.â
Hobgoblins: They are the English cousins to the Scottish brownie and Welsh bwca. A house faery, a hobgoblinâs favorite place is behind the kitchen fire, once known as a âhob.â Once settled, they rarely leave the house, and when feeling ne- glected, they are known to hide keys in the most unlikely places. They are vulnerable to iron and gold. In folklore and literature, both Robin Goodfellow and Puck are hobgoblins.
Knockers: In Cornwall, they are generally helpful mine sprites that are particularly attracted to rich veins of ore. Miners of old were said to follow the sound of the knockersâ tools pounding the rocks to find a strike. Knockers are also known to warn against cave-ins and floods, and as such, the miners always leave them gifts of food and drink. In Wales, knockers are known as âcoblynau.â
Kobold: The German name for the âlittle people,â originally they were tree sprites who were captured and brought home in wooden boxes. The per- son who captured the kobold could open up the box and the kobold would do things for her or him. But if anyone else opened the box, the kobold would take revenge for being confined. They formed the basis for the original jack-in- the-box for children. They are old men the size of small children who wear pointed hoods or caps and green clothing. Loud noises and strong winds scare them. For gifts of food and milk left out at night, they will do any little job around the house and barn, such as washing the dishes, preparing meals, sweeping the floor, making the fire, or tending the farm animals. Kobolds also have the ability to cast binding spells and will go to great efforts to protect the members of the household. If mistreated, they can become truly nasty.
Leanhaun (Leanan) Sidhe: They are the faery mistresses or sweethearts of Scotland and Ireland. They crave love, and try to gain power over their lovers, treating them like slaves and draining all the life out of them before moving on to new lovers. Said to be an inspiration to poets and musicians, these magickal faeries act as sort of muses, giving the artistâs work an otherworldly quality.
Leprechauns: They usually manage to trick their way out of surrendering their gold. Only a select few get away with a leprechaunâs riches. Solitary faeries of Ireland, witty, fascinated with gold, they can pass by as a swirl of dust, knocking off your hat. They are generally 2 to 3 ft. tall, with wizened faces, bright eyes, and red noses. They dress mainly in greens and browns, and are known for their excellent shoe-making skills.
Lorilei: A solitary faery, who is beautiful and bewitching, she is known for lounging on rocky heights while singing a song of enchantment.
Lunantishee: They guard the blackthorn bushes particularly on Samhain and Beltane. If you cut a stick from the bush on either one of those days, you will suffer misfortune.
Mermaids/Merrows: They live in the airy palaces be- neath the waves. They wear red-feathered caps to swim from their underwater world to ours. If a mortal steals the cap, the merrow canât get back home. The females are beautiful, the males are ugly with green faces and red pig noses. Both have fish tails and webbed fingers. Taking mortal lovers, their offspring are covered with scales.
Muryans: Cornish faeries, the word âmuryanâ means âant.â These are faeries the size of ants, who are shapeshifters. Every time they shift shape, they get smaller, eventually getting so small, they disappear from sight.
Nixie: They are Water sprites that inhabit lakes and seldom venture onto land. Their houses are made from seaweed and are guarded by giant fish. They are known for charm spells that convince humans to do their bidding.
Nymphs: Nature spirits who evolved into faeries, they live in clear lakes, streams, and crystalline caverns. Intelligent and beautiful, they do not like intrusion, but will be friendly if approached by a good-hearted mortal. Nymphs have the power of prophecy and take mortal lovers. They are also said to be extremely hard to avoid once they have taken an interest in you, and can occasionally be dangerous if they become obsessed with you. Often traveling in pairs, nymphs are mobile, but they can also permanently align themselves with trees, rock outcroppings, mountains, rivers, and springs. They appear as young, extremely gorgeous women, who are frequently dancers, artists, and musicians. They are amorous and have insatiable sexual appetites. According to folklore, a nymphâs lifetime was the same as that of the phoenix, who outlived nine ravens, who out- lived three stags, who outlived four crows, who outlived nine generations of aged mortals.
Oakman: A wood faery who lives in oak trees, the oakman is a guardian of the animals. The familiar saying âfaery folks are in old oaksâ speaks of their kind. The oak is considered the tree of the dead and the abode of departed spirits. Oakmen resemble drawfs with red noses, wear red toadstool caps, and have an affinity with bluebells.
Pechs (Pehts): The name used for the faeries of the Scottish Lowland, Pechs are said to be like the feens of the Highlands and the trows of Shetland.
Phouka (Pooka): Originally deadly sea horses with glossy coats and metallic-like hooves, phoukas are now often viewed as wild, mischievous creatures who are related to the leprechaun. Phoukas can employ the shape of an animal in order to play wild pranks and kill mortals. In contrast, in some stories that are told about them, phoukas that are treated kindly are known as friendly beings that help farmers.
Piskies (Pixies, Pigsies): Found frequently in Cornwall, Devon, and Somerset, England, they stand 1 ft. high (or smaller), are slim, and wear green clothes and pointed red hats. They have blond hair and green eyes, pointed ears and chins, and turned- up noses. They can also levitate and move tiny objects from one place to another. Usually friendly, they can also be mischievous, and are known to steal horses and ride them around in circles, creating Faery Rings as they do.
Portunes: These are teeny tiny faeries that are about a fingerâs length or less in size.
Redcaps: They live in castles and towers where evil deeds have been done so they can feed off the energy and create more of their own. They look like brownies, but wear caps made red by the blood of passing strangers at whom they have thrown stones.
Salamander: They are the powerful Spirit faeries of Fire because the salamander embodies the in- tuitive Element of Fire. Without the salamander, Fire would not exist. They come in all sizes and differ in appearance, but they are most often seen as being similar to a 1-ft. long lizard. They can grow larger or smaller at will. Sometimes they are seen as a ball of gold, orange, or red light. They are very devoted and quick to defend a friend. Working with the salamander helps you develop and strengthen your intuitive side.
Seelie: A good-hearted and benevolent group of faeries who glow as they ride the winds in search of humans needing help. The court of the kindly faery host is called the âSeelie Court.â âSeelieâ means âblessedâ in Gaelic. These benevolent faeries give gifts of bread and seed corn to the poor and pro- vide all kinds of help to their favorite mortals.
Sheoques: Appearing human-like, they live in ancient thorn bushes and faery forts that are surrounded by ditches. Also known for their bagpipe playing, they enchant and steal children, most times returning them unharmed and happy.
Shock: They appear as a horse, donkey, large dog, or calf. They are frightening and something to get away from if, by chance, you encounter one.
Sidhe: The word means âpeople of the faery mounds.â A distinction is often made between the âsidheâ who are seen walking on the ground after sunset, and the âSluagh Sidhe,â the faery host who travel through the air at night and are known to abduct mortals. There are also guardian âsidheâ associated with the lakes of Ireland and Scotland. These distinct categories of âsidheâ beings tie in with the testimonies of seers who divide the âsidheâ into Wood spirits, Water spirits, and Air spirits, i.e., the Elemental spirits.
Sidhe Draoi: Gaelic for âfaery druids,â folklore says that they took their name from the faery nymphs who taught them the magick of the trees. They are related to dryads.
Silkee: Usually found in seas and oceans, silkee first appear as seals, but become beautiful women when they shed their skin. They use their seal- skin to move from their world to this world. If their skin is taken from them, they can no longer move back and forth.
