Zell's World @musesforzell - Tumblr Blog

Home doesn’t feel like home without you in it. The silence is deafening, and I see ghosts that wear your smile in the corners of my vision. Every time I think I hear you laugh, I turn around and find an empty space where you would’ve been. When I lie down in the dark, the weight I expect to settle on my chest never comes. There is no warm breath, and no hand that caresses me just so. The softness of your hushed voice never reaches my ears. I am alone in our home, staring at the front door and wondering what time you stumble in.

I am obsessed with you, and I know that is part of the reason. I want to hear your voice again, even if it scolds me for being so pathetic.

My Requiem. I love you.

“You loved too much.” She speaks as if it was rehearsed. As if she was waiting for this moment to come. She doesn’t look at you, but instead out to the horizon. The sky stretches endlessly, and it almost feels like it swallows your vision. You nod, not because you agree with her, but because your words are failing you. But perhaps there was some truth to it. Perhaps you loved too much. So much that everything became about that love. And now, you have your back to the floor, staring up at the dark sky. Do you still love? Of course you do, but now it feels fragile, like it could slip away at any moment. What happens when it does? Would you be able to hold that feeling again? Would it wash over you a little calmer next time? Would love be gentler? You only know that it hurts, and you can’t stop it from hurting.

You think about their smile, the way they get shy, the way they laugh when you say something silly. You close your eyes and your hands twitch, remembering the way their hands feel in your’s. You were brave once, but now you’re just as fragile as your heart. Just as scared as you once were. You grew fonder and fonder, and you wonder why.

“Cedrick..” Her voice calls to you, but it sounds far away. It sounds so far that it echoes in the space of your mind. You don’t know if you want to be awake anymore. The love is heavy, burdensome. It hurts when you’re holding onto it.

“Do you hope they’ll be happier?” You think about this for a long time. The silence stretching on for such a long time. There is a ringing in your ears that you can’t describe, yet it grows louder as it drowns out your thoughts. The yearning doesn’t die. The love doesn’t die. It only settles restlessly in your chest. You hope that life without you would be an answer to their problems. That life without you would bring them peace. You haven’t been very fair, and everything has been about you all this time. Maybe lying still enough will fix everything. Maybe if you stop breathing, it will make everything better. How selfish.

“I’ll be here until they come get me…” You respond, never understanding why. You wonder what will happen if they never do. But you know the answer to that too. You’ll fall asleep out in this field, caressed by the grass and wind. You’ll fall asleep and never wake again. She leaves you here, and now you find yourself all alone. Your memory of their touch keeps you company. The softness in their voice, and even the harshness of their words. It keeps you company as you sleep. And maybe someday they’ll come to this place and lay a gentle kiss on you. Maybe they will wake you up with a smile and a stroke to your hair.

Or maybe they won’t, and you’ll be content to sleep forever.

Stars

“I don’t think he’s seen stars in a while,” Tyler hums, watching the horizon line with the two others he accompanied. The skyline is an unquesionable gradiant of black, dark blue, and softer blue hues with white specs taking up spaces in between clouds. Towards the end of the cliff, Zell sits. His legs crossed one over the other, and his head tilts backwards as if his eyes could digest the entire sky this way. Zell swallows hard, unconsciously noticing that it had been quite sometime since he even bothered to drink the water he originally intended. He became side-tracked with the view, and he was enamored with how different Demiurge was from Earth. Light pollution made it near impossible to see the stars, unless you were wildnerness with no sign of civilization for miles. Of course, even in this scenario, it wasn’t as if there were so many before him as there were now. A replication of what galaxies looked like to humanity lay before them, and even Tyler felt himself hold his breath.

“I haven’t seen stars like this, Ty.” Cedrick replies, quietly unzipping the front of his uniform. A sleek black latex suit with patterns which look like circuits which connected to a circle that highlighted the emblems of their origins on his back and his chest. Tyler and Zell bore the same one-piece suits, however, Tyler was of different origin so his emblem was aggressively different from the other two Gemrazents. Even then, Cedrick and Zell’s suits had differences to them that signified their inheritance. Cedrick’s circuit patterns bore a silverish-white color against the black which was a color of clan for the Opal Gemrazents; similarly, Zell’s was an light electric blue color- one which reflected in the soft blue hues of his eyes that made it look like they flashed whenever he would give quick glances. Cedrick pulled the front zipper of his suit down enough to show the skin of his collarbone and his chest. Although relaxed, Cedrick knew there was an underlying evil about this place. He knew that Zell could feel it too, and each of them tried hard not to let it’s history spoil the beauty. It was hard, as both of their minds wandered onto the dwarvish demons that once lay claim to this land called Yissachar.

“Are y’all thinkin’ about that girl..?” Tyler prodded, reading the sudden damp expressions on each of his companions’ faces. Zell pulled his knees towards his chest, and Cedrick gave a solemn look towards Tyler.

“Kinda hard not to, Ty. It a place that used to be filled with life... It’s just ruin now. Hard to believe anyone would come here anymore.” Cedrick grunts, displaying his annoyances with the past. Tyler sighs, shaking his head.

“There isn’t anything that can be done now. Ain’t nobody livin’ here for generations. Only ten of them left, and no matter what we know the rest of the world wants them dead.” Tyler retorts, as if his words or insight might change the atmosphere at all. Cedrick balls his hands up into fists, as if venting his frustrations.

“We’re only rookies, Ced. What do you reckon we even do at this point? Nothin’ that can be done. ‘Sides... We got a job to do.” Tyler speaks up once again. Before Ced could even protest, Zell stands up and calls their attention.

“We can grow from it..” the blue-eyed Gemrazent speaks, smiling with a natural naivety that puts ther others in some strange ease. Both enamored with his mannerisms, his optimism, his smile; even if he wants to let his emotions spill out. He was always good at hiding how he truly felt, but in this instance both Tyler and Cedrick were taken back by the sight of tears streaming down their companion’s face.

“Maybe... We can’t change things. But we can make this world and our world better to prevent it. For that Robin girl.. and everyone else.” Zell can hardly see the other two through blurry vision, but he can feel their expressions change as the atmosphere does to.

“Right..” Cedrick and Tyler say in unison.

“C’mon guys, we gotta find a place to sleep. Then tomorrow we head to Lukas to finish our objective. That fugitive isn’t gonna catch themselves!”

#HS Trio #OCs #drabble

You’re His Future (Part 1)

The beginning/part 1: on the developed story between Violyn and Lavis, whose connections run a bit deeper than just institutionalized hatred. Afirst person P.O.V from Lavis’s perspective.

Lavis is an OC that belongs to @itz-rascal

When I first met him, I hated him. Not because he did anything wrong, but that’s the way it had always been. It was a age old tale of brain vs. brawn, and we all played our parts well. I was twelve years old when the next prince of the Amethyst Gemrazents had been brought in. He didn’t talk much, and even when he did he only spoke in broken languages. Half the time I could barely understand him, but I’ve always known English and this kid was a second chancer from France. I hated him, but not because he was a prince or couldn’t speak English. I hated him because he was an Amethyst, and Amethysts were psychics.

Most had this air of superiority because they could see into the future, or into someone’s past. They knew where you came from, and initially they were the ones who sends our guardians to find us before some evil force does. They were important, they were even sought out by demons in other continents. Us? We were just Blue Zircons, drones who challenged anything that moved for fun. It was the equivalent to growing up with other brothers, we all knew how to fight and defend. We were workers and soldiers, and we were commoners. If there was a war, we would be fighting it… while the Amethysts became our strategists. We hated that possibility. We hated them because we weren’t them, and we were in the middle of the hierarchy. But I hated them because that’s what I learned, and they hated us because we hated them. And territory/turf wars were consistently fought this way.

Their prince was hardly ever allowed to stray from their territory. They even had their own castle, because they never really allowed their second chancers to assimilate back into the human world. I felt bad for them sometimes, but it also made it easier to pick on them. By the time that I was fourteen, he was twelve. He had managed to sneak out of that gloomy castle and crossed the border into ours. He was in Blue Zircon territory, and we all knew his face. Violyn, the kid-prince, stopped when he saw a group of us idle around the base of a tree. He beamed, as if unaware of how completely foolish he was. Aiken, the eldest, stood up.

“Well if it isn’t the prince, come to play with us in the flesh,” he scoffed, the rest exchanging glances as they all slowly rose to their feet. Violyn’s expression shifted, as if he could just feel the mistake he has made. “Looks like he’s come to play,” I mention, joining in the sneering between my fellow Zircons. They nodded, circling around this poor kid before he could flee. I think in the back of my head, I wanted him to run. Not because he was in danger, but because I wanted to chase him and wrestle him to the ground myself. I wanted to show this stupid Amethyst who was stronger. I wanted to break him.

“Let’s play, shall we?” Aiken grabs Violyn by the arm, violently pulling him forward. The rest poking, pulling, and pushing at the poor prince. His eyes were wild with fear, aggressively tugging back against Aiken’s grip. Unintelligible English slurring left him as he was dragged towards the riverbank.

“How about we play in the water today?” One of the Zircons snicker as they all mindlessly agree. Violyn thrashed against Aiken, but before long each one of them was grabbing a hold of his limbs. I bound my hand to his wrist, and just as everyone else had I swung him back, then forth, counting down until we let go. He was so small, I could’ve swore he flew. It was possibly the least majestic flight I had seen; his arms flailing about and his shrieking piercing our ears. His body smacked the water, misting us as we eagerly watched him resurface and gasp. He was still thrashing, fighting against the water which had no current. Aiken snickered before gesturing for us to make our leave, of course, in case another Amethyst showed up and all hell broke loose. I trailed behind, my smirk slowly leaving me as I thought about what I had just done. As I thought about his unintelligible English. The words “can’t”, “water”, and “swim” violently ripped from his lungs as he could barely keep his head above water. Shit. He was drowning.

I gave any and every excuse I could. An excuse to part from the group, but the didn’t take much notice. My pace was slow at first, walking steadily back towards the prince, then once I couldn’t hear their voices anymore I broke out into a sprint. My conscious reprimanding me for killing a prince, for starting a war, for being a shitty excuse of a human being; if it wasn’t too late. I slid onto the riverbank, nearly falling on my ass as I searched the surface of the water. My mind racing as it would hex me relentlessly for doing such a vile thing. I never thought I was a bad person, until that moment. My instinct thrust me into the water. Water which froze me to the core and numbed my skin. I dove, opening my eye only slightly so that I could see something, anything. And when I did, I nearly lost all air that I held in my lung because I nearly tried to sigh once I found him. His foot caught against a root, and he could no longer keep his head above the surface. I coiled my arms around him, and his body jolted as if in surprise. My feet pushed against the bottom, and my legs thrust my body upward as I held him with me. I made every attempt to keep both our heads above water, and we both gasped as soon as we could breathe again. I dragged him to the river bank as he coughed violently against my shoulder. I pushed him away from me, then flopped onto my back to catch my breath.

“For fucks sake, couldn’t they at least teach you how to fucking swim..!?” I shouted breathlessly, glaring at Violyn who was slowly sitting up by anchoring himself on his arms. His violet-colored eyes, wide and terrified, watched me as I rubbed the water from my face. His chest heaving, panting, to where I almost felt like I could see his heart pound against it.

“Don’t get the wrong idea. You’re still a stinkin’ Amethyst. I don’t give a shit about you, I just don’t want to be branded a traitor and start a damn war.” I growled, my own chest heaving as I made every attempt at looking as intimidating as possible. Which, quite frankly, was impossible for a fourteen year old with near-blue lips, trembling from cold water, and wet hair that pressed up against the face. Violyn’s features softened, and he scoots towards me.

“Lavis…” His voice sweet and accented as he speaks my name. It just irritates me more, so I raise my voice to shout at him.

“Hell no! Get the fuck out of here! Before anyone sees this! I’m not an Amethyst lover, so you can just go back to that damn castle already.” I hiss at him, thrusting my palm against his chest. His expression changing back to fear before he stumbles backwards. He turns himself around and runs as fast as his little legs could carry him. Before any other Zircon could see him, before they could see me, before an Amethyst would find him.

“God, FINALLY….!” I groan, running my muddy hands through my wet hair,my fingers caught within the tangles as I finally catch my breath.

I was fourteen. I didn’t quite get it. But it was possibly the first time that I realized that I never really hated Violyn. I just wanted to hate him. I wanted to hate him because everyone else did. Because I was supposed to hate him as much as I could. Because he thought he was better than I was- or whatever it was they kept telling me.

#Muses for Violyn #OCs #original character #original character prompt #Story #part 1 #Violyn and Lavis #Lavis #Although I'm not drawing I feel like I could at least contribute creatively with writing

noshitloki

IF YOU LOVE WRITING BUT DON’T HAVE THE INSPIRATION FOR A 10-PART BOOK SAGA YOU SHOULD TAKE A LOOK AT THIS SITE

IT’S INCREDIBLY HELPFUL AND CAN FOR INSTANCE GENERATE TOPICS AND FIRST LINES, CONTAINS LOADS OF EXERCISES AND YOU CAN FIND PLENTY OF WRITING TIPS.

shadowstep-of-bast

BLESS YOU I LOVE YOU OH MY GODS I’VE NEEDED THIS

impishtubist

WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE?

rphelper

Hey, I was wondering if you could list some resources that detail how to outline and plan your story, particularly how to plan chapters.

How I Outline Scenes - novazerowriting

Planning Process - the-girl-that-became-a-nerd

Planning Your Novel from the Ground Up - maxkirin

Writing Process: How I Plan - writing-questions-answered

Planning (365K/365) - thewritingrealm

How to Write a Novel Plot - barbex

Routing Scenes - theticklishpear

31 Days of Planning - thewritingrealm

Planning & Outlining - thewritingcafe

Prepping for NaNoWriMo - Outlining Stage - fictionwritingtips

Organize Your Plot: Part 1 - slitheringink

Suggestions for How to Outline a Novel - characterandwritinghelp

Different Plot Outlines - notsomolly

I hope that helps!

#writingref

anomalously-written

Character/Genre Based Names [Futuristic]

Writing Resources

#writingref

anomalously-written

Character/Genre Based Names [Vintage]

Writing Resources

#writingref

lomonte

If you do more tutorials maybe poses?

How to do better poses:

a few things to think about when doing poses, just from the top of my head so it’s not very thorough. Hope it helps!

#writingref

englishpracticenow

commonly misused words - learn the proper usage of these words to get your way up to any English proficiency exams - IELTS, TOEFL, GRE, etc.

velveteenrabbit

2,000 notes.

tha--snazzle

JERKING OFF TO THIS

jewlesthemagnificent-deactivate

OH GOD LESS VERSUS FEWER THANK YOU FOR ACKNOWLEDGING MY PERSONAL GRAMMATICAL VENDETTA.

barefootdramaturg

By accident. On purpose. Never on accident.

thestudentprincesss

ALSO, ‘amount’ and ‘number’ follow the same rules as ‘less’ and ‘fewer’, respectively. it’s not an ‘amount’ of people, it’s a number of people; by contrast, it IS an ‘amount of water’, etc.

#writingref

mosellegreen

Writing Antagonists, Antiheroes and Villains

Obviously there’s a lot of overlap between the three, despite their differences, which is why this is all one post. In fact, some of the articles have one of those words in their title but the content of the article belongs in one of the other categories.

I think the links about the antagonist’s journey are some of the most interesting on this list.

Antiheroes

Heroes and Anti-Heroes - What’s the difference? Anti-heroes in Science Fiction Movies 5 Types of Anti-Heroes You Need More Scoundrels in Your Life: How to Write a Han Solo Hero in Six Easy Steps! Han Versus Luke – Who’s the Better Hero? Defining and Developing Your Anti-Hero, excerpt from Bullies, Bastards & Bitches by Jessica Page Morrell 4 Ways to Make Your Antihero Deliciously Irresistible

Antagonists

When Being Bad is Good: Creating a Great Antagonist Being Evil: Plotting From the Antagonist’s Perspective 10 Traits of a Strong Antagonist 12 Tips On How To Write Antagonists Your Readers Will Love To Hate Types of antagonist Seven Types of Antagonists Ten Tips for a Terrific Antagonist 10 Essential Tips for Writing Antagonists How To Write The Bad Guy Likable Villains 3 Traits Your Hero and Villain Should Share Guide to Writing a Villain A Guide to Villainous Motivations

Villains

Guide to Writing a Villain Creating an Interesting Bad Guy The Sympathetic Villain WriteWorld: Villains Exploring The Dark Side: The Anti-Hero’s Journey - despite the title, this article is about villains, not antiheroes as the term is usually understood Killer Personalities The Antagonist’s Epiphany How to Create a Credible Villain in Fiction How to Avoid Creating a Weak Villain 5 Characteristics of an Epic Villain Writing a Great Villain 14 Motives for Becoming a Supervillain Writing Villains Vs. Writing Heroes Villains Are People Too, But… A Short Defence of Villains by Agnes Repplier Villains: because a good bad guy is the author’s best friend. The Other in Fiction: Creating Wonderfully Wicked Villains Three-Dimensional Villains: Finding Your Character’s Shadow 10 Traits of Highly-Effective Villains Writing Tips #79:How To Write Better Villains Villains by Vicki Hinze The Sixteen Villain Archetypes

The Antagonist’s Journey

Exploring The Dark Side: The Anti-Hero’s Journey The Villain’s Journey Does the Villain’s Journey Mirror the Hero’s Journey? Forget the Hero’s Journey. Women want an Antagonist’s Tale Return to the Antagonist’s Tale

#writingref

ghostlysea

aww nasa has a page for space technology terms you can use in science fiction

nerds

ceruleancynic

THIS IS THE BEST THING

AAAAAAHHH

Holy crap!!

wearebarbarian

NASA, motherfuckers! Get your sci-fi terminology straight from the source!

#writingref

He found himself torn apart, wishing for the shock of the moment to end. Bitterly, he had tears streaming from his cheeks and stinging his eyes. They were bubbles which broke along the corners of his eyes as he blinked. He couldn’t do this, not with the careless attempts at running away from every problem he faced. “Pathetic…” A voice had cut above the silence. Suspense had soon passed and silvery blue eyes traced only the misshapen outline of a much larger male. He took on a similar appearance; however, he seemed much older, more jaded, and violent. His eyes were cold; distant, as if the sniveling person below his boot wasn’t his own brother. Emilias ground his teeth, digging his heel further into Miquote’s temple. A hoarse cry left the smaller unknown as the pressure was added. Emilias lifted his boot, and then smashed it back into Miquote’s head.

“You should’ve been dead a long time ago,” announced the older male, his eyes not once tearing away from the half beaten young adult.

“I’ve broken your bone more times than I can count. You’re simply idiotically lucky,” A sadistic grin crawled onto Emilias’s features. His hand reached down; gripping and raising his brother by the hair. The younger unknown’s eyes painted fear, regret, and anxiety all at once. He had known no better, and all things considered, he just assumed that he was to die in this moment.

#Miquote #Emilias #Unknowns #musing

Character Sheet template

The same character sheet that I used for Miquote. I copied the information off an image I found on google. I thought it would be easier to access it this way, since a friend of mine was interested in filling out the same character sheet for an OC of their's. Feel free to use. Can be found here

#reference #character sheet #template

Miquote's Character Sheet

#Miquote #character sheet #ocs #oc information #original character

nimblesnotebook-blog

BASICS:

Genres:

Alternate World: A setting that is not our world, but may be similar. This includes “portal fantasies” in which characters find an alternative world through their own. An example would be The Chronicles of Narnia.

Arabian: Fantasy that is based on the Middle East and North Africa.

Arthurian: Set in Camelot and deals with Arthurian mythology and legends.

Bangsian: Set in the afterlife or deals heavily with the afterlife. It most often deals with famous and historical people as characters. An example could be The Lovely Bones.

Celtic: Fantasy that is based on the Celtic people, most often the Irish.

Christian: This genre has Christian themes and elements.

Classical: Based on Roman and Greek myths.

Contemporary: This genre takes place in modern society in which paranormal and magical creatures live among us. An example would be the Harry Potter series.

Dark: This genre combines fantasy and horror elements. The tone or feel of dark fantasy is often gloomy, bleak, and gothic.

Epic: This genre is long and, as the name says, epic. Epic is similar to high fantasy, but has more importance, meaning, or depth. Epic fantasy is most often in a medieval setting.

Gaslamp: Also known as gaslight, this genre has a Victorian or Edwardian setting.

Gunpowder: Gunpowder crosses epic or high fantasy with “rifles and railroads”, but the technology remains realistic unlike the similar genre of steampunk.

Heroic: Centers on one or more heroes who start out as humble, unlikely heroes thrown into a plot that challenges them.

High: This is considered the “classic” fantasy genre. High fantasy contains the general fantasy elements and is set in a fictional world.

Historical: The setting in this genre is any time period within our world that has fantasy elements added.

Medieval: Set between ancient times and the industrial era. Often set in Europe and involves knights. (medieval references)

Mythic: Fantasy involving or based on myths, folklore, and fairy tales.

Portal: Involves a portal, doorway, or other entryway that leads the protagonist from the “normal world” to the “magical world”.

Quest: As the name suggests, the protagonist in this genre sets out on a quest. The protagonist most frequently searches for an object of importance and returns home with it.

Sword and Sorcery: Pseudomedieval settings in which the characters use swords and engage in action-packed plots. Magic is also an element, as is romance.

Urban: Has a modern or urban setting in which magic and paranormal creatures exist, often in secret.

Wuxia: A genre in which the protagonist learns a martial art and follows a code. This genre is popular in Chinese speaking areas.

Word Counts:

Word counts for fantasy are longer than other genres because of the need for world building. Even in fantasy that takes place in our world, there is a need for the introduction of the fantasy aspect.

Word counts for established authors with a fan base can run higher because publishers are willing to take a higher chance on those authors. First-time authors (who have little to no fan base) will most likely not publish a longer book through traditional publishing. Established authors may also have better luck with publishing a novel far shorter than that genre’s expected or desired word count, though first-time authors may achieve this as well.

A general rule of thumb for first-time authors is to stay under 100k and probably under 110k for fantasy.

Other exceptions to word count guidelines would be for short fiction (novellas, novelettes, short stories, etc.) and that one great author who shows up every few years with a perfect 200k manuscript.

But why are there word count guidelines? For young readers, it’s pretty obvious why books should be shorter. For other age groups, it comes down to the editor’s preference, shelf space in book stores, and the cost of publishing a book. The bigger the book, the more expensive it is to publish.

General Fantasy: 75k - 110k

Epic Fantasy: 90k - 120k

Contemporary Fantasy: 90k - 120k

Urban Fantasy: 80k - 100k

Middle Grade: 45k - 70k

YA: 75k - 120k (depending on sub-genre)

Adult: 80k - 120k (depending on sub-genre)

WORLD BUILDING:

A pseudo-European medieval setting is fine, but it’s overdone. And it’s always full of white men and white women in disguise as white men because around 85% (ignore my guess/exaggeration, I only put it there for emphasis) of fantasy writers seem to have trouble letting go of patriarchal societies.

Guys. It’s fantasy. You can do whatever you want. You can write a fantasy that takes place in a jungle. Or in a desert. Or in a prairie. The people can be extremely diverse in one region and less diverse in another. The cultures should differ. Different voices should be heard. Queer people exist. People of color exist. Not everyone has two arms or two legs or the ability to hear.

As for the fantasy elements, you also make up the rules. Don’t go searching around about how a certain magic spell is done, just make it up. Magic can be whatever color you want. It can be no color at all. You can use as much or as little magic as you want.

Keep track of what you put into your world and stick to the rules. There should be limits, laws, cultures, climates, disputes, and everything else that exists in our world. However, you don’t have to go over every subject when writing your story.

World Building:

Fantasy World Building Questionnaire

Magical World Builder’s Guide

Creating Fantasy and Science Fiction Worlds

Creating Religions

Quick and Dirty World Building

World Building Links

Fantasy World Building Questions

The Seed of Government (2)

Guide to Science Fiction and Fantasy

Fantasy Worlds and Race

Water Geography

Alternate Medieval Fantasy Story

Writing Magic

Types of Magic

When Magic Goes Wrong

Magic-Like Psychic Abilities

Science and Magic

Creative Uses of Magic

Thoughts on Creating Magic Systems

Defining the Sources, Effects, and Costs of Magic

World Building Basics

Mythology Master Post

Fantasy Religions

Setting the Fantastic in the Everyday World

Making Histories

Matching Your Money to Your World

Building a Better Beast

A Man in Beast’s Clothing

Creating and Using Fictional Languages

Creating a Language

Creating Fictional Holidays

Creating Holidays

Weather and World Building 101

Describing Fantastic Creatures

Medieval Technology

Music For Your Fantasy World

A heterogeneous World

Articles on World Building

Cliches:

Grand List of Fantasy Cliches (most of this can be debated)

Fantasy Cliches Discussion

Ten Fantasy Cliches That Should Be Put to Rest

Seven Fantasy Cliches That Need to Disappear

Avoiding Fantasy Cliches 101

Avoiding Fantasy Cliches

Fantasy Cliches

Fantasy Cliche Meter: The Bad Guys

Fantasy Novelist’s Exam

Mary Sue Race Test

Note: Species (like elves and dwarves) are not cliches. The way they are executed are cliches.

CHARACTERS

#potential

fuckyeahcharacterdevelopment

The Smelling Post

musesforzell

In romantic scenes between characters, a character’s scent is often described in books and fanfic, but when writing i have a hard time coming up with plausible and believable scents a character naturally has. can you come up with some suggestions, or a list or something? — Anonymous

DID SOMEONE SAY SMELLS?

My time to shine.

Okay, so. No fair making fun of me, but I’m pretty good at smells- I mean, I can tell all my friends apart by smell. On one memorable occasion, my mother asked me if one of my friends had left a coat at the house- I sniffed it, and told her no. (I was correct). My excuse is that like half of my cast are canines or part time canines, and so knowing the smells of things is Important Research.

Ahem. Without further ado, let’s talk smells!

Quick warning, though- not all of these are nice smells. You might not want to read this while eating? You can be the judge of how much described smells get to you. You were warned.

Basically, everyone has a personal smell- that’s what they smell like under all the stuff that clings to them. It’s how they’d smell if they took a through shower without soap or anything, and then you smelled them. It doesn’t smell like a whole lot, basically- it smells like skin, and clean hair and human. Which is actually pretty pleasant, clean human is a nice smell. It does vary a bit person to person, but PEOPLE DO NOT EXUDE LIKE LILAC SMELLS AND BULLSHIT LIKE THAT, LET ME TELL YOU. FLOWERS OOZE OUT FLOWER SMELLS. PEOPLE DO NOT. IF YOUR CHARACTER SMELLS REALLY FLOWERY OR NICE AND IT’S NOT PERFUME, YOU NEED TO REEVALUATE WHAT YOU’RE DOING WITH YOUR LIFE. Ahem. That brings us to

Additional personal smells: People do not exist in a perfect bubble of cleanliness. Our bodies make smells. Probably the biggest one is sweat. There are a few kinds of sweat smells, actually- some more attractive than others. There’s your sour or stale sweat smell, a favorite of people who don’t bathe often enough and cook in it. Old sweat is nasty. Newer sweat doesn’t smell as bad, particularly if the person’s wearing the right kind of deodorant. Someone who’s pretty clean, but has just worked out will smell like sweat- but it’s an earthier, less sharp smell. It can still be pungent, but it’s not as bad. Fear sweat stinks- it smells warm and wet and sour. Sweat from being too warm (like sitting in the sun, or getting worked up) doesn’t smell like much- just like stronger, damp human. Sweaty feet are a bit scary. How hot your feet get without being able to breathe determines how much they’ll stink- so dedicated barefooters have unsmelly feet, and people who’re wearing thick socks in boots in the winter will stink like crazy. People will give off some smells too, that likewise get more pungent the longer they go without bathing. For example, sometimes vegetarians have lighter, less rich and irony smells. Teenagers smell worse, because hormones are petulant little bitches. If teenagers don’t shower often, they’ll get a greasy, weird smell. Kids smell nicer, and adults either smell alright, or bad. Babies in particular have soft, sweetly milky smelling skin, which almost makes up for the fact that they’ll be letting out all kinds of weird stink (spit up smells like violently spoiled milk, baby pee pretty much smells like any urine, and their feces smell really sharply bad, like… I’m sorry, that’s probably not something that you need. I know because I worked childcare for years. Eventually, you make it past the wall and things stop being as gross to you.) Elderly people also have a smell. You know the smell. Menstrual blood has a smell- it’s very different from fresh blood (meatier, and less metallic- which is because it’s working on becoming placenta), and you can sometimes smell it on someone if they’re using pads and need to change theirs. Fresh blood smells kind of coppery- the closest I can find to it is if you get a handful of change (I checked once, and I think quarters are actually closest? Might have been dimes), and let it heat up in your pocket, then smell it. People do actually fart. How bad that smells depends on what they’ve been eating. And breath is a thing. If the person hasn’t eaten anything lately, it just smells kind of neutral, damp and spitty. Foods and drink add smells- some are distinctive (coffee, garlic). Mints and toothpaste will freshen up a mouth, but they don’t last forever- so someone that smells of toothpaste has just brushed their teeth. Gum comes in a lot of flavors, and it will sweeten someone’s breath, too. Alcohol doesn’t have much smell in the glass, but once it’s in a person, they produce a smell as their body processes it. It’s not a super pleasant smell, but it’s not awful if they’ve been drinking lightly and are going to shower before it really sets in. You can actually tell if someone’s drunk or going into a diabetic coma (they act similarly), based on their scent- drunk people smell like booze, diabetics will smell fruity. Some illnesses have a distinct scent, it’s worth checking out.

Sooo, a lot of what you smell on someone is actually what’s been added to their own scent! We’ll start with products that go on people. Soap: Most people do use soap. YOU WILL KNOW if they don’t. Soaps have different smells, but generally, they’re mild, and smell pleasant and clean. Cheap soap smells a bit more like kitchen cleanser. Some soaps are scented- and they come in a dazzling array of flowers and spices and extracts, basically whatever you can imagine. Good scented soap will have a nicely balanced, not overwhelming scent that smells like the thing that it’s supposed to, and clings to skin in a way that you have to lean in a bit to get a good whiff of. Cheap scented soap smells like fake extracts, and can be too strong, or not smell like much at all. Soap is something that you can smell on someone from about hugging range. Shampoo/conditioner: Again, shampoo comes in an array of scents. You’ll be smelling someone’s shampoo if you’re close enough to smell their hair, which is pretty close. Shampoo can smell like anything from apples to some fake ‘ocean breeze’ shit to plain soapy-but-creamier-than-soap smell. Go to the store, sniff some shampoo. There are a lot of kinds out there. Other hair products, like gel and hairspray, across the board have an artificial, peculiar scent. Deodorant: Deodorant is one of those things that are gendered, when I don’t know why they need to be. The point is, women’s deodorant generally smells more flowery and perfumey, and men’s smells kind of spicy and darker. In my experience, women’s deodorant is a backstabbing and tricksy lot- let me tell you, sweat mixed with flowers is NOT a pretty smell. On a hot day, you end up smelling kind of putrid and rotting. Most of the guy deodorant smells (not axe stay far away from axe don’t go there Simba) go better with sweat. I could go on. I feel nearly as betrayed by women’s deodorant as I do by girl pockets. (Btw, if any of you wanted to know, Arm and Hammer makes deodorant that smells like absolutely nothing at all, is cheap, works well, and is nongendered. Because baking soda is god. Incidentally, you can also use plain baking soda to scrub with and to wash your hair with. So people camping might smell of baking soda, because it’s a good outdoors trick.) Perfumes/bodysprays/aftershave: Again, they come in most smells that you can think of- flowery, candyish and sugary smells on products intended for women, spicier and muskier smells for men. The good stuff actually smells like it’s supposed to, and is nuanced and not overpowering. The poor quality stuff smells sharp, with an alcohol-y bite, and the scents smell like extract, or are too sugary sweet, or smell sour. All of these will interact with a person’s personal smell, so scents smell differently on everyone. Maturity is a thing when it comes to scent, too- if you’ve ever been in a locker room with young teens, you’ve had tears brought to your eyes by people spraying clouds of this stuff. When you have a good scent and restraint, all you need is a dab or a splash. Poor application means that you can smell this on someone a mile away, good application means that you’ll smell this once you enter someone’s personal space. Lotion: Lotiongenerally has a softer, creamier base, and then has a scent over top. Again, it can be very pleasant, or really overpowering and bad. Lotion is a spreading smell that dissipates, to where you’d have to be close to someone to smell it. Detergent: People’s clothes contribute to their overall scent. There are many brands of detergent, and there are a few different smells. Fabric softener has a smell, too- it’s soft and sort of powdery. Clean clothes have a fresh scent, and they’ll smell like the fabric they’re made of (cotton has a crisp scent, artificial fabric doesn’t smell like that much, wool smells like sