just let me ramble

Eso | 27 y/o | They/them | OCs and art/writing refs | most posts are about my personal story Benthic Zone that I don't elaborate much about. whoopsies! | trying to get a queue set up

[eloquentsocs]

Who are some of your characters for Benthic Zone? :o if you don't mind me asking! the posts you've been reblogging for it have such cool vibes

OMG HI HELLO

this ask genuinely made my day, I hadn't planned on talking about the story too much since my target audience has been my friend's group chat

but lets' see where do I start ermmmmm

It's a post apocalyptic horror story based around themes of accepting your fate versus breaking lose from it to choose your own path! Also themes of grief and relationships with duty / responsibility / obligation.

There are a few different areas that I've based on different styles of "punk" in sci-fi writing. I have the solarpunk landbound cowboys, the cyberpunk spacedwellers and the steampunk underwater seadwellers which is prolly why the posts you've seen have been so varied haha

The two main characters are these two guys named Dylan Canick and Daralis McAllister! (I just finished art of them earlier this week )

Dylan is this sort of cynical jaded once-been famous adventurer (who now most people think died in his last adventure) who's been hired to escort Daralis across the world. There's this prophecy about Daralis and how he's going to save the world that the man is just NOT interested in at all; whereas Dylan has been specifically hired to help him finish it. So you can see the kind of shenanigans that they get up to with these conflicting interests!

There are a lot of other characters too that I've been working on but these two are the most developed as of right now :D And of course there's definitely more to it than that as I continue to work on it (it's my passion project)

[crayonsandcottontails]

Asking a girl if she wants to make out and she nods excitedly then turns her head for you to kiss her cheek.

[crayonsandcottontails]

Confused, you tell her you meant more like, serious kissing, and she blushes and goes silent then nods again and tilts her head down to present her forehead to you. She hasn't stopped blushing profusely.

[romanceyourdemons]

in the club begging strangers for forgiveness and proving incapable of articulating what for when asked

[valtsv]

perhaps a controversial take but in my opinion an effective illusion of choice is one that doesn't absolve you of the guilt of your participation in it. because the system is designed to exploit and corrupt even the best of intentions. because the game is rigged, but you still have to deal in. it isn't your fault, and you had no choice, and it doesn't matter. if you're the kind of compassionate-hearted person who cares enough and values human life enough to want better, enough to be willing to fight for it, in the first place, you'll still regret everyone you couldn't save in pursuit of that greater good.

[valtsv]

& maybe that sounds cynical but i do think it's so much more compelling and encouraging to acknowledge this and then still try to choose kindness whenever possible. to help as much as you can, even if it ultimately won't save anyone, only comfort them a little before the roof of the burning building you're all trapped in collapses on you. because it matters that you made meaning out of pointless cruelty. it matters that you made a choice where there was supposed to be none. it still matters that you choose to be kind in the face of that.

[greenbloods]

sorry i wasnt communicative about my emotions earlier. i guess whats been really bothering me these past few days is that- [suddenly remembers people like when youre confident and assertive] CHAIN LIGHTNING⚡ CHAIN LIGHTNING⚡ CHAIN LIGHTNING⚡

[writeblrfantasy]

my 10 holy grail pieces of writing advice for beginners

from an indie author who's published 4 books and written 20+, as well as 400k in fanfiction (who is also a professional beta reader who encounters the same issues in my clients' books over and over)

show don't tell is every bit as important as they say it is, no matter how sick you are of hearing about it. "the floor shifted beneath her feet" hits harder than "she felt sick with shock."

no head hopping. if you want to change pov mid scene, put a scene break. you can change it multiple times in the same scene! just put a break so your readers know you've changed pov.

if you have to infodump, do it through dialogue instead of exposition. your reader will feel like they're learning alongside the character, and it will flow naturally into your story.

never open your book with an exposition dump. instead, your opening scene should drop into the heart of the action with little to no context. raise questions to the reader and sprinkle in the answers bit by bit. let your reader discover the context slowly instead of holding their hand from the start. trust your reader; don't overexplain the details. this is how you create a perfect hook.

every chapter should end on a cliffhanger. doesn't have to be major, can be as simple as ending a chapter mid conversation and picking it up immediately on the next one. tease your reader and make them need to turn the page.

every scene should subvert the character's expectations, as big as a plot twist or as small as a conversation having a surprising outcome. scenes that meet the character's expectations, such as a boring supply run, should be summarized.

arrive late and leave early to every scene. if you're character's at a party, open with them mid conversation instead of describing how they got dressed, left their house, arrived at the party, (because those things don't subvert their expectations). and when you're done with the reason for the scene is there, i.e. an important conversation, end it. once you've shown what you needed to show, get out, instead of describing your character commuting home (because it doesn't subvert expectations!)