Sithich: Active Highland sprites known for being mischievous and having weapons that do their bid- ding, they are dexterous, child abductors, and intrude on women during childbirth. Their weapons are made of stone, shaped like a barbed arrowhead, and thrown with great force like a dart.
Sirens: They are Greek sea nymphs. The sirensâ enchantingly beautiful song entices sailors, leading them to their death.
Skillywidden: Small, young faeries who cannot shift their shape or alter their size.
Sleigh Beggey: The Manx name for the faeries.
Slievegallion: Known as the âhosts,â they are the spirits of mortals who have passed on into the otherworld. They fly about in great clouds, up and down the landscape. On clear, frosty nights they can be seen, and heard, fighting their battles in the air. They sometimes put mortals
Slyphs: under their spells to help fight their battles. Living for a thousand years without seeming to age, they are beautiful, changeable crea- tures that parallel nymphs, only they exist in the Element of Air. Living on the tops of high places such as mountains and cliffs, slyphs vary in size, are winged, transparent, elusive, and surrounded by a glowing radiance. For a very brief time, they can take on human form. They move by floating about with the wind, and as such, are known as the Spirit faeries of the Air. They inspire mortals, especially those individuals involved in the creative arts.
Spriggans: They guard the treasures of other faeries. Spriggans are ugly and dour, standing stone sprites that are said to have come over from Brittany where they are known as âkorreds.â Folklore suggests that they brought the origi- nal standing stones to Cornwall. They can be seen around old ruins, standing stones, bar- rows, giantsâ quoits and castles, and places where treasure is buried. They bring blight to crops, whirlwinds over crop fields, and storms. Spriggans are the ghosts of old giants, who appear small but can become gigantic at will.
Sprites: Very shy, delicate, and reclusive, sprites are winged spirits that dwell in meadows and wood- land glens. There are many types of sprites, depending upon their Element. Fire sprites are very rare. As William Shakespeare describes them in The Tempest, âSprites are spirits: they do not have bodies as fairies do.â They adore gifts of nuts, acorns, and sweet treats, and love to be flattered by mortals.
Trolls: Originally supernatural beings in Scandinavian folklore, later they became huge ogres with great strength and little wit. Trolls are known for guarding castles and treasure, hunting in packs in the deep forest, and being deadly to mortals. They can outrun any mortal. Fire and sunlight will harm them. Never try to befriend one.
Trows: They are the Shetland Island version of trolls. They live in caves near the ocean or in sandy hillsides. Thought to be somewhere between dwarfs and giants, trows are dimwitted, un- friendly, and ugly. Sunlight turns them to stone or makes them explode. The Scottish Highland name for trows is Feens or Fians.
Undines: As Elemental Water spirits usually found within forest pools, waterfalls, marshlands, rivers, lakes, and riding the ocean waves, the beautiful voices of the undines can sometimes drift above the sound of the water. They inhabit underwater caves, river banks, and lake shores. They are able to influence the flow of water in streams, rivers, lakes, and oceans, as well as the plants that grow in and under the water. Undines can appear human-like and are generally shy, but friendly. Peaceful, graceful, and attractive, their skin shimmers blue-green, green, or aqua like the water. The undines are ruled by love and adore gifts of sweet-smelling perfumes.
Unseelies: They are dark, malevolent faeries, who have excessive pride, are unkind, and have malicious ways. In contrast to the seelie court, the unseelie court is one of the malevolent faeries, who are hostile and harmful. Stay away from them and do not engage them in any way.
Water Sprites: They are closer to the traditional concept of a mermaid, and are the marine counterparts of leprechauns.
Wight: A supernatural being or creature that is very hardy. Every tree has a wight who is its guardian. An old Scottish verse says, âIf you call me blessed wight, Iâll be your friend both day and night.â
Soooo helpful for A Thingâą I wrote that I needed help with. Look at this. Help has arrived.
Guide To Political World Building
This is also available on wordsnstuffblog.com!
â This is a subject that I see brought up a lot in book reviews by readers, but not very often when it comes to the writing community. I decided to search the internet and my own experience for as many tips and as much advice as I could find to put in one place for you all. I also addressed a lot questions (in fact, more than usual because I know this is a weak point for most fiction authors) in the common struggles section. I hope this is useful to those of you who have a lot of trouble finding help on this. It should help me as well because Iâm in the middle of tackling it for my own series. Happy writing!
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Know What Details Are Important
Not all aspects of a political system in a fictional universe are important to the story-telling, especially when the story is more character or plot driven, rather than driven by the world building. Itâs important to deliver relevant information to your reader in pieces, and at a pace that enhances their understanding of events and meaning rather than their knowledge of trivial details.
Know Your Demographic & Your Genre
For certain genres and age-demographics, your world building in the area of political systems and implications should be matured or simplified. The majority of your readership should be able to understand whatâs going on, and the way you makes sure of that is know who youâre writing the story for. Certain genres also require a lot less complicated detail in political world building. For instance, YA romance should have less political world building than, say, adult fantasy. Sure, maybe in the case of writing a YA romance, there could require some, but definitely not as in-depth as that of the latter.Â
Choose A Model to Alter
If youâre going to do it, especially as a beginner, you need to pick some form of inspiration or something similar to what youâre going for. There are so many governmental systems out there that already exist, and if you should research plenty of them and them mix and match, add and subtract, and twist until you have something that serves your story.
Think of The Implications of Details
Every detail that you make prominent in the readerâs mind should be thought out in terms of the implications. Ask yourself how this affects different groups of people, how itâs evolved over time, what it means for the system as a whole, etc. This will make your story more three-dimensional in the readerâs mind.
Find Issues in Power Distribution
Most government tension (throughout history, at least) has come from inequality in the distribution of power. Whether it be between races, classes, branches of government, figures in politics, or groups of people with different opinions, or all of the above combined, most issues stem from the struggle for power, control, and influence over others. Explore this and find new ways to think of how this could be interpreted from your story.
Think of Cultureâs Impact on Politics
Culture has a major hand in how politics works. A societyâs values, religious majorities and minorities, gender roles, environment, what an average citizen looks like, how citizens are expected to look, act, use their time, etc. These things all impact political situation and how it changes over time with culture, so explore this heavily.
Common Struggles
â The common struggles section of my âguide to__â posts are general questions sent in by readers on the topic at hand. If you have a question that has not been addressed thus far, youâll probably find the answer in this section. As always, youâre welcome to send other questions to my inbox if you donât find the answer in this post. â
~ How do I illustrate the evolution of a societyâs politics?⊠I would choose a few major events and make the causation behind them more prominent than the actual events themselves. History repeats itself, and thatâs very important in political foreshadowing and often how a society deals with political situations.
~ How do I write conversations about my worldâs politics?⊠It depends on the tone of these conversations. The way casual conversations about politics are written can tell the reader a lot about your worldâs political climate, and can be a very useful device. Heated conversations can be useful in showing different passionate sides of a political issue in your world. I would say, write them carefully and with intention.
~ How do I make the reader invested/interested in the worldâs politics?⊠Show the reader why they should care, make them relate to it, and then make them relate your story to their reality. You have to use literary devices as well. Show, donât tell works really well here. Donât show the main character reflecting that the conflicts at the war front are bad. Show the war front. Show the severity. Make them feel the heavy emotions of the people. Show them the real stakes of the political decisions being dealt with in the story.
~ How do I create believable racial tensions?⊠Again, just mirror reality. Understand why racial tensions exist and mirror that in your storyâs context. Racial tension is majorly caused by fear, prejudice, and response to the âother sideâ. Itâs often a long, ongoing battle because itâs rooted in the way people are raised and the constant environment around them. Racism is taught, so show itâs bigger, more outstanding moments, as well as its less prominent ones. No political issue arises exclusively from large, explosive moments. Itâs made up of a few big ones, notable ones, and then the many, millions of little contributing moments and factors.
~ How do I write reasonable opposition groups?⊠Youâre the author, so you have the unique opportunity of setting the reader up to see the reasoning behind both or all sides. You can show the evidence and logic behind each one, and make the reader understand why each side believes what they believe, and the personal engagement that leads each side to fight so hard.
~ How do I connect a caste system to political tension?⊠Political tension within caste systems are commonly caused by peopleâs natural desire for power and control, which leads to dissatisfaction in cases of being on the less fortunate side of inequality. Caste systems are also typically a pyramid, which means thereâs more of the underdogs. These things combine to create political storms because on one side you have few people and lots of power that add up to just a bit more than a lot of people with less power individually, but more when pooled.Â
~ How to I create a corrupt government without too many clichĂ©s?⊠The most clichĂ© thing about typical corrupt governments is the one-dimensional evil figures that lead to corruption. Very few authors explore what leads a human whoâs only job is to protect the people to turn against them. Explore their motivations and their personal struggle and justifications and youâll have a more interesting and impactful corrupt government.
~ How do I illustrate a positive government that doesnât come off as suspicious?⊠Work hard on perfecting tone, be very careful with what could be interpreted as foreshadowing, and show genuine goodness in not only the governmentâs words and actions, but actual results. Show your government talking the talk, and then walking the walk.
~ How do I set up the climax of a political issue?⊠Show the slow burn, and then the inciting events that set off the inevitable explosion. You need to establish to the reader that something is going to happen no matter what, but make the actual consequence and its place in time a surprise.Â
~ How do I develop a governmental system from the ground up for the sake of the plot itself?âŠÂ As I said in a previous point, use a model or several to take inspiration from. In the case of world building being the centre of your story, build your world and your plot together so they complement one another.Â
Other Resources From My Blog That Help With This:
How To Write A Good Plot Twist
How To Foreshadow
Commentary On Social Issues In Writing
Tackling Subplots
How To Perfect The Tone In A Piece Of Writing
Tips On Writing About Mental Illness
A Guide To Tension & Suspense In Your Writing
Writing Good Villains
Tips On Writing Intense Scenes
Finding & Fixing Plot Holes
Resources For Crime, Mystery, & Thriller Writers
Resources For Writing Science Fiction
Resources For Writing Dystopian/Apocalypse
Resources For Writing Period Pieces: High Middle Ages & Renaissance
Resources For Writing Period Pieces: 1600s
Resources For Writing Period Pieces: 1700s
Resources For Writing Period Pieces: 1800s
Resources For Writing Period Pieces: 1900-1939
Resources For Writing Period Pieces: 1940-1969
Resources For Writing Period Pieces: 1970-1999
Useful Writing Resources
Useful Writing Resources II
Resources For Writing Sketchy Topics
Resources For Worldbuilding
Resources For Plot Development
Resources For Creating Characters
Mimicking Diversity In Science Fiction/Fantasy
Writing About Another Era
On Making Scenes/Characters Unpredictable
Info-dumping
Writing About Uncomfortable Topics
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Building a government
I originally posted a post in French here, which I intended to translate, and then I changed my mind and decided to create an all new post in English instead. A lot of the information from that first post will end up here, but it will be phrased differently and will have some new features.
Well, letâs dig in.
(This is very long, consider yourself warned)
Credit: Assemblée Nationale
When we talk about governments in fantasy settings, we generally think royalty, kings, queens and all that jazz. But this is very reductive of all shapes of governments which have existed on Earth through all times. Even if we focus only on the Middle Ages period, not every nation was lead by a royalty. As a reminder, Middle Ages lasted from 5th to 15th centuries approximately. Thatâs a long time!! Venise elected its first doge in 697, Florence was an oligarchy (the republic officially date from 1115), many city-states of the time had similar tradition of electing their leaders⊠But before we plunge into the shapes of governing, letâs talk about power.Â
I. Where does power come from?
(credits to Senna Lily)
Any person who leads a state needs power. It can be physical force, obviously, but there are other means:
Legitimate Power: it comes from the position or the title of the person. Basically, the person who was chosen as the chief by many people is the legitimate chief and has the power to act as such. It can also come from âdivine powerâ, a formulation used by the Kings of France to mean they got their power directly from God, or be a birth right, or a vote. Legitimate power is in direct opposition to usurped power. -> What is considered legitimate in your setting?
Coercion: the ability to punish. Itâs the justice system and control of the police. Itâs violence and threats. It is the ability to give (or refuse to give) a reward. Itâs a penalty. Itâs the ability to reduce effectively others resources. Itâs exile or execution. People obey, because of coercion, in the hope to get the reward, while avoiding the punishment. People who detain this power are those who command an army (generals, nobility, militia, mercenaries, policeâŠ). They may plan a Coup against the government in place if they disagree with it.
Money and Resources: itâs direct and personal access to money and resources (food, materials, equipment, technologyâŠ). In addition to trade and finance, it is also the ability to raise taxes and to own land. In many feudal countries, the whole land was once said to belong entirely to the king, who then gave it to the nobility, temporarily or permanently.
Allies: the will of people to support you, which they manifest through a vote, familial or contractual webs (including treaties). Most of the time, these alliances indicate a common interest (syndicates ally to obtain a new favorable law for employees), or in the hope of future benefit (new lands and titles given by the future new king).
Credibility: can the people believe the discourse of their government? If the people are rational, they will base their judgment on expertise and reliability. In the end, credibility is a leaderâs ability to convince people to do as they say, through any means of communication (speech, press, even omens could have their use hereâŠ). Obviously, controlling the media directly or through alliances can be of great help to establish this credibility.
Information: access and ability to use information, even to hide it or to falsify it. Spies and fake news have their place, right here. Spreading lies can also be useful to hurt your enemies reputation, as well as to disturb or maintain the peace. -> who is the most informed person in your world? Is it your king, his advisor or his enemy?
A Knight in shining armor is a man whose metal has never been tested.
Or one who regularly cleans itâŠbut yeah, âBlack Knightsâ were called so because their armor was in terrible condition, and they were usually much more experienced, so they usually won tournaments.
@we-are-knight Am I correct? Anything to add?
Iâm curious mainly where you got this concept fromâŠ
âBlack Knightsâ need to be distinguished by context. Iâm on my phone right now so I canât link you all the sources Iâd like to use, so please pardon me for that.
So, the concept of âknight in shining armourâ comes from the idea of the knight-errant in medieval fiction, the sort of person who is on a quest, is all shiny and new, ready to test themselves. It also is a nod to the maintenance of equipment, or the wealth of a Knight; in the late medieval and Renaissance periods, well-off knights might have a suit of armour for warfare, a suit for tournaments, and a suit for formal occasions. These being used for different things, they were meant to be maintained well and show status and wealth.
