Can't Sleep

Pacific Northwest writer. I write about whatever interests me and change my interests often. You can call me Draco. Icon by Lowry Hart. Title and header are from Phora's song "Can't Sleep" Wanna support me? All the posts under this tag explain why wattpad is a shithole. My pages for mobile users: Stories || Schedule || Tags

[draconako]

A Departure

I wish I could say that I’ve just been busy [and I have been] and that’s why my interaction on this website has become fleeting. I wish I could just say that I’ve been too tired and depressed [which I have been] to be on this website.

But while many new events have happened in my life, that isn’t the only case.

In the past couple of months, I’ve

become involved in my job and attempting to get further in it

Moved out of my house and on my own

finished a novel

started another

resumed work on a third

But these aren’t the only causes for my absence.

I remember a while ago, someone made a writeblr post about how the writeblr community was toxic. I thought it was absurd - I was in an active writeblr discord group. Surely, if we were so toxic, I wouldn’t be there.

But then I began to see what they meant.

I’ve not been happy with the writeblr community, and for the life of me I had a hard time understanding why. But now I think I get it. Sure, it might be a good jumping-off point for people, but also the misinformation and misconstrued ideals I’ve seen spread on a day to day basis just... Exhaust me. It’s exhausting having to see things I’ve learned over the years get twisted so egregiously. More than that, misunderstanding basic concepts like character-driven plots [which is NOT just “slice of life” like I’ve seen so many people think it is] and the like. it’s tiring.

Writeblr is not a community that I feel I can grow in, and I don’t feel like many other people can grow in it, either. I see a lot of talk but not a lot of action.

Going back to my writeblr discord adventures... It started off great, and it descended from there. Basic criticism was ignored or fought against with fury. Fights broke out over common-sense issues into the most inane fights I’ve ever been in. And it became very, very obvious very quickly that if you weren’t kissing ass, you were ignored.

That’s not a community I want a part in. It never has been.

I’m still on twitter and I’m fleetingly using Instagram. Facebook is a cesspool, but I still get something out of it.

I get nothing out of tumblr, or writeblr, anymore.

I won’t delete this account or any of my others. I just won’t post anything anymore. I’m not going to be here anymore. I gained nothing from writeblr. I’ve not really noticed anyone gain anything either. All of the friends I thought I made left at the first sign of opposition or just dropped me outright. 

That’s fine, of course. I’m not mad. I just understand this place is not for me and probably never has been. That’s okay, too.

Have a nice life, writers. 

[draconako]

Draco Reviews: Freedom’s Gate [Wattpad Novel]

Title: Freedom's Gate

Author: KR_Williams

Thoughts:

There's a lot of things I like about this book. The magic system is interesting and way less light and dark [lol] than things first appear to be. I like the concept of Binding. I like how this is [mostly] not about the Chosen One, but rather about someone related to the Chosen One in some sort of way. I like that this book tackles mental abuse - and familial at that - head on and that it actually affects Kit and warps his state of mind.

I also don't like some things. I don't like all the POV switching. Half the time, it felt like a TV episode where they pan to the villain just so we can see how they're undermining the main character's plan. Short scenes of Ifrod [I can't remember his exact name] sending letters and being conniving. I didn't like it. On that token, chapter 24. What happened there? It feels like we switched POVs halfway through a scene and it's very disorienting - and not in a good way. I didn't like that we found out what happened to Kit after the mountain accident... but not from his perspective. All we hear over and over again is about the horse and not much else.

I also don't like the prologue. It commits one of the big sins of prologues - not that it's history world-dumping, and not that it leads right into chapter one, but that it's basically one of the last scenes in the book, just with some alteration. That's not what a prologue is. That's not what a prologue is supposed to do. Take it out.

And while I understand the magic's dialogue is stylized for effect, the combination bold/caps/I think italics kinda made my head hurt.

On a more neutral note, the world and the magic that resides in it definitely has depth. The class/race disparity has weight and it's a very obvious problem. A lot of the groups in this world are not cut-and-dry. The Dark Mages aren't all defectors. The Light Mages aren't all good. The... one rebel group. They have good intentions. There's a lot of morality to play with here, and play with it we do. It's fun to see.  And, again, I like how this is about a chosen one but not in the way we tend to think.

On one hand, I'm interested to see how this goes, but on the other I feel kinda eh about this? There's a lot to like, but a lot of technical things dampened my enjoyment and in general I didn't find myself wholeheartedly enthralled with this project like I wanted to be.