epithets are the devil. "the blond man smiled--" you've lost me. use their name. use it often. don't be afraid of it. the reader won't get tired of it. it will serve you far better than epithets, especially if you have two people of the same pronouns interacting.

your character should always be working towards a goal, internal or external (i.e learning to love themself/killing the villain.) try to establish that goal as soon as possible in the reader's mind. the goal can change, the goal can evolve. as long as the reader knows the character isn't floating aimlessly through the world around them with no agency and no desire. that gets boring fast.

plan scenes that you know you'll have fun writing, instead of scenes that might seem cool in your head but you know you'll loathe every second of. besides the fact that your top priority in writing should be writing for only yourself and having fun, if you're just dragging through a scene you really hate, the scene will suffer for it, and readers can tell. the scenes i get the most praise on are always the scenes i had the most fun writing. an ideal outline shouldn't have parts that make you groan to look at. you'll thank yourself later.

happy writing :)

[caracuuw]

Daily affirmations:

-I can make my OC a worse person

-I can make my OC more miserable

-I can make my OC more repressed

-I can give my OC more issues

-I can make my OC more self loathing

-I can give my OC new fears and insecurities

[miseria-fortes-viros]

yeah yeah fire-based characters are destructive and angry and violent and evil blah blah blah BORING overdone. more fire as a lifegiver. warm and comforting. fire-based characters as guides lighting the way. personal heater in the cold and dark but don’t sleep too close or you’ll wake up with heat rash. fire sterilizes and cauterizes!! more fire-based healers. plants perking up and flowers turning towards them and they attract moths. fire-based characters who are hearths instead of wildfires!! the core of a home the pillar of a community the key to societal advancement. give them an internal flame that visibly glows and flickers instead of a heart that beats. extinguish that light when they die. etc

[post-troy-stress-disorder]

to me the thing about deification is that something fundamental is lost in the process

[post-troy-stress-disorder]

people can’t be immortal. so in order to be immortal you can’t be a person anymore. you have to be distilled. stripped of everything. till you come out the other side as an abstract concept.

[habken]

Have you ever made a mouths tutorial? I thought you had but I can't find it under the art tips tag so maybe I'm just going crazy

But if you haven't and it isn't too much to ask, could you make one? I love the way you draw mouths I need that ability BAD (˶˘ ³˘˶)

I don't know how to explain in a simple tutorial cause there's so many ways to draw mouths but I hope my doodles can help

Something to keep in mind is teeth, think about where the head is positioned/angled and how that's going to changed the perspective on the teeth, which will in turn change how the mouth looks. Remember that the top teeth are fused to the skull while the bottom jaw can move around, so when you're drawing the mouth open, the chin will move with the mouth

[bish0ps]

damn that's crazy dot com forward slash thanks for sharing

[bluehairedspidey]

[luna-azzurra]

On writing internal conflict

the juiciest, most painful, most deliciously human conflict isn’t when your characters fight dragons, or armies, or even each other. It’s when they fight THEMSELVES. And I don’t mean a cute little “oh no, should I go left or right on the map” problem. I mean the kind of fight that leaves them contradicting themselves, making stupid choices, hurting the people they love because they can’t get their shit together.

People are contradictions. You want closeness but also space. You want revenge but also forgiveness. You want freedom but also safety. And you CAN'T “win” both. Which means no matter what choice your character makes, they’re always losing something...

⟢ Your character should want two opposite things at once. Not “they want cake but they’re on a diet”... deeper than that. Like: they want to forgive but also punish. They want to be loved but also fear intimacy. They want to belong but also can’t stop running.

⟢ “I know what I should do, but I don’t want to.” Honestly? This one carries me. Characters who know the “right” choice and still go left are instantly interesting. They’re self-sabotaging, they’re human. Nobody likes a character who’s perfect at moral math. Give me the disaster who says “screw it” and pays the price.

⟢ Comfort vs. growth. This one is everywhere if you pay attention. Do they stay small, safe, predictable? Or do they risk it all for the terrifying possibility of becoming more? Coming-of-age, romance, even horror lives here. “Stay in the cocoon or rip yourself out and bleed on the floor for a chance at wings.”

⟢ Self-image vs. reality. Oof. This one hurts. Who they think they are vs. what their actions prove them to be. A “good man” who does something cruel. A “coward” who throws themselves into danger. Nothing breaks a character like realizing they’ve been lying to themselves about WHO THEY REALLY ARE.

⟢ Fear disguised as logic. Internal conflict loves this mask. They don’t say “I’m scared.” They say “it’s not practical.” They pile excuses on top of excuses until even they believe the lie. Fear is sneaky. It makes “reasonable” decisions feel rational, when really it’s just cowardice in a nicer outfit.

⟢ The loop... Internal conflict doesn’t solve itself in chapter 12 and vanish forever. Real people relapse. They learn their lesson and then do the same dumb thing again in chapter 15, because habits and wounds don’t disappear just because a monologue happened.

⟢ Desire vs. morality. Classic for a reason. “I shouldn’t want this thing. But god, I want it anyway.” You can wring a whole trilogy out of this one sentence.

⟢ The body vs. the brain. Maybe they say “I don’t love you” while their hands are shaking. Or they tell themselves they’re brave while their stomach knots. That disconnect between what they say/think and what their body does? Pure GOLD, use it.

The point is: internal conflict isn’t neat. It’s not a “oh they overcame their fear, check.” It’s fucking ugly, and our characters are allowed to contradict themselves, relapse, screw up, hurt people, learn too late, or never learn at all.

[inusmasha]

Sometimes it’s hard to read fanfic when you’re studying herbalism.. when they have the character preparing a tincture to use that same DAY!!?

Baby those dried herbs need to sit in that jar with high proof alcohol for at LEAST a month!

That’s why before the use of calendars ppl use to prepare their tinctures either on the new moon or full moon. A a full moon cycle is usually 28 days or so. And they would give the moon names so it’s easier to remember when/what month said tincture was bottled.

This is also why herbal medicine is prepare in small batches. You have to take your time preparing your bottles. Making sure everything is clean so you don’t end up with mold. Diluting your grain alcohol. Heckkk knowing when to pick your herbs for max potency! Drying your herbs! That takes a lot of time too!

I didn’t mean to rant lol

[heywriters]

No, this explains literally everything to me, thank you.

[hunxi-after-hours]

love it when an extremely high-functioning and put-together character gets slammed with something that would topple any lesser person but continues to function in an alarmingly efficient manner while everyone who knows and cares about them flutters anxiously around them like "please lie down please rest please accept medical attention" while the high-functioning character just looks askance at all their concerned faces like "what are you talking about? I'm perfectly fine" as tiny cracks start appearing in their demeanor and facade

[kazoosandfannypacks]

You know what? I'm gonna say it. There are some characters who are GOOD and that is a CHOICE that is INTRINSIC to their character. There are some characters who wake up every morning and make the choice to be a good person in the face of a world that gives them every reason not to. There are some characters who "deserve a dark side arc" or "have a right to be a little evil after everything they've been through" and they actively choose to deny themselves that right because even after everything they still choose to do the right thing and to help people and to love everyone even after it breaks them and THAT'S what makes them such a good character— the very fact THAT they could easily but CHOOSE to do right instead. There are some characters whose choice to be good is an intrinsic facet of their character and to take that away from them is to take away everything that makes them such a compelling character in the first place.

[ephemeralhorror]

why are cyberpunk tabletop things so obsessed with decency and personhood being tied to how many surgeries you haven’t had

[ephemeralhorror]

“if you have a prosthetic it takes out a part of your soul” like thanks shadowrun

[rlyehtaxidermist]

in early cyberpunk, the point was more along the lines of “if we integrate technology into our bodies we risk becoming dependent upon the people and institutions who control that technology, who would then use that to enrich themselves at our expense”

unfortunately that was too anti-corporate for American mainstream culture so as cyberpunk moved out of its niche it became “uhhh it eats your soul I guess”

[the960writers]

tags by @rubyvroom: 

#this is important context #if you weren’t around at the time it is easy to miss but #anti-corporate sentiment was pretty much the lynchpin of cyberpunk until there were movies and games making money off it #it was the 1980s you guys #the entire point was that corporations are evil and technology should be used to circumvent them and escape their control over our lives #and not be used to make ourselves into another product #now that the internet is entirely monetized and corporate it’s harder to remember that originally it was synonymous w freedom & independence

Yes, exactly. Cyberpunk is anti-corporations, not anti-body-modification.

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

#the real horror is medical debt ( tag via @bronanlynch )

[versegm]

In my personal experience (which is, granted, not universal) I have never been an actor in a play that 100% went as it was supposed to the whole time. There is always an actor who skips a line, or forgets stage directions, or took a bit too long to change costumes and is now late for their appearances. But the thing about theater is that it's a live performance- you can't just apologize and redo the scene. You have to carry the characters through the important plot beats even if you have to ad-lib to do so. Do you get what I'm saying? A character in a play is not a fixed thing. A book will not change lines between readings. A movie will not change shots between rewatchs. But in theater, a character may act differently, speak differently, but they have to reach the same ending regardless. Characters in a play are trapped, not because things are already written- they do have some leeway- but because everything will conspire to drag them back on their predestined road. Do you understand? Do you understand what I'm saying?