So, where does the concept of a black Knight actually come from?
Surprisingly, most cases come from the idea of the tournament. Knights were meant to display who they were, âshow their coloursâ (ie, heraldry), and show off their skills in combat. But if course you had some knights who didnât want to show who they were, who they were fighting for, or which lady they favoured, etc. This sounds like a chivalric fantasy, and honestly, thatâs what tournaments really became as time went by and the events became more formal.
Now, early âblack Knightsâ , were those who did not wear dark or black armour, but in fact those who did not use their own heraldry, disguising themselves. Again, they may do this for various reasons, but the concept is they hide their identity. Occasionally, they might actually paint their shields black.
We also have the examples from the hundred years war where French and English knights painted their armour different colours: black for the French, Red for the English.
Some knights actually WOULD favour black armour or heraldry to the point they got called âblack Knightsâ, and not as a derogative. The Polish Knight, Zawisza Czarny (pronounced âZah-vu-shah Shar-nyâ, approximately) become known for his feats of arms, and by his dark armour.
Linking back to the original quote, a Knight in shining armour could well be a black knight, as such. But more commonly, it meant he was either wealthy, or highly skilled at arms.
Or both. :P
Iâve seen enough period art to convince me that âshining armourâ was often a lot darker than the chrome-plated image which the term suggests.
Iâve also long thought that the whole business of âknights in shining armourâ wasnât a medieval concept at all, certainly not the default one, but was a Regency / early Victorian fictional conceit from Romance poets and Sir Walter Scottâs historical fiction. (About 10 years ago an actual expert said more or less the same thing, leaving actual amateur me feeling rather smugâŠ) :->
This illumination features armour thatâs black or dark blue in colour, but with the carefully-delineated highlights of a shiny surface. There are many other like it.
Armour was coloured for both decorative and practical purposes; chemical blueing with acid produces a very dark, lustrous and effectively rust-resistant finish like the one in the medieval illustration. I once had an Arms & Armor rapier with that finish on the hilt: it looked like thisâŠ
Heat-blueing, which was more blue than black, was a popular treatment for Greenwich armour of the Elizabethan period, as was browning and russetting (all of which were and are used on firearms), processes which used heat, chemicals or controlled âgood rustâ to create colour and also prevent uncontrolled âbad rustâ.
Hereâs the helmet of Sir James Scudamoreâs Greenwich harness, which was once blued and gilt.
The image on the left is how it looks now, after being thoroughly scrubbed with wire wool, sand or other abrasives at some stage in the 19th century to make it âshining armourâ. The image on the right is a CGI restoration of its original appearance, based on still-visible traces of colour in the grooves beside the gold strapwork.
Hereâs the browned and gilt âgarnitureâ (armour with extra bits for different styles of combat, like a life-size action figure) of George Clifford, Earl of Cumberland. I donât think grinding this beauty down to bright metal would be an improvementâŠ
Henry VIIIâs tonlet (skirted) armour for foot combat at the Field of the Cloth of Gold now looks like this:
Originally it would have been shiny black or dark blue with gilt details and the engraved panels picked out in coloured paint or enamelling - red Tudor Roses, green leaves etc., but that wasnât âshining armourâ, soâŠ
This detail shot shows the fine score-marks left after it was sanded âcleanâ, with dark pigmentation in the grooves as a memorial of how it once looked.
This Renaissance painting, âPortrait of Warrior with Squireâ, shows black armour on the warrior and bare-metal armour on his squire, so itâs clear that armour in art wasnât painted black simply because artists couldnât properly represent burnished steel.
In this article, Thom Richardson, Keeper of Armour at the Tower of London and Royal Armouries in Leeds (the actual expert I mentioned at the beginning) comes straight out and calls Scott responsible for âshining armourâ vandalism:
The sets of armour are not in their original black and gold because of over-aggressive polishing in the 19th century when, said Richardson, âthey were polished with brick dust and rangoon oil to within an inch of their lifeâ to fit the aesthetic of what armour should look like, all shiny and silvery. âWalter Scott is to blame,â Richardson added ruefully.
Scott can also be blamed, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, for creating or at least popularising that clunky, inaccurate term âchain-mailâ. It cites the first appearance in 1822 (recent when talking about mail) when a character in âThe Fortunes of Nigelâ says:
ââŠthe deil a thingâs broken but my head. Itâs not made of iron, I wot, nor my claithes of chenzie-mail; so a club smashed the tane, and a claucht damaged the tither.â
Plate armour was also painted, either crudelyâŠ
âŠor with much more care (this style is actually called black-and-white armour); since the paint was oil-based, it also had a rust-proofing effectâŠ
I have a notion that the more white there was on black-and-white armour, and thus the more work (by servants, of course!) needed to keep it looking good, may have been an indication of rank, status or success. Just a guessâŠ
Armour left rough from the hammer - therefore cheaper than armour polished smooth, since every stage of the process had to be paid for - was also treated with hot oil in the same way cast-iron cookware is seasoned, again to prevent rust.
There were terms for bright-metal armour - âalwyte harnessâ and âwhite armourâ - but the existence of such terms suggests to me that they arose from a need to describe an armour finish which needed a tiresome amount of maintenance to keep it that way. Iâm betting that the last stage of a clean-and-polish was a good layer of grease, or even a beeswax sealant like the coatings used by museums today.
White armour may have been a demonstration of wealth or conspicuous consumption in the same way as black or white clothes: one needed servants constantly busy with polishing-cloths, the others needed really good colour-fast dye or lots of laundering, and all of those cost money.
One thing is certain: a knight in shining armour wasnât the one who sweated to keep it shining. Thatâs what squires were forâŠ
I am a simple man: when Peter speaks, I listen.
Also! Oiling and then fire blackening is a very common way for blacksmiths to finish steel. This gives that dark almost ruddy black thats more reminiscent of what you see in the illustrations.
Also shining armour is a really shitty idea because it can be spotted a mile away, ruining any attempt at ambushing and overall making it easier for the enemy to discern your armies movements. Contrary to popular belief medieval people werenât stupid and were would almost certainly take this into account.
Side note about grooming as a job: when people ask me what I do for work and I tell them Iâm a groom in often met with âOh it must be so nice to brush horses all day! âșïžâ.
Thatâs not what the job is.
@sonnyolee123, I donât know you or your familiarity with horses so Iâm just going to break this down into the most basic ways I can think of in the hopes nothing gets conveyed incorrectly due to a reliance on in-group speech.
Aka, Iâm doing to dumb this down real low like a childrenâs book on horses please donât get mad Iâm just trying to make sure no one who could ever read this would be confused.
âI grew up thinking everyone cared for their own horse.â
So, when weâre talking horse ownership outside of subsistence use (horses owned not because theyâre needed to a lifestyle of farming, herding, hunting) you basically have two kinds of horse ownership methods:
Boardingâ In which the horse(s) donât live on your individual property but live someplace else and you pay their monthly ârentâ. This is further broken up into other categories:
Full Care: Every aspect of the horseâs housing/feeding needs are covered by the horseâs ârentâ. The owner of the horse may have to provide their own grain at personal cost but someone who lives or works on the same property as the horse does all the cleaning, feeding, and general daily care.
