The Limping Hills

"Looks like they took him to some hole in the Wounded Coast. I wonder if that's near the Injured Cliffs, or the Limping Hills. Massive Head Trauma Bay? No? Just me?" Finnish. Late 20s. 🏳️‍🌈 Icon by couslands.

[sword-of-stars-deactivated20200]

PREPPING YOUR NOVEL.

if you want to start your novel but you’re not sure where to start, i’ve collected a bunch of resources to help you along! this includes characterization, plotting, worldbuilding, etc. @made-of-sunlight-moonlight

CHARACTERS.

name generator: this one is pretty handy. it has a bunch of different generators based on language, gods, fantasy, medieval, archetypes, etc.

➥ reedsy name generator

personality types: this is just the standard mbti personality list. it lists the strengths and weaknesses of each type, as well as how they do in relationships, etc.

➥ mbti 16 personalities

enneagram: the enneagram personality types. this may help with characterization because it has “levels of development.” it also lists common fears, desires, and how each type interacts with one another.

➥ enneagram types

emotional wound: your character should have something they believe about themselves that isn’t true. (ex: i’m worthless, i’m powerless.) this should start with an “origin” scene from their past, where something happens to create the wound. then there are three “crossroads” scenes to brainstorm, where things could have gone right for your character, but didn’t due to the wound, and because of that strengthened their belief in the wound. this helps you figure out why your character acts like they do. this is a really important one!!!

➥ emotional wound explained

WORLDBUILDING.

worldbuilding template: this is a pretty good template / guide about how to build your world. it talks about geography, people, civilizations, magic, technology, economy, and politics. (you have to download this through email though.)

➥ reedsy worldbuilding template

world anvil: if you really really want to go in-depth — this website is for you. there is so much you can do with this; i can’t list it all. history, timelines, important objects, cities, species — you name it, it’s probably on there.

➥ world anvil website

worldbuilding bible: this is just a general list on things to think about when worldbuilding.

➥ ellen brock’s worldbuilding bible

world creator: this website generates an entire planet. you can play around with the amount of land, as well as climate, although i’m not sure since i haven’t used it too much. here is the link if needed, though!

➥ donjin fractal world generator

inkarnate: this is a really commonly used one. it’s free and makes good quality maps. you can lay out cities, landmarks, regions, and they even have little dragon drawings you can put on your map.

➥ inkarnate website

a tip: don’t over-worldbuild! you’ll end up spending a lot of time on things you won’t need. focus mainly on the things that you will use!

PLOT.

plot generator: this one’s kind of nice because you can lock elements of the plot that you like. that way you can get rid of the ones you don’t like while keeping the ones you do.

➥ reedsy plot generator

writing exercises: this one has a couple different generators, including one that gives you a situation, characters, and themes.

➥ writing exercises

plot cheat sheet: this lists a whole bunch of plotting methods and their basic steps. i would play around with them and see which one works best for your method.

➥ plot cheat sheet by ea deverell

plot formula: this is mentioned on the cheat sheet, but it lists a bunch of beats and scenes which you might want to consider for those beats. kind of fill-in-the-blank-ish sort of thing?

➥ plot formula by ea deverell

save the cat: a method of plotting also on the plot cheat sheet above, but i wanted to point it out. i have been using this recently by taking a giant piece of paper, laying it out onto the floor, and making a timeline. pivotal scenes go on the right (ex: catalyst), while the bulk of scenes go on the left (ex: fun and games). i didn’t really have a website on this, but here is one that explains the beats. (i might make a post about this later, though?)

➥ save the cat explained

ETC.

story planner: this basically has a lot of templates that cover everything up there. the problem is that you get a free trial for a little while where you get as many documents as you want, then you have to pay for it. (although you can get around this by copying and pasting into a doc...?)

➥ story planner website

describing / related words: these kind of go hand in hand. if you put a word intothese websites, they will give you either a list of related words or adjectives respectively.

➥ describing words website

➥ related words website

ea deverell: i've pulled a lot of stuff from this website to put in this post, but there's a lot more that can be used. Like a lot on basically anything — plot, character, world, outlining, writing itself.

➥ ea deverell website

reedsy: again, i've pulled a lot of stuff from them to put in this post, but there's much more. it's similar to the ea deverell one.

➥ reedsy website

canva: this is more for making aesthetics and covers. (this thing is really helpful —and free!) although if you use this, i'd suggest pulling pictures off a website like unsplash; that way the pictures are free to use.

➥ canva website

i hope you found this helpful!! :) happy writing!!

[xebecdav]

around .05-1.7% of people are born intersex. about 2% of people are natural redheads. but since its so rare, red isnt a real hair color. just a weird defect.

[not-your-intersex-pawn]

Intersex conditions often present with harmless physical differences but are associated with disordered physiology at the very least. It is extremely ignorant to conflate our medical history with hair color. Intersex is a real classification better known as disorders of sex development, but this wording is strange, almost like you're arguing we should be counted as a third sex for no reason other than your inability to affirm variation within the binary sexes of the human species.

Please educate yourself about chronic illness and disability activism because our acceptance shouldn't be at the cost of acknowledging our health issues and medical needs.

[zagreus]

girl you look like a Mariusz Lewandowski painting (complimentary)

[zagreus]

god_i_wish_that_were_me.jpg

[partywithponies]

As someone who grew up in the internet era of """ironic""" racism and antisemitism "as a joke" and saw where that lead, the current trend of """ironic""" homophobia (particularly but not exclusively towards flamboyant gay men) that started on twitter and has spread to tiktok and tumblr worries me.

[desbianherstory]

How do you respond to the idea that same-sex couples must not get married as marriage is a patriarchal, heteronormative and casteist institution that is inherently oppressive?

Ruth Vanita: I find it most amusing. On the one hand, the state tells us same-sex couples must not get married, and on the other hand, activists tell us the same, but for supposedly different reasons. Does anyone have the right to tell anyone else that they must or must not get married?

Those who do not want to marry are free not to do so. Those who do want to marry should have the same legal right to marry as the majority of citizens have.

Activists’ crusade is only against same-sex marriage. If they are really anti-marriage, let them try to abolish cross-sex marriage. Do they boycott all marriages? Do they tell heterosexual friends and relatives that they “must not” get married because it’s a patriarchal institution? Or is it only same-sex couples who must bear the burden of giving up their rights?

As for patriarchal institutions, which institution is not patriarchal? The university in its modern form descends from the Christian monastery and is very much a patriarchal institution. The word “professor” refers to one who professes the Christian faith. “Must” we therefore not study or teach at universities?

Institutions are not frozen in time. They change every moment, and they change because of the people who are part of the institutions. Why is marriage any different?

In Love’s Rite, I also show that historically, marriage is not a heterosexual institution alone. There were same-sex marriages and marriage-like relationships in ancient Greece, ancient Rome, medieval Europe, ancient China and Japan, and ancient and medieval India.

Marriage is not “inherently oppressive.” It can be oppressive and it can be liberating. It can be boring and it can be consoling. It is many things at once just as people are many things at once.

[transxfiles]

me: *writes fic*

me: great! time to post to ao3-

ao3 summary box: *exists*

me: 

ao3 summary box:

me:

ao3 summary box: 

me:

[rooksandravens]

[rjeddystone]

Ooh, this is actually kinda a neat thing, because you can think of it as a checklist:

Who: Main character(s)

Why: Character goal or desire (stated)

Why: Character need (implied)

When: Inciting Incident

What: Means (that achieves the goal/need)

Where: Place A >> Place B

How: The Plan

Obstacle(s): antagonist or challenge

For example:

Who: Bilbo Baggins, a respectable hobbit of Hobbiton

Why: Treasure, wealth (stated)

Why: Adventure, self-respect (implied)

When: After supper

What: Quest

Where: Hobbiton >> The Lonely Mountain

How: A company of dwarves, a wizard, and an ancient map and key

Main antagonist(s): a dragon

Thus, in less than 100 words:

Bilbo Baggins is a respectable hobbit in Hobbiton, never making any trouble or having any adventures. But when a wizard and a company of dwarves invite themselves to dinner, Bilbo finds himself joining their quest from the shires of Hobbiton to the legendary Lonely Mountain, the home of a long lost treasure, and quite, possibly, a dragon.  

~~~~

The Anatomy of Story by John Truby is a really good book by the by, if anyone’s interested in this sort of thing.

[roguecompanion1812]

This is super helpful!’

[thecyndimistuff]

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?

[butchflirt]

Westworld did this as well. Storytelling is dead!

[katjohnadams]

IF FAN THEORIES ARE RIGHT IT IS A SIGN YOU HAVE TOLD A WELL-PUT TOGETHER AND FOLLOWABLE PLOT, NOT A SIGN YOU NEED TO MAKE UP SOME BULLSHIT FOR A TWIST ENDING. FUCK OFF WITH THIS SHIT.

[katjohnadams]

No wait, I’m not done here:

If the fans get where you are going and ARE STILL HAPPY, you KEEP GOING THERE. It shows they’re invested and your story craft is setting up and paying off properly. 

It is not a sign you need to M Night Shamaylan things until narrative is fuckin dead and “surprise endings!” reign supreme. If no one can guess what will happen, you don’t have a plot, you have deus ex machinas strung together like a child’s macaroni necklace. It might be endearing and beloved but its hardly a fuckin masterpiece. 

To be utterly frank, this is where “NO SPOILERS! NO SPOILERS EVER! NO ONE IS ALLOWED TO BREATHE ABOUT THE PLOT UNTIL IT’S BEEN OUT ON DVD FOR FIVE YEARS” attitude has left us – And the studios ACTIVELY encourage that shit because first week viewing numbers are their whole lifeblood.

Sure, an “oh shit” moment is great, but if you’re doing it well, I should have that moment watching the show the second, fifth, or hundredth time, knowing how it will go. If being surprised were truly so important to a narrative, why even make a Shakespeare play? Is anyone out there still hoping Romeo and Juliet still get together at the end? Why make mystery novels into movies? Spoiler warning: Hercules Poirot gets the bad guy. Movies that directly follow historical events? Clearly worthless.

Come on, now. Sure, try not to spoil shit for people intentionally, don’t be a dick, but can we calm the fuck down and can Hollywood stop pushing this shit both in social media and with business choices like this?

[sonomidaidouji-deactivated20231]

where did the passionate man hate from the previous movements go…. western feminists of today are literally so useless now

i get that male attention is a drug but isn’t the aesthetic of being a man hating feminist at least a little intruiging? don’t you want to be loud and angry? don’t you want to be feral and uncaring? what’s so appealing about appearing weak and subservient

[ohevoyev]

like i’m sorry but there’s a point where you are no longer “coping with your trauma” as a proshipper and have begun traumatizing other people with the content you produce. that line gets crossed the second you post in a public, online forum with minors present. and i can’t believe ppl think their trauma is more important than the welfare and protection of someone who could’ve been them as a kid. wouldn’t you wanna prevent that? does that not motivate you at all to remove the chip from your shoulder and grow the fuck up?

[scallioncreamcheesebagel]

right like if you’re just “coping with your trauma” WHY ARE YOU POSTING IT PUBLICLY??

[xshayarsha]

From Calvary (1920) W.B. Yeats.

[whimsicalwomon-deactivated20231]

Like this isn't leftist infighting, if your imagination of an ideal society includes a state-sanctioned industry where men can buy sexual access to women, we have nothing politically in common.

[pikafem]

from a linguistic standpoint, the “-sexual” suffix in the words “homosexual”, “bisexual”, “heterosexual” is NOT related to the physical act of having sex (= coitus), libido, or sex drive. it's about the biological sex (= sexus) of the people you're attracted to. etymologically, the word “homosexual” simply means “a person who is only attracted to the same sex”. now, of course, if you're sexually attracted to somebody, you're (hopefully) going to have sex with them, but the coitus (having sex) and the sexus (biological sex) are still two different things, even though they're connected.

that's why all those new labels and sexualities (like “demisexual”) don't make sense: the “-sexual” suffix is not about HOW you have sex, it's about WHO you have sex with. if you don't like hookups, that's not your sexual orientation. if you don't like men, well, that's your sexual orientation.

[cryptogamist]

The dangers of rebranding prostitution as ‘sex work’

In an extract from her new book, Pimp State, activist Kat Banyard argues that prostitution is sexual exploitation. Decriminalising this industry only legitimises the abuse of women

Recommended reading for all. Here are some choice excerpts:

The term “sex work” didn’t just pop up and go viral. The Global Network of Sex Work Projects (NSWP), an organisation that openly campaigns for brothel-keeping and pimping to be recognised as legitimate jobs, credits itself as largely responsible for “sex work” replacing “prostitution” as the go-to terminology […]

[…] engaging with [prostitution] first and foremost as a labour issue, using the term “sex work” […] shrinks the field of analysis to the seller [and] hides what should be front and centre of our response to the transaction: the inherent sexual abuse.

The whole point of the sex industry is that it offers men the chance to buy sexual access to women who do not want to have sex with them – otherwise they wouldn’t have to pay. Masking its fundamental purpose thus becomes the primary PR challenge for the prostitution, pornography and strip club trades if they are to survive – maybe even thrive – in a society that has decided, at least in principle, that women are not subordinate sex objects and rape is a bad thing.

[…] bluntly asserting that poverty is the singular cause of the prostitution trade fails to acknowledge that men’s poverty has not begot a global demand from women to pay them for sex acts, that without men’s demand there would be no trade at all

[Free market theory-based support for legalisation] builds on the claim that prostitution is sex work by attempting to frame that work simply as a series of individual, private exchanges set apart from the rest of society. But the sex industry, like any market, doesn’t operate in a vacuum, leaving the rest of society miraculously untouched by its presence. Markets [are] social institutions: “All markets depend for their operation on background property rules and a complex of social, cultural, and legal institutions.”

Commercial exchanges that people may agree to participate in without a gun being held to their head – such as sales of human organs, voting rights, bonded labour contracts – are nonetheless deemed legally off limits. It’s the line in the sand that societies draw to say that the harm to those directly involved, to third parties, or to the bedrock principles necessary for equal citizenship, is simply too great. Some trades are too toxic to tolerate. A basic principle that is utterly indispensable to ending violence against women, not to mention to our fundamental concept of humanity, is that sexual abuse is never acceptable. Not even when the perpetrator has some spare cash and the person he’s abusing needs money.

[Emphasis added]

[antiporn-activist]

Never use the term sex work.

[jawz]

the sad thing is when u talk with only women its clear most have serious reservations about leftist men, about the surge of onlyfans (the demand that all ~liberated girlz~ make one) or sw in general, the public outcry at any mention of reproductive issues, etc. they just wont (cant) share those opinions publicly because they will be shamed for it immediately. it’s so ridiculous we’ve built this structure where women are upholding standards they don’t even believe in just bc theyre scared that other people do

[lesbianashleywilliams]

'Mass Effect Legendary Edition' doesn't add same-sex romance to the originals

Jack really was into you, though.

bioware said NO gay rights

better keep your original modded versions installed then

[lesbianashleywilliams]

so anyway here’s my recommended mass effect trilogy modlist FOR 2021 (under a cut cause this got LONG)

Keep reading

[rightmedicine]

Charisma Carpenter and Amber Benson finally speak out against Joss Whedon and his behavior during Buffy and Angel

[angrybooklady]

Sarah Michelle Gellar has also thrown in

[angrybooklady]

And now Michelle Trachtenberg

[slimegargoyle]

wish the concept of "representation" didn't feel increasingly tied to cynical, algorithmic streaming service content with little to no actual insight into any real minority experience