After huge popularity fossilized crab claw, this is a piece of opalised snake skin in a small boulder from Queensland, Australia. It is opalised in the same way the crab claw was.
Stranger Things
occasionally subtle

★

if i look back, i am lost
cherry valley forever
Lint Roller? I Barely Know Her
dirt enthusiast
RMH

Janaina Medeiros

⁂

shark vs the universe

No title available
Acquired Stardust
Sade Olutola

Discoholic 🪩
Claire Keane

祝日 / Permanent Vacation
we're not kids anymore.
d e v o n
Jules of Nature

seen from Türkiye

seen from Malaysia

seen from T1

seen from Türkiye

seen from Germany

seen from United States
seen from Germany
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@hvkryter
After huge popularity fossilized crab claw, this is a piece of opalised snake skin in a small boulder from Queensland, Australia. It is opalised in the same way the crab claw was.
Cat Snapchats
Feline isn’t big on snow either….
Worldbuilding Masterpost
Instead of reading, I’ve been worldbuilding. And let me tell you, this journey has spanned so many emotions, and I’m still not done yet. It’s been fun, exciting, stressful, depressing, overwhelming, underwhelming, happy, joyous. Just everything. It’s been a rollercoaster.
So since I’m still in the midst of world building, I thought I’d go ahead and make a worldbuilding masterpost. These are some links that have helped me out during this process. Also, disclaimer, these are primarily fantasy world building sites, but some of these things are also helpful when planning other genres (like historical fiction).
Before I jump into the links, here are some things I’ve learned on the way:
Some people need to plan everything ahead of time. Some people plan as they write. When you figure out what works for you, go with that. I’ve realized I’m a little of both. I need to plan until I feel like I’m not writing, and then I go back to writing until I feel like I haven’t planned enough. This stresses me out, but it also works for me. (I work best when I’m stressed, so… )
Think of everything like a system, and every system affects another system. If your story takes place near an ocean, this is going to affect what they eat, diet, diplomatic relations, climate, dress, transportation and even more things that I probably won’t think of or realize until later.
Don’t worry about planning EVERYTHING. This goes hand and hand with my last point. Everything affects everything, and sometimes you won’t realize that until your second or third or sixth rewrite.
Geography, Climate + Nature Things
Practical Steps to a Rewarding Fantasy Map
Crafting Plausible Maps
Mythical Creature Guide
Government + Politics
List of Forms of Government
16 Types of Government
Magic + Technology
Technology, Magic, and Culture
Know How your Magic Works
Creating a Unique Magic System
Superpower Wiki
Magic Academies
Worldbuilding Basics: Technology
Culture
Cultural Appropriation in Fantasy
Creating Matriarchies
Creating a Fantasy Culture
The Four Rules of Using Fake Words
Guilds
Basics of Social Stratification
100 Fantasy Character Jobs
Creating the History
Medieval Castle Layout
Religion
Worksheets, Questionnaires, + ETC
Fantasy Worldbuilding Questions
Basic Overlooked Worldbuilding Questions
7 Deadly Sins of Worldbuilding
10 Questions to Ask When You Create a Fictional Culture
World-Building for Fantasy Stories
Clevergirlhelps Worldbuilding Masterpost
Creating Fantasy Nations
The Difference Between Good Worldbuilding and Great
How to Create a Believable World for Your Characters
An Introduction to Worldbuilding
List of Some Books with Worldbuilding
Pay attention to how these books introduce the reader to the world. Some of them have long-winded, info dump histories. Some gradually bring you into the world through the eyes of their characters. If you’re interested in worldbuilding J.K. Rowling style, I recommend checking out Pottermore because you’ll see how much she planned but never really included in the story. If you decide to give these a (re)read, also look at the small details such as legends (the wizarding world in harry potter is obsessed with the numbers 3 and 7), etc. As well as the big things like everything I mentioned above.
1984 - George Orwell
Game of Thrones - Georrge R.R. Martin
Lord of the Rings - J.R.Tolkien
Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
Harry Potter - J.K. Rowling
The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
Avalon: Web of Magic Series - Rachel Roberts
indoissetep:
*slowly slides excerpt towards people who still insist on writing Finn off as selfish/cowardly/unintelligent/weak/whathaveyou
jedicamie:
it’s interesting how there’s obviously tension in the star wars universe over the sentience of droids (“we don’t serve their kind here!”) but we never really find out what’s up with that. plus, attitudes towards droids definitely change over the course of the chronological series - in aotc, obi-wan laughs at the idea that droids can think, but by tfa, everybody’s concerned with bb8′s feelings. in anh, owen, an older person, refers to droids as “it” while luke, a young person, is perfectly happy to call droids whatever pronouns they call themselves/each other. it’s a nice bit of worldbuilding, actually.
Threepio is a Skywalker
anidoesntlikesand:
Anakin made him
He lost a hand
He is so fucking dramatic
Originally posted by liveinaninsaneworld
emmagrant01:
roane72:
rottenbrainstuff:
roane72:
The only time Anakin Skywalker ever held his daughter in his arms was when he was making her watch the destruction of her home planet.
…..how dare you
I AM NOT SUFFERING THIS ALONE. I’m dragging all y'all down with me.
Omggggggg
jawnbaeyega:
How long had Finn known Rey at the point where he decided her life was worth literally changing the course of his? A day? Maybe two?
Finn risked it all to defect from a fascist, genocidal regime that stole him from birth and raised him to kill. Finn was so intent on getting away from the First Order that not even a map to Luke Skywalker or the fight to balance the light and dark side of the Force could derail his mission to get as far away from the First Order as possible.
But Finn sees Rey kidnapped by the First Order and that’s enough. Suddenly the Outer Rim couldn’t be further from his mind and he’s plotting, planning, pursuing any way to break back into his personal hell to save her from it.
But here’s the thing – Finn quite literally risks it all: the mission, his life, the Resistance, to go back for Rey. Yet when he finds her, he doesn’t even take credit. “We came back for you,” he says. Because for Finn it is Rey’s question (“What are you doing here?”) and not his presence that is surprising. This is basic. It is expected. Finn goes back for people. It defines him.
Facing your own fear in order to prevent someone you care about from living that fear?
That’s what it means to be human.
That’s what it means to love.
That’s what it means to be Finn.
How much must Luke Skywalker be freaking out right now?
meripihka7:
priscellie:
thefalconawakens:
bystander3:
Can you imagine?
You are moping on your island of self-imposed exile, and then this girl shows up.
She’s flying your best friend’s ship. The ship that Han thought he lost for ever. The ship that was stolen and passed through so many hands that he was sure he’d never see it again. The same ship that took you away from home for the first time.
She’s accompanied by your personal droid. The droid you left behind and abandoned. The droid that C-3PO was sure would never be the same again.
She holds out her hand and she’s holding your father’s light saber. The sword you were sure was lost forever. The light saber that you dropped down a bottomless air shaft on a gas giant thirty years ago. The light saber you knew you would never see again.
You look up and you see her eyes. Maz Kanata says that if you live long enough, you see the same eyes looking out of different faces. The girl’s face is different, but those eyes are the same. You know those eyes. They’re the eyes you thought you’d never see again.
And that’s when you know it.
You’re screwed.
They say sometimes the Force works in mysterious ways. Sometimes, the Force will send you little signs. Subtle clues.
Other times, the Force will just beat you repeatedly over the head with a gigantic neon sign that says: “You can’t run away from your past anymore, Luke. I won’t let you. Look, here is your past come back to haunt you. Now deal with it.”
You have no idea how much I adore this post with my whole being
I like the idea of the Force sending Luke little signs over the years that it’s time to return to his loved ones, gently increasing in intensity as he ignores them, until it finally gets fed up and shoves the events of Episode 7 into motion, finishing with a flourish of HERE’S YOUR NEW APPRENTICE, SPACE HOBO.
Aided and abetted by the ghost trio, I imagine. Especially since he did not look at all surprised.
Obi-Wan and Yoda sending him dreams and whispers for 15 years, before an exasperated Anakin pushed them aside “Excuse me, but you two are not very good at dealing with Skywalkers and have amply demonstrated that fact over the decades. We don’t do subtle. *appears giant-size over the sky* That’s it, Luke, we’re sending you all the things! So PULL YOUR SHIT TOGETHER, SON!!”
Shout-out to fan-fiction writers who don’t or can’t write the 50k fan-fictions, because of a lack of focus or motivation, or mental illness.
Shout-out to fan-fiction writers who don’t or can’t write smut, but are still lumped into a group that is almost expected to write smut.
Shout-out to fan-fiction writers who can’t update chapters frequently for maybe a multitude of reasons, and get messages daily from people asking for “their” new chapter.
Shout-out to fan-fiction writers who aren’t big name fans and hardly get ten kudos or one comment on their fan-fictions.
Shout-out to fan-fiction writers who stay up all night editing and rewriting and don’t get much attention on their work no matter how much they feel like they promote their writing.
Shout-out to fan-fiction writers who don’t write a lot and are constantly asked to write more but can’t for whatever valid reason they have.
Shout-out to fan-fiction writers who have the courage to post their writing online and only have it publicly made fun of for grammar or poor characterization.
Shout-out to fan-fiction writers for writing their fan-fiction, posting it online, and continuing to do it no matter how much or little attention they get, and constantly improving as a writer with every upload.
You all rock.
notbecauseofvictories:
I’ve got to believe that the Resistance’s intelligence officers are just. constantly Done. With everyone.
Rey’s understanding of aurebesh is more functional than formal, which isn’t a problem until the Resistance starts asking her to submit mission reports—she rarely spells anything the same way twice (”even her name!” the intelligence officer moans) and her sentence structure is….not so much a structure as “a loose grouping of things that might be parts of speech”
“…..I don’t understand, what’s the problem?” Finn asks because Finn’s grammar is impeccable, once you decipher the dense nest of abbreviations, First Order codes, and trooper slang that fill his reports. (This does not save any more time.)
“If you could maybe…..not? wax lyrical about the TIE fighter?” the intelligence officer tells Poe, when he finally gets around to submitting his report on the escape from the Finalizer. “Not that understanding enemy technology isn’t a vital contribution to intelligence, but we don’t need 500 polysyllabic words about how the sun glinted off the casing.”
General Organa still submits reports like they used to in the Rebellion (her battle damage assessment style is about thirty years out of date, and she calculates galactic coordinates like it’s the late republic) but everyone in intel is fucking terrified of bringing this up to her. Instead, they have a designated officer who deals exclusively with translating General Organa’s reports into more modern New Republic standards,so they can be processed.
(At least yours actually submits reports, their counterparts in the First Order would say, if they all got together in a bar somewhere to commiserate about how hard soldiers make military intelligence. Kylo Ren has submitted exactly one misrep in the last 15 years. Thirty-two people died and it just said ‘it was the Force’.)
notbecauseofvictories:
other random headcanons about chewbacca:
he definitely thinks han has Insufficient Fur, even that time han tried to grow a beard and it looked like something patchy and a little bit ginger died on his face.
because han does not have enough fur, chewie is convinced han is cold 80% of the time. he worries about it, which is why he keeps the falcon ten degrees warmer than is actually comfortable.
he definitely hated “chewie” when han first started using it (he is named after bacca, one of the great heroes, it is an honor—) but once han started introducing him that way, he basically resigned himself to it.
he had his revenge years later, because ben couldn’t pronounce “chewie”—to many vowels for a youngling’s mouth—so he became “bacca”
this is one of the reasons ben is was his favorite
he was absolutely useless during the process of han pursuing leia—wookiee courtship mostly involves complicated ritual dancing and bellowing, so their interactions on hoth looked very romantic to chewbacca
(it had made him a little jealous, how expertly han seemed to navigate his way into an argument; chewbacca had struggled with that, when he was looking for a mate)
……also, while it’s really not any of his business, chewbacca always approved of leia. she might be a human female, but she snarled and snapped like a wookiee, and han needed more wookiees in his life.
“leia” “luke” and “ben” are all complicated names to transliterate into shyriiwook; chewbacca definitely refers to them as “small mate” “sand-brother” and “pup”
chewbacca thinks of han as a word that’s difficult to translate out of shyriiwook; it plays off an ambiguity in the language that doesn’t survive in basic. but if pressed, he would have to say the closest translation is something like flight and something else like freedom, and also, the image of a bird in the sky.
Elements of Character I
The more I read of ‘amateur’ writing, the more I realise that problems with character building and expression are one of the key places that the text falls down. There are a thousand reasons for it, and I think the most common reasons are rushing to get to the fun part and asking the wrong questions of the people in our heads. I see countless ‘character questionnaires’ that answer aesthetic questions we have about them, such as their favourite colour and whether they trim their nails weekly or fortnightly. The problem with this is that the characters become nothing more than people who like sky blue and break out the clippers every four days and three hours. They’re not people with any depth to them - would you want to read about that person?
If yes, I suppose you can stop reading.
You should really be asking yourself, and your characters, the following:
What is their one genuinely positive trait? (Yes, one; I know some characters may be more ‘good’ than others, but let’s keep it simple, for the time being)
What are three of their negative traits? (Yes, three; let’s face it, people who can’t claim the sun shines out of their backsides are much more interesting)
What is their goal? This should be comprised of two things, their interior goal, and their exterior goal. Their interior goal is the thing that they really want or need to achieve, whilst the exterior is how their goal is filtered through their positive and negative traits, thus how others perceive it; for example, X wants to save the world, but X believes that purging it of human life is the way to do this, making their exterior goal the destruction of mankind.
What is their motivation? Why do they want to achieve this goal? What drives them to do it instead of letting someone else do it?
How do they look? What factors of their appearance are affected by their lifestyle? A peasant isn’t going to wear velvet, and someone who spends their life sitting down and eating rich food isn’t going to be thin. Someone who spends all day working the fields in a warm country will be tanned. Someone whose culture expresses itself through tattoos, will have expressive tattoos. Sometimes, this can’t be answered thoroughly until you’ve created solid cultures, which is fine. A general outline is good in the beginning, you can expand on this later.
What is their demeanour like? Again, this only needs to be basic, until you’ve established cultures that value certain ways of behaving. Are they polite and well spoken, or do they speak in short, clipped sentences and avoid extending conversations?
How does their goal relate to, or conflict with, the goals of others? This one is better answered when you have a group of characters prepared, as you’ll be able to correlate them into groups of pro-goal and anti-goal.
How does their motivation affect how they will try to achieve their goal? This is vital to ensuring that your character remains true to themselves and as untouched by your God-like hands as possible.
How do their positive and negative traits influence how they react to other characters? This is also something that is better done when you have the basics of a group of characters. It will allow you to have the beginning of an understanding of how your characters are going to interact.
The Protagonist
When you’re deciding who your protagonist should be, you should look at your collection of characters. By now, you should know the answers to the above questions. Your protagonist should be the character who;
Is likely to change the most throughout the course of the story.
Is able to show the majority of the main storyline from their perspective.
Is best equipped to allow the reader emotional access; this should be someone who the plot has a potent effect on, someone whose life is irrevocably changed by the circumstances you’re about to inflict on them.
The most important thing about your protagonist isn’t that you like them, or that your reader is guaranteed to like them. Neither are necessary functions of your standard bearer. What is important, is that you don’t shield them from conflict. This is another place where texts stumble and inevitably fall over; the protagonist is not challenged enough to change, and I’ll discuss exactly how important that process of change is when I come to Storytelling. At this point, suffice it to say, that if there is no change, there is no story, and you’re not going to sell any books, or hold anyone’s interest for terribly long. Your treatment of your protagonist should, in fact, become worse and worse until she finally achieves her goal, or fails spectacularly in trying to do so.