Partial Care: The horseâs rent covers part of daily care but not all of it. Generally partial care means the facility the horse in being boarded at will feed the horse once a day and have some amount of cleaning theyâll do but the owner of the horse is required to feed the horse for its other one to two meals of the day and clean beyond what the facility provides. Often they will not feed grain even if the owner provides it or pre-packages it.
Self Care: Essentially the horseâs rent only covers the space the horse is taking up and the facility provides zero daily care. The owner is responsible for showing up 2-3 times a day to feed, clean, and make sure their is water for their horse.
âBackyardââ This is just a colloquialism for people who are able to keep their horses on their own property or âin their backyardâ. Obviously the owner has to provide all feedings, cleaning, daily care, etc. to their horse like theyâd have to provide for any other animal living on their property.
Obviously the difference between a boarded horse and a âbackyardâ horse in terms of who is caring for them is that a boarded horse has more people looking after it (theoretically).
Daily care (feeding, watering, cleaning) certainly doesnât have anything to do with riding, training, exercising, or grooming/tacking up a horse. Just because a horse is not kept at someoneâs personal property doesnât mean the horse is receiving that kind of care/attention from anyone other than their owner).
âI have never heard of a groom⊠What are they, specifically?â
The definition of a groom or what tasks fall under a groomâs job are certainly different regionally and from facility to facility.
The description that would be most universal would be: someone who works for a professional equestrian tacking, untacking, and managing horses.
Some grooms are expected to clean stalls as part of their work, others are not.
Some grooms are given riding or lunging duties, others are not.
Itâs highly dependent on the size of the facility you work at, the professional you work for, and an individualâs skill level.
The main purpose though is that a groom is in charge of getting horses ready for the professional to ride and then putting those horses away when theyâre done.
Grooms do not exist for âpersonal useâ (perhaps with the exception of extremely wealthy people, but even then the groom is usually employed by the facility or horse professional and not the person who owns the horse).
Some barns with lesson programs (and therefore lesson horses owned by the horse professional and not by the riders) will have grooms get horses ready (and put them away) for their clients.
Some barns with boarding clients who pay for training and/or lessons on a horse who live at the facility will have grooms prep & put away horses for their clients.
Some barns will have grooms to get all their clients horses ready at shows (and do all the feeding, cleaning, etc.) but expect their clients to be tacking up when theyâre home.
Barns that specialize in sales horses (so training and selling horses for profit) will have their grooms get horses ready for prospective buyers and take care of the horses when the buyer leaves.
My own experience as a groom has been as follows:
Working for a sales and training barn with one head trainer and two assistant trainers.
Managing & tacking approximately 10 horses per rider per workday, when weâre at full capacity. Making sure each horse is tacked with appropriate equipment before the rider is finished with the horse in front of that horse on âthe listâ, making sure all horses are cooled out and properly brushed out before put back up and doing so in a timely enough manner that the horse gets back to its paddock ASAP.
Managing & assisting with farrier, vet, chiropractic, and other appointments. Bringing the horse down before the appointment time and then getting the horse out for whomever the appointment is with. Giving any necessary assistance while continuing to follow âthe listâ of horses being ridden.
Braiding & presenting horses for sales photos/videos, showings (when someone interested in buying the horse comes to try it), & clinics at our facilityâ all while managing âthe listâ.
Trimming horses; either for the winter, for showing, or just touch ups. (And yes, still while adhering to the list).
Washing horses in preparation for shows, clinics, or showings. (Usually we are lucky and the horse is on âthe listâ so we just have some extra time to spend after untacking but sometimes theyâre not.)
Doing and managing the laundry generated by dirty saddle pads, fly sheets, stable sheets, rain sheets, and blankets. (Never neglecting âthe listâ though!).
Cleaning tack. Bridles & bits are daily and we generally sneak them in between âthe listâ but sometimes have a large volume at the end of the day. Saddles are done on a need basis and when possible.
Lunging/hacking/rehabbing horses. The best and the worst days are when you get your own spot on âthe listâ. Pro: youâre getting to ride or work a horse. Con: youâre still in charge of making sure âthe listâ is on time. (We often have to make the other one of us grooming the sacrificial lamb doing double duty for an hour or two while we do the horses weâve been asked to do.)
Packing & Unpacking the trailer for and after shows or clinics. When our boss travels for shows or clinics itâs at minimum a 3-5 day thing and at max 1.5 months. Luckily she tries to take as little as possible on long trips. If she travels for clinics or shows its with 2-6 horses. (This is the most stressful âextra taskâ to fit in around âthe listâ as it takes intense coordination from the grooms).
âTurn down serviceâ for the barnâ the groom who works the latest (we have overlapping shifts with one person starting an hour and a half earlier than the other and leaving at a set time; whereas the other person stays until everything is done) has to take out all the garbage, sweep the cross ties, pick out the arenas, switch the outhouse bathmat, do the dishes in the office, sweep & mop the office. Plus anything else the boss thought needed to be done before you leave.
Traveling with the boss and working at shows/clinics as the groom & person doing all the feeding/cleaning/etc.
NEVER NEGLECT *THE LIST*
Another example of a groom: I worked as a part-time groom for an individual who had her personal 6 horses in her backyard (by backyard I mean a swanky 10 acre facility with a barn, huge, arena and manicured fields lol) because she had a full-time job and a new baby and so she just didnât have time (and after giving birth obviously she canât clean stalls) so I came 2-3 times a week to care for the horses and maintain the property. The owner or her husband took care of the horses on the other days. That was a much more laid back example of a groomâs job but it was still even then a lot of work!
Sue Sareen (British, b. Merseyside, England, based Nottingham, England) - 1: Cheerful Cat Rufford 2: Sleepy Cat 3: Curled Up Cat Drawings
Guide To Writing Faded Love
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â This is a thorough guide to writing love that has faded, either quickly or over time, and hopefully you romance writers will find it useful. Thereâs some general tips outlined, some common questions answered, and some resources linked at the bottom. Happy writing!
You can also find this article (and more) at wordsnstuffblog.com
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The Slow Reveal
Itâs important to slowly reveal why the love faded, and the manner in which it did. Was it a slow, slippery fall into a routine of just.. not trying? Was it a quick burst of passion that lead to quick commitment and then ended up being extremely short? Reveal that to the reader, and do it carefully. Tug at their heartstrings, and make them feel it. Donât reveal it too quick either. Show them the good days, and then show them rotting. Itâs that much more bitter sweet that way.
Bring The Characters To Unpack The Big Issue
Itâs important to remember that your story will actually read by real people, and whether or not you mean for it to, the story will send a message. Itâs vital to keep in mind that no matter the ending to your loversâ story, they need to be the ones to propel it. No exterior factor can fix or break a relationship. Financial struggle, infidelity, distance, difference, and betrayal are not the causes of a failed relationship, or a faded love. A good rule of thumb is to think âif this factor couldnât bring the love back, then it couldnât drive it away eitherâ, and that will always bring you to the conclusion that the only thing that can resolve an issue is the lovers themselves.
Let The Characters Grow, Even If Apart
Not all faded love comes back. Not all faded love stays dull forever. Whatâs more important than the love returning, is the fate of those who felt it in the first place. Both characters should learn something important, and both characters should be on the path to where theyâre meant to be by the end, even if that isnât with each other.
Love Is A Choice, Not A Chance
I know this is a difficult thing to understand, especially with the way love it typically framed in fiction, but at the heart of every larger-than-life romance, is the choice that was made to conceive it. Love is preserved in the choices people make to keep it alive. There isnât a person out there who would tell you that they had a perfect love story without any compromise or conscious decision to stay and conserve it. If the love has gone away, itâs not because the couple was unlucky, itâs because one or both of them made a choice. Explain what choice(s) that was and why it was made in the first place.
The Little Things Build Up
It is never one big event or argument or struggle that makes love fade. Itâs lots of little things, that each partner overlooks because âitâs not a big dealâ, âtheyâll get over itâ, or âweâve been through worse and gotten through itâ. Show this, and make it hit home. This is the time to insert relatability, and the time to make the reader reflect on their own relationship(s), past or present.Â
Common Struggles
~ Couples who recognize early on that the fire is going out⊠There are three types of couples: the ones who try desperately to fix it before it gets critical, the ones who let it simmer and get worse, or the ones who give up immediately. Determine which type your couple is based on their personalities and motivations, then go from there.
~ Depicting faded love vs. evolved relationship dynamic⊠Faded love is just that. When two people love each other, itâs easy to tell that theyâre more comfortable than they are bored or even unhappy. Show this through the little things, and through the way both parties react in mundane situations.Â
For instance, when choosing a paint color, two people who love each other may bicker, but it would show that theyâre both confident that no matter the outcome, it will be a compromise and that the tension wonât long because, in the end, itâs just paint. For a couple whose love has faded, the paint would act as a channel for bigger issues, and the argument wouldnât really be about paint. That would show in the way their argument escalates.
~ Showing the confusion between love and infatuation⊠This isnât always the case for faded love, and for the most part Iâd say it usually isnât because time passing is a major factor in this category of failed relationship, but two people failing to differentiate these two things can often lead to what is mistaken for faded love. Your love canât fade if you were only ever infatuated with each other, so be careful in this territory.Â
Stories that are meant to be about faded love, but are based on infatuation that went too far, often fall flat, and the necessary trends that are exclusively for faded love will leave a nasty taste in the readerâs mouth. Arguments between two people who loved each other, but now donât, are completely different than ones between two people who thought they were in love, but never were. The latter often comes across as abuse, rather than tragic loss of true connection, because the tropes donât work.
~ How do you show what love fading feels like?⊠You have to have experience, or have a really practical imagination. Simply, put yourself into different shoes, even if theyâre yours from the past, and trust your instincts based on what you have been through. We all know someone who has experienced this in some form, if not ourselves, so donât be ashamed of asking for othersâ stories and recollection. Emotional research is just as valid as any other, and just like representing a mental illness, you will be representing this experience differently than anyone else has ever felt it, so accept that.Â
~ Parents hiding their situation from the kids⊠This is a tricky one, because this area is where it gets real, and it starts insinuating aspects of your perspective. A lot of why a lot of couples who donât love each other stay together (realistically) is religion, traditional values, and shame. These are viewed very differently by any given reader, and is the easiest spot to push some buttons and accidentally push your personal voice through to the point of them noticing.Â
That aside, I would approach this, like the emotional aspect, from an empathetic angle. Imagine how the kids would feel, how the tension would build, why it would build, how the parents would feel, how the parentsâ interactions with the kids would be impacted, etc. Simply, put some time aside to think long and hard about this situation and all its implications.
~ How would a couple revive their love for one another?⊠That depends on the individuals in the relationship. As I said before, there are three ways a couple would respond to this, and the way they respond greatly impacts the way they would solve the issue. Some would fight for a while and wait for the love to just.. come back. Some would simply call it quits. Some would be in complete denial. You decide, and base it on the charactersâ personalities and motivations. Not just what they want in general, but what they want out of the relationship, because whatever they have to fight for is what will determine they strategy they use to do so.
Resources
Angst Prompts
How To Make A Scene More Heartfelt
20 Mistakes To Avoid When Writing Young Adult Fiction/Romance
A Guide To Tension & Suspense In Your Writing
Writing Arguments Between Characters
Pros and Cons of Different Points Of View
Tips On Writing Intense Scenes
Resources For Romance Writers
Useful Writing ResourcesUseful Writing Resources II
Resources For Describing Emotions
Giving Characters Bad Traits
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Enneatypes in a nutshell
Do you have any tips on writing a statement of purpose for grad school? I'm stuck!
Hi!
So for my SOP, I kept it VERY simple and straight to the point:Â
Objective in attending grad school. This can be answered by thinking about what you want out of the PhD, and how getting a PhD will help you get where you need to be post-grad.
Research background(s). For this portion, you can talk about your undergrad research projects in terms of objective, techniques/skills involved, and findings.
Reflection of research background. This basically just ties in why/how your research background influences your decision to pursue a higher degree and prepares you for such endeavors.
Why X University. Iâve mentioned before in some other post that this part is pretty important to the person writing the SOP because it really makes you think about whether the school is worth applying for. For example, my undergrad research was in islet transplantation, and one of the schools I was applying to had several labs working on tolerance development to transplanted organs. If I was interested in continuing on with my undergrad research, this would have been such a great fit! But if I was interested in, say, sleep research, and the school only has one lab studying this, then maybe not so much. For this portion, you should go through the schoolâs faculty page and make a list of professors and their research that youâre interested in and mention these in your SOP. When they arrange for the interview visit, most (if not all) of people you talk to will be the people that you include in your SOP.
Tagging @caffeinatedcraziness and @cancerbiophd in case I miss anything important!
For this portion, you should go through the schoolâs faculty page and make a list of professors and their research that youâre interested in and mention these in your SOP.Â
Bolding this because this is EXTREMELY important, especially if youâre applying to a small department. If possible, reach out to some of these people ahead of time, or have some âinâ to their work- maybe youâve cited it before, maybe youâve seen them talk, maybe you have an advisor or professor who knows them. Donât just pick names at random!Â
Things Disaster Movies Always Get Wrong
We all love disaster movies! The cool special effects, the underdog stories, the underlying themes of hope. As cool as they are, they do tend to use misconceptions about natural disasters. This normally wouldnât be an issue since Hollywood will always embellish but itâs important to know the true science behind these phenomena should you ever encounter them.
1) Pyroclastic flows will kill you almost instantly, you cannot survive a direct hit
Movies guilty of this: Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Danteâs Peak
Pyroclastic flows exceed 100km/h and reach temperatures over 1,000°C. You definitely cannot outrun it in either car or on foot. The boiling hot toxic gas, ash, and lava in the flow will kill you instantly and pummel your smoking corpse into oblivion. Sorry, Chris Pratt.
2) Tsunamis do not crest, they are more like a sudden flood than a wave
Movies guilty of this: Literally any movie with a tsunami ever
Tsunamis are massive and sudden floods caused by the displacement of ocean water due to earthquakes or massive landslides. Theyâre not tidal waves and thus do not crest. Itâs poetic, but inaccurate.
3) Hail is always spherical and doesnât fall in big cinder blocks of ice
Movies guilty of this: The Day After Tomorrow
Hail can get quite large and can definitely be fatal, but they are exclusively spherical. Hail is formed by water droplets cycling through the updrafts of a thunderstorm and the rotational movements make the resulting hail a ball.