If you would like to read this for yourself, it’s available [here]

[draconako]

Draco Reviews: Of Rust and Gold [Wattpad Novel]

Title: Of Rust and Gold

Author: Poindexter / @junekinn

Thoughts:

This quickly became one of my favorite books on this orange hellsite, and that's quite the feat to accomplish.

I don't say this to stroke June's ego, or because he's my friend. Truth be told, this book is really fucking great. And it's obvious he has put a lot of thought into what he's writing and who he's writing about, and that he cares about this project very much.

The worldbuilding makes this world one of my favorite ones I've read about. True, it at times was hard to pick apart country names, but for the most part all the names slung about make sense and are easy to follow. And not just the names, the associations that go along with them. I love these countries. I love their cultures. I can see all of them in my head. I want to visit the Rhine.

Well. Something tells me I don't want to actually do that. But you get the point.

The biggest sore mark this book has is it's very hard to have positive feelings about anyone in this book. But it's supposed to be that way. All these characters are terrible people. Even Argus. Especially Argus. Fuck him, actually. I hate him. I want to shove him into a mailing crate and throw him into the ocean. But you know what? It's fun to hate him. So much bad shit happens to and because of him that I started to feel quite vindicated by my name-choice for him [Whore-gus, if you're wondering]. And aside from that, it's just fun to read about him digging himself further and further into his own grave. And I noticed a lot of people had problems with the fact this cast is so unlikeable... but again, it works. This is the sort of story that really cannot be told from the perspective of non-morally bankrupt people. And it's so much fun reading them all roasting each other.

In all seriousness, the biggest black mark this book has to its name is the fact that it really needs a round of editing. Especially with punctuation. Please read some guides on how to use commas. I'm begging you.  Also it took me an unbearably long amount of time to figure out what the "thing" from Prince Aayden's ship was, and this is one of the key conflicts. But also this could just be my fault.

But even this... didn't really impede my enjoyment of the book, honestly. It just would be leagues better if the punctuation was fixed. Please.

Another [really big] thing I liked is how personal struggles got dealt with. Argus cheating on Enyo? Big moral quandry about it. Not that he deserves to wax poetic about it, but whatever. Argus nearly dying? I wish he actually had, but I'll take his ever-present fear after the fact, too. Leo's alcoholism. Ever-present, a problem he constantly has to grapple with. Many of the characters have trauma and issues that help round them out and make them seem more human and I love it.

I still would kick Argus down a hill, though.

If you would like to read this for yourself, it’s available [here]

[el-oh-her]

Lesbian to Bisexual

So, when I write, I let my characters lead. I know in any given situation what my characters would and wouldn’t do and just go from there, if that makes any sense. 

My main character Patricia started as a lesbian, but it didn’t have too much importance because there was an apocalypse to survive. It was noted a couple of times. 

And then, when I started working on the end of the story, I realized she might have fallen in love with a guy named Malaquias. At first, I was like, hell no. But as I read back and saw the interactions of these two characters, I realized that it was plausible they could love each other. 

So I decided she would come to the conclusion that she liked men just as much as she liked women.  

I don’t think many people talk about lesbians who realize they’re actually bisexual. Probably because there’s the whole “Oh you’ll find a man one day” stigma against lesbians. But it’s possible. 

Writer’s Challenge:  

Write a character’s discovery of their true sexuality, but don’t have them start as straight. 

Mega Challenge: 

Have the character’s sexuality discovery end with being straight.  

Love is love, and it’s okay to be straight just as much as it’s okay to be anything else. I know sometimes it feels like the LGBT is against straight people, but that isn’t true. LGBT are against assholes who are against them, and it just so happens that many of them are straight. 

Write like your life depends on it -AG 

[alistonjdrake]

How about we make it challenge to not write more straight characters like their sexuality is ambiguous or like they’re part of the lgbt community so they can reveal they were in fact straight after all in the end.

Queerbaiting. It’s called queerbaiting

[el-oh-her]

I don’t think it’s wrong to explore and come to the conclusion you’re straight, if that’s what you’re saying.

[alistonjdrake]

What I’m saying:

I think it’s a dumb ass thing to base a book/character journey around because a.) ambiguous sexuality of characters is often used to bait queers and b.) adding to that it’ll be used by people to say they have queer rep and touch on lgbt themes when they don’t. Write all the straight characters you want but no one has to “come out” as straight.

I don’t care if someone in real life comes to the conclusion they’re straight after many trials and tribulations of inherent homosexual expectations. I don’t care to have more of it in fiction.

[clypso]

It also adds fuel to the fire of queerness being “just a phase” by homophobic readers. It’s inherently more powerful to have a queer person live a normal, fulfilled life without needing to “justify” or “discover” themself.

Rather than ending up with more cishet rep, which is abundant and favored to a sickening degree, challenge yourself to detach queer narratives from coming out narratives, especially if you aren’t queer.

Mega Challenge: Don’t have a story about a queer character that needs a “coming out” arc. Instead, let them live the same type of life you’d give to a straight character who never needs to question their sexuality.

(This doesn’t, of course, touch on the fact that trans people may be straight and still in queer relationships, which is completely valid.)

[draconako]

yeah honestly aside from straight people who are trans or nb or w/e we really don’t need more straight people narratives. It’s not because we’re “straight-hating” or whatever I’m just so fucking tired of it.

[el-oh-her]

Lesbian to Bisexual

So, when I write, I let my characters lead. I know in any given situation what my characters would and wouldn’t do and just go from there, if that makes any sense. 

My main character Patricia started as a lesbian, but it didn’t have too much importance because there was an apocalypse to survive. It was noted a couple of times. 

And then, when I started working on the end of the story, I realized she might have fallen in love with a guy named Malaquias. At first, I was like, hell no. But as I read back and saw the interactions of these two characters, I realized that it was plausible they could love each other. 

So I decided she would come to the conclusion that she liked men just as much as she liked women.  

I don’t think many people talk about lesbians who realize they’re actually bisexual. Probably because there’s the whole “Oh you’ll find a man one day” stigma against lesbians. But it’s possible. 

Writer’s Challenge:  

Write a character’s discovery of their true sexuality, but don’t have them start as straight. 

Mega Challenge: 

Have the character’s sexuality discovery end with being straight.  

Love is love, and it’s okay to be straight just as much as it’s okay to be anything else. I know sometimes it feels like the LGBT is against straight people, but that isn’t true. LGBT are against assholes who are against them, and it just so happens that many of them are straight. 

Write like your life depends on it -AG 

[alistonjdrake]

How about we make it challenge to not write more straight characters like their sexuality is ambiguous or like they’re part of the lgbt community so they can reveal they were in fact straight after all in the end.

Queerbaiting. It’s called queerbaiting

[el-oh-her]

I don’t think it’s wrong to explore and come to the conclusion you’re straight, if that’s what you’re saying.

[alistonjdrake]

What I’m saying:

I think it’s a dumb ass thing to base a book/character journey around because a.) ambiguous sexuality of characters is often used to bait queers and b.) adding to that it’ll be used by people to say they have queer rep and touch on lgbt themes when they don’t. Write all the straight characters you want but no one has to “come out” as straight.

I don’t care if someone in real life comes to the conclusion they’re straight after many trials and tribulations of inherent homosexual expectations. I don’t care to have more of it in fiction.

[peonyswimwear]

[hollyhamwrites-deactivated20200]

The journey matters even more than the destination.

[intheheatherbright]

Costume. Chitons.

[intheheatherbright]

Marjorie & C. H. B.Quennell, Everyday Things in Archaic Greece (London: B. T. Batsford, 1931).

[killerchickadee]

Wait, wait…. Is that seriously it? How their clothes go?

[treewizarded]

that genuinely is it

[itwashotwestayedinthewater]

yeah hey whats up bout to put some fucking giant sheets on my body

[sourcefieldmix-deactivated20161]

lets bring back sheetwares

[hostagesandsnacks]

also chlamys:

and exomis:

[hidingthemane-deactivated201801]

trust the ancients to make a fashion statement out of straight cloth and nothing but pins

[biggest-gaudiest-poltergeist]

Wrap Yourself In Blankets, Call It a Day

[angualupin]