The bottom line is, your protagonist is holding your story up by its ears. She should be driven to achieve a goal through gradually worsening circumstances, greater challenges and harder situations. She should endure a hotbed of her worst fears and she should have to jump over ever-bigger obstacles. Her difficulty is your reader’s reason to care.
Have I belaboured the point enough?
Which takes us to an equally important person in your story.
The Antagonist
There’s nothing worse than a paper villain. You know the sort; they’re claimed to be the biggest threat in the universe, and yet the reader never sees them, or really feels the effects of their nefarious behaviour. The first rule of antagonists is that they not only feel threatening, but that they are a threat to your protagonist. There is a chance they’ll win. There is something that they can do that your protagonist can’t. There is every possibility that if your protagonist makes the wrong decision, her antagonist is going to bring the world crashing down around her ears.
Your antagonist should be the character who:
Has a diametrically opposed exterior goal to your protagonist. Bear in mind that they can’t see one another’s interior goals, they can only perceive one another through actions and words. They might well have the same goal and different ways of achieving them, but the exterior goal, at least, should give your protagonist a reason to want to burn them at the stake.
Has enough power to eventually achieve their goal.
Is capable of supplying the hardships your protagonist needs in order to achieve change.
The most important thing in the development of your antagonist is understanding their ‘whys’ and motivation. They don’t just ‘wake up evil one day’, they weren’t born evil unless you’ve made a race who can be born evil, and I’d urge you to delete them from your world entirely. Their motivation and ‘whys’ are going to have a huge impact on their behaviour and progress towards their goal. Make the effort to understand them, so that you can unleash their full potential on your poor, unsuspecting protagonist.
Make them a force to be reckoned with, and your reader is going to be more inclined to stick around for the reckoning. Let them win once in a while, it makes that threat feel more real.
Companions and Minions
There’s this idea in fantasy that reads a lot like you’re about to enter a dungeon in World of Warcraft; the idea of the different kinds of companion. You know the drill, there’s a warrior and a mage and a healer and a rogue and a ranger and…
It’s not necessary.
What is necessary is grouping characters by their goals. I know I’m going on about it, but it’s the easiest and most effective way of deciding who is going to group together. People with the same goals are more likely to band together to achieve them, even if potential conflict comes out of their ways of reaching their desired conclusion.
The key components of these groups are:
They must have a reason to follow the Protagonist/Antagonist. Without it, there’s no sense in them doing so.
They must share a common goal.
They do not have to like one another, or the way others go about reaching their goals.
They should fail and require help sometimes - it makes their need for following the Protagonist/Antagonist more realistic.
They must have a useful purpose for your Protagonist/Antagonist, otherwise, again, there’s no sense in them tagging along, they’re just dead weight.
That’s all for now. I’ll be back later with more on the elements of character.
- LSG
Outline Your Novel In 30 Minutes
This is a quick exercise designed to sketch out the major events of your novel. It only gives you a map— you have to make the drive yourself!
Get a kitchen timer or set your alarm. You’re going to free-write for three minutes on several questions. (If you want to cheat and write for five minutes on each, go ahead. Just be warned the exercise might take you an hour then.) In free-writing, you put your fingers to keyboard or pen to paper and write, without regard to grammar, spelling, sense, or organization, for a specified period of time. The trick is— you can’t stop till the bell rings. If you can’t think of anything to say, you just write your last word over and over. Pretty quick you’ll get bored and think of something else to write. But remember, turn off the editor. This is exploration, not real writing.
Type or write the question, then set the clock, read the question allowed, and go.
Read More
I’m not saying I’m definitely an NPC, but if I am a protagonist, the game I’m starring in is probably free-to-play.
Makes sense:
I can only do something useful once every few hours
Ads are everywhere
The pacing seems designed to be deliberately frustrating
A lot of the hassle would go away if had a ton of money
i hate when people misunderstand my shyness for unfriendliness like no!!! i actually like you! i’m just a piece of shit that can’t communicate