Looks more like a stage hand is throwing the remains of an ice swan than a hail storm
4) You cannot freeze instantaneously. Not even in space.
Movies guilty of this: The Day After Tomorrow, Geostorm, The Cloverfield Paradox, Sunshine
Space, and certain places on Earth, can get exceedingly cold. The coldest temperature ever recorded on Earth was â89.2 °C. Thatâs damn cold. But you still wouldnât flash freeze into a peoplesicle within mere seconds. Intense cold can kill you quickly if youâre completely exposed but it would still take time before your body would be a thoroughly frozen chunk of meat. As for space, it can get quite cold, but itâs also an empty vacuum. Thereâs nothing around you but empty void, which means thereâs also nothing to transfer your body heat away from you. Without convection, your body heat would be lost via radiation and that can take a long time.
5) Earthquakes over 10 on the Richter scale are physically impossible on Earth.
Movies guilty of this: 10.5
You would need a massive fault line to carry that sort of energy. Something on the scale of going through the earthâs core. Which does not exist . Even then, if such an earthquake would occur, the planet would literally explode.A 15 magnitude earthquake would release energy on the magnitude of 1x10^32 joules. That, coincidentally, is the same amount of energy contained in the gravitational binding of the Earth. Simply put, anything greater than 9.9 on the Richter scale is impossible and would cause the Earth to explode.
6) California will and can not sink into the Pacific like a big slab, and it canât break away from the rest of the US.
Movies guilty of this: 2012, 10.5
Most movies cite the San Andreas fault as the reason for the cleavage, but even this isnât enough. The San Andreas fault is a transform fault, meaning the North American plate and the Pacific Plate are slowly horizontally grinding past each other, not pushing away. As California is a part of the greater Pacific plate, it literally could not snap free from it to âsink into the seaâ. Because if the entire tectonic plate underneath California where to flip over and sink then the entire ocean would drain away into the mantle.
7) You canât sink in lava. You also canât stand near it without being burned.
Movies guilty of this: Volcano, Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
Lava is molten rock, and is incredibly dense. In fact, itâs three times as dense as humans, who are mostly water. If you were to cannonball into a lava pit, you would dip in a bit before bouncing to the top and floating. You would also burn up and die super quickly. Because fresh lava can exceed 1,200°C! Even standing a couple feet away from a lava flow, you would feel the intense heat radiation. You would lose your eyebrows and probably the top layer of your skin if you stood too close. Thereâs a reason why volcanologists wear protective suits. Sam and Frodo would have been roasted.
Can we make one of this but with Anatomy, biology and microbiology facts against Horror and Slasher movies?? Some mistakes are funny to watch but theyâre so common that they became annoying.
An Incomplete Yet Somewhat Sufficient Guide to Writing Fiction Based in the UK
As many of you know, I am an American who lives and studies in London. I thought Iâd make a little general rules list about aspects of UK culture which I feel are misrepresented quite often when I read fiction written by someone whoâs never experienced life here. So here it goes, every American fiction writersâ incomplete yet somewhat sufficient guide to writing fiction based in the UK.
KNOW YOUR SUPERMARKETS. Tesco isnât the only one. Tesco and Sainsburyâs are the two most popular, like Safeway, Albertsonâs, or Kroger. M&S and Waitrose are where the posh white people shop. Everything is over-priced; the American equivalent would be Whole Foods (which the UK has but is not nearly as common). Then thereâs Morrisonâs and Co-Op which are both good but not as popular as Tesco or Sainsburyâs. And then you have the discount supermarkets like Lidl and Aldi, where everything is off-branded so the prices are lower. And of course thereâs ASDA which is Wal-Mart only smaller and not as terrifying.
In the UK, pants = underwear. I thought this would be quite known but I still see the mistake all the time? Jeans and trousers, folks!
Accents are hugely different from one another. First you have to learn the distinction between Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Northern Irish, and English. Then from there you have all the regional accents. And accents are classed and racialised as well. A middle class white person raised in West London is going to have a completely different accent from a working class PoC raised in East London, even though they may live within 15 miles of each other. If you want to really impress readers, study different types of accents and incorporate them into your dialogue, it makes things much more interesting (think Hagrid from Harry Potter).
Pubs are also classed. There are old white working class pubs that donât do food (besides maybe crisp packets), are always showing greyhound or horse racing, and still smell of cigarette smoke. Only locals go here, and they usually go pretty much every night. Like the Winchester from Shaun of the Dead. And then you have the hipster pubs, which are expensive and do fancy food. The people working at these pubs usually look pretty coolâdyed hair, piercings, that stuffâbut there probably arenât any âregularsâ who come there every day.Â
Wetherspoonâs is the backbone of society. Wetherspoonâs (or Spoons) is a chain pub thatâs pretty much in every damn post code. Itâs cheap as shit and beloved by many. You can get a huge cocktail pitcher for under ÂŁ10, and you can guarantee youâll get wasted pretty quickly cause theyâre full of sugar and have a high alcohol content.
Drinking culture in general is quite different from the US. People start drinking at about age 15/16, and itâs legal to drink at 18. Kids drink WKD (which is like Mikeâs Hard Lemonade I think??? Iâve never actually had it but it seems like itâs on the same tier), Smirnoff Ice, Malibu, and cheap fruity wine (Echo Falls, Hardyâs, Blossom Hill, Kumala, and Gallo Family are the usual brands).
Drunk food consists of: fried chicken, chips (+cheese, salt and vinegar, gravy, or curry, depending on the region), kebabs, pizza from a shop with bad graphic design, microwaveable burgers. You can also get delivery from a lot of restaurants, and they bring it right to your house. Indian, pizza, and Chinese are the most common.
Speaking of food, itâs hard to find good Mexican food in the UK. Thereâs Wahaca but itâs spendy as itâs a sit-down restaurant and it kind of only exists in touristy and gentrified areas. You wonât have any luck finding cheap, authentic street tacos the way you would in Southern California. There also isnât really any fast food Mexican (although there are a handful of Taco Bells splattered around the country). Iâm sure there are some trendy areas which are bringing in Mexican street food in London, but letâs be real, itâs probably not authentic and is also probably stupidly over-priced. Iâm getting off topic, sorry.
Nandoâs is also the backbone of society. They do grilled chicken there, ranging from mild (but still seasoned) to burn your tonsils off spicy. Thereâs stuff for vegetarians too, like portobello mushroom and halloumi (a type of cheese you grillâitâs amazing and difficult to find in the US without spending an obscene amount of money) wraps which are incredible. Nandoâs is usually packed and they play really fun Spanish/Portuguese/South African music which is really fun when youâre drunk and in the toilets. 10/10, perfect for a cheeky night out with the lads. The kind of place Gryffindors probably love (Iâm sorry I keep using Harry Potter references)
You donât âsign for the checkâ in the UK. Almost every credit/debit card in the UK has a chip, and you put it in the chip and pin machine, type in your pin, and voila! Youâve paid! Itâs actually much more secure than signing, honestly, the amount of times Iâve just scribbled my signature in a US shop and theyâve accepted it without even checking is appalling.Â
Public transport is actually good in most cities. Buses are common everywhere, and bigger cities like Manchester, London, Birmingham, Glasgow, etc all have some sort of mass rail system, whether thatâs a subway, tram, lightrail, whatever. Also nearly everywhere (even the tiny villages!) at least has a train station. It may be tiny as shit and trains may not go through very often, but they do exist.
All schools have uniforms.
Infant school = preschool, primary school = elementary school, secondary school = middle school/half of high school, further education (6th Form) = second half of high school, uni = college. The first two and last one are pretty self explanatory. At 16, you take your GCSEs, and after that, youâre not required to continue school, but many go to further education and take A Levels, which are like the pre-requisite for uni (although you can get into uni without A Levels, this is quite rare). Most take 2-3 subjects for A-Levels, but I think you can take more if you have a death wish (kind of like AP classes for us Americans). Hereâs a good link for people who want to know more about the UK education system:Â https://www.internationalstudent.com/study_uk/education_system/
No one says âWhatâs up?â Instead, itâs âAlright?â which is confusing at first, but you get used to it. An example greeting between two friends: âHey mate, alright?â âYeah, you alright?â And thatâs it.Â
Religion is different. I actually know very little about religion so I canât offer a whole lot of insight on this, but Iâve had a lot of people tell me itâs very different. If anyone wants to have their input here, that would be lovely!
Houses donât have yards, they have gardens. This is mostly just a terminology thing to be honest.Â
Speaking of terminology, use âpavementâ instead of âsidewalkâ. Obviously people arenât stupid, theyâll know what you mean if you say sidewalk, but still, gotta stay authentic for the plot.
House layouts in general are very different. Houses are either terraced (town houses in the US), semi-detached (duplex in the US), or detached (typical US house). Terraced are most common in big cities, and most houses are made of brick. Take some time to research different architecture styles (Victorian, Edwardian, Georgian, 60s), the differences between them become quite apparent when you do a bit of looking.Â
 There are also a variety of apartment/flat styles. Old period properties are often divided up into flats, and there are also purpose-built blocks of flats, which is like a US apartment complex. There are also luxury flats, which I think we call condominiums in the US. Theyâre all really modern and have lots of glass.
Since the entire country is so damn tiny, long roadtrips arenât really a thing. Itâs more like, you drive somewhere to go camping, like Cornwall or Devon (basically Florida for British people).
Holidays to warm places are quite common. South of France, Greece, Portugal, and Spain and some of the usual destinations. You usually fly to these places on budget flights like Easy Jet or Ryan Air, unless youâre rich, then you probably take British Airways.
Stop signs donât exist. No, Iâm serious. If the intersection (or crossroads) is big enough, thereâll be traffic lights or a roundabout. But other than that, you just have to be careful. Which is generally okay, because people in the UK can actually drive.
No one refers to a section of street as a block. Cities in the UK arenât really set up in a grid the way US cities are. Streets are kind of weird and curvy and donât make sense, so saying âitâs two blocks that way!â doesnât really work. Instead, write about distance in terms of vague relation: âItâs just up that road a bit, past the M&S, then left at the The Kingâs Head pubâ.
London, in general, is a fucking huge city. You canât walk across the whole thing in a day. Hell, you can barely drive across the whole thing in a day. Big Ben and Tower Bridge are 2.5 miles apart from each other. I know, it was a shocker for me too when I first got here! Take a look at a map of London and youâll see what I mean. It is possible to do most of Westminster in a day, but that would be a very full day and you wouldnât get to really see anything in-depth. And most people live very far away from these landmarks. So keep that in mind next time you have a character who lives in London saying they can hear Big Ben chime from their flat. That character must have a lot of money.
This is a really short list and Iâve probably barely even made a DENT so if anyone else has something to add, please do so! And please reblog this to boost it to your followers! Thank you my pals, have a good day, and KEEP WRITING!Â
- The drinking in a fic is how I tend to know if the author is a Brit (or Irish/European) or not.Â
- Cards nowadays are mostly contactless and donât even need you to enter a pin if the amount is under 25 quid. Also, keep in mind that if youâre writing fic set in late 90s-early 00s, then signing the receipt was what we did back then when paying by card.
- The âalrightâ confused me so much when I first moved to the UK. I kept worrying I looked ill.Â
- Houses in the south tend to be painted in bright colours (well, at least Brighton and Portsmouth where I lived). Midlands and North itâs mostly brick. Living in a detached house means you earn good money. Semi-detached is usually affordable by a couple with two decent salaries.
- Accents are everything. They reveal where you were raised as well as your class. People will comment on or otherwise make note of your accent. In the first episode of Misfits, the very first thing the characters do when they meet each other is to talk/take the piss off the othersâ accent.
- Thereâs a twitter account which tweets things overheard in Waitrose.Â
This is incredibly helpful to this American girl that can only dream of an English immersion.
Iâm guilty of just throwing a Tesco in there. LOL.
Okay, I have a funny story which, if youâve been around a bit, you may already know. So, Iâm not sure who first started the âdenimsâ craze a few years ago, and in all honesty it might have been me??? Anyway, for whatever reason I/other people thought that Brits called âjeansâ âdenimsâ and started calling jeans denims in everything we wrote. Well, some Brit writers (birdsofshore was one of them and could corroborate this if she were on tumblr) saw it and thought, âOh, I guess Americans call âjeansâ âdenimsâ. So that they understand, Iâd better call them that too,â and then up and started writing denims as well, further feeding into the idea that denims was indeed correct! When in actuality WE ALL SAY JEANS. So in HP fandom in particular, around 2012-2014-ish, there will be a shitload of fics by several people, even some Brit writers, calling jeans denims for really no good reason. If youâre new to HP fandom and reading a lot in that era, just know: We were all wrong and have since stopped the denims madness. Sorry about that. ;P LOL!
The last bit there is linguistic gold. Somehow British fanfic writers became confused enough by American fanfic writers (writing fic set in Britain) to start regularly using a word that Brits never actually use. Iâm dying.
(But I thought it was your word! But I thought it was yours!)
The education system has changed since this was written - after GCSEs, youâre required to stay in fulltime education until youâre eighteen, but you can do an apprenticeship for this.
GCSEs are run on the 9-1 system, which no one really understands yet. Iâve had people tell me they hope I get a 1, which would be the worst possible marks. If you get a 3 or lower in maths and English, you have to resit the exam. There are rumours of a 10 being possible within 5 years and everyone hates that. Iâm taking 11, but I have friends doing 9 and friends doing 13.
9=A**
8=A*
7=A
6=B
5=C
4=D
Also, my school expects 4 A levels (3 if you have a really good reason, usually only offered to people who did their GCSEs there; 5 if one of themâs PE or EPQ) so itâs getting more difficult.
How do you write creepy stories
Over describe things
Under describe things
Fingers, teeth, and eyes
Short sentences in rapid succession build tension
Single sentence paragraphs build dread
Uncanny valley=things that arenât normal almost getting it right
Third person limited view
Limited explanations
Rot, mold, damage, age, static, flickering, especially in places it shouldnât be
Limited sights for your mc -blindness, darkness, fog, refuse
Real consequences
Being alone -the more people there are, the less scary it is
Intimate knowledge, but only on one side
I donât know I just write scary things but I donât know what Iâm doing.
Rule of Thumb: your readerâs imagination will scare them more than anything you could ever write. You donât have to offer a perfectly concrete explanation for everything at the end. In fact, doing so may detract from your story.