Ok, yes, but guys, look

Prior to the Industrial Revolution, fabric was EXTREMELY time consuming to make, and as such, was extremely valuable. You have to grow your fiber, either in the ground or on an animal. You have to process the fiber. You have to spin the fiber. And spin, and spin, and spin. Spinning technology prior to the late Middle Ages consisted of a drop spindle. It takes forever and a day to spin enough thread to make fabric using a drop spindle – 10-30 times longer than to weave it, depending on how thick your yarn is and what weaving technology you are using. Then, once you are done with that endless task, you need to weave it. The examples in this post are all from Greece, where they used the warp-weighted loom, which is actually a rather efficient piece of weaving technology, but it’s still not as fast as the treadle loom (another late Middle Ages invention) and in no way comparable to a modern industrial loom (essentially the same machine as a treadle loom, but automated (except warping, which is still hell on earth even in 2018)). You know the saying “women’s work is never done”? That saying refers to the fact that unlike, say, field work, or mining, or smithing, spinning and weaving were started before dawn and carried on until after dusk, every day of the year, and there was always, always need for more.

After all of this, every piece of fabric that is made represents literally hundreds of hours of work. It is so valuable it was a standard form of currency before the invention of money. Egyptians piled linen high in their tombs as a show of wealth – and that linen was stolen by the grave robbers along with the gold and other precious artifacts. Textiles were one of the most valuable things you could steal when you pillaged a city. A primary reason for the warfare and raiding that was a consistent part of pre-modern Mediterranean/Near Eastern history was to acquire female slaves to produce textiles. Yes, cooking, cleaning, and sex were also reasons to acquire female slaves, but the economic reason was for textile manufacturing.

So if fabric is that valuable, you’re not going to waste it. You’re not going to make something tightly tailored, because as anyone who sews can tell you, cutting fabric to fit produces a lot of waste. In addition, the cloth of the ancient world was often much more loosely woven than cloth today, which is partly to do with weaving technology but most to do with the fact that the denser the cloth, the more threads there are in it, which means the more threads you have to spin for it, which means the time you have to spend making it has just gone up dramatically. Loosely woven cloth ravels like hell when you cut it, again as anyone who sews can tell you, and that makes it much more difficult to sew something nicely tailored. Needles and scissors are also items we take for granted, but are, in their modern form, relatively modern inventions and have, historically, been tricky items to make.

Thus, most of the clothing of the ancient Mediterranean/Near East was based on the rectangles of fabric that come directly off the loom. Much of China’s historical dress is similar, at least in the time frames we’re talking about. Throughout European/North African/Middle Eastern history, and in China until silk changed the game (at least for the rich), tailoring skill and technology has lagged behind cloth production skill and technology.

The famous painting from the early Renaissance where the woman is wearing a dress constructed using a truly obscene amount of fabric? That painting is often held up as an example of the sharp increase in the availability of material goods that is the hallmark of the European Renaissance (especially because it is of a merchant family and not nobles), and it is that. But it is also an example of a mode of dress that was difficult-to-impossible to achieve before the invention of the flyer wheel (for spinning) and treadle loom (for weaving), which made cloth take considerably less time to make and therefore considerably cheaper, and which also made cloth considerably more amenable to tailoring.

So yeah. You too would make fashion out of sheets if it took you most of a month of full-time work to produce one sheet.

[angualupin]

I also want to point out that much of the historical dress of Sub-Saharan Africa and the Americas (in the places where cloth was used) is similar, it’s just based on narrow rectangles sewn together rather than large rectangles, because these are places where the backstrap loom and/or tubular loom remained the mainstay of weaving technology. Backstrap looms produce narrow lengths of cloth (15-18 inches is usually the limit), so with that weaving technology + some sewing, you get things like Central and South American ponchos and much of the traditional dress of Central and Western Africa.

[analife]

Mak Tumang // Haute Couture

[ahnwriting]

HELL YEAH

It’s here it’s here it’s here!!! The first book of my urban fantasy series with a Korean-American lesbian protagonist is on Amazon as an ebook for $3.99!!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07D3T81NX?ref=aw_sitb_digital-text#productDescription_secondary_view_div_1526520278906

Blurb:

Disgraced witch Harrietta Lee has made a lot of mistakes in her life; there’s a reason she’s got a sizable burn scar slapped across the side of her neck and a formal letter of excommunication from the international underground magical community. But who has time to dwell on the past when you’re trying to make rent in New York? Things are mostly clean and simple, until her next odd job is brought to her by a representative of a powerful corporate family—a family she once had close personal ties to. As she unwillingly digs through six years’ worth of personal baggage, she’s also got to contend with an inhuman admirer shadowing her in the street.

But hey, maybe it’ll be worth it for the beautiful women she gets to kiss…

[redshield-writes]

Congratulations! The cover looks amazing - and might I say, the blurb is absolutely killer. This sounds so cool!

[concerningwolves]

Holy shit I’m so buying this once I’ve finished my current read, it sounds amazing! Super happy for you <3

[simplyshelbs16xoxo]

I saw this on Facebook and died 😂😂

[thestarfishdancer]

@thebibliosphere

[thesesummersonspoet]

(book hype person) no. I'm a reader and writer from Wattpad. I don't mean publishing. I also don't quite understand the hostility... I don't hate your work. In fact, I love it. But it's very hard TO love it, when I can't even read it. Which is why making a lot of noise over it doesn't make sense to me. And if I had known you would respond in such an aggressive manner, I wouldn't have said anything. Just figured you'd want to hear from a fan.

I just wrote an entire post explaining why you can’t read it. I’m still writing it??? 

I’m “making a lot of noise” because it’s my space. My blog. I can post about whatever I’m excited about. For some people that’s a band. For some people it’s a youtuber or a tv show. What I’m excited about is my story ideas. So I share some moodboards and talk about it and see if anyone is interested. 

But I’m not writing it for wattpad. I share some on wattpad so people can see a little bit. Maybe I’ll post more when I’ve got sutff I’m happy with but like I said it’s a first draft so it’s a mess. I’m not going to share it if I don’t thnk its presentable. 

I’m writing it to get published. That’s the aim. 

I’m glad you like my work but I’m being hostile because you are criticising me for how my writing process works. That’s quite honestly none of your business. If you don’t like blogs that talk about their stories without posting them unfollow me. But there are a tonne of writeblrs who do the same thing?? 

Lots of people in the community are aiming to get published so post about their characters and post graphics and snippets without sharing the whole thing. Sure, most of them don’t have as many WIPs on the go at once as I do but so what?? That’s how my brain works. 

If you want to read the whole thing, you have to wait til its done. As I just explained in that long post I am in stage two of a long process. In a few years time maybe you’ll be able to buy a copy. Until then you’re going to have to make do with what I’m comfortable posting. 

[draconako]

Ahhh... K. I think I've just lost the respect I had for you. Anon wasn't even being rude and you came at them. That isn't cool or cute.

[laurelmylerauthor]

Potentially Unpopular Writing Opinion:

Reading how-to books and posts is not as valuable as the knowledge gained by sitting down and actually writing.

[trinitythatcher]

[charlesoberonn]

I made this last night and forgot to upload it

[pervocracy]

child handling for the childless nurse

My current job has me working with children, which is kind of a weird shock after years in environments where a “young” patient is 40 years old.  Here’s my impressions so far:

Birth - 1 year: Essentially a small cute animal.  Handle accordingly; gently and affectionately, but relying heavily on the caregivers and with no real expectation of cooperation.

Age 1 - 2: Hates you.  Hates you so much.  You can smile, you can coo, you can attempt to soothe; they hate you anyway, because you’re a stranger and you’re scary and you’re touching them.  There’s no winning this so just get it over with as quickly and non-traumatically as possible.

Age 3 - 5: Nervous around medical things, but possible to soothe.  Easily upset, but also easily distracted from the thing that upset them.  Smartphone cartoons and “who wants a sticker?!!?!?” are key management techniques.

Age 6 - 10: Really cool, actually.  I did not realize kids were this cool.  Around this age they tend to be fairly outgoing, and super curious and eager to learn.  Absolutely do not babytalk; instead, flatter them with how grown-up they are, teach them some Fun Gross Medical Facts, and introduce potentially frightening experiences with “hey, you want to see something really cool?”

Age 11 - 14: Extremely variable.  Can be very childish or very mature, or rapidly switch from one mode to the other.  At this point you can almost treat them as an adult, just… a really sensitive and unpredictable adult.  Do not, under any circumstances, offer stickers.  (But they might grab one out of the bin anyway.)

Age 15 - 18: Basically an adult with severely limited life experience.  Treat as an adult who needs a little extra education with their care.  Keep parents out of the room as much as possible, unless the kid wants them there.  At this point you can go ahead and offer stickers again, because they’ll probably think it’s funny.  And they’ll want one.  Deep down, everyone wants a sticker.

[mikkeneko]

This is also a pretty excellent guide to writing  kids of various ages

[thesesummersonspoet]

What is a queer author?

An author who identifies as queer?? 

[draconako]

Me, a fellow queer author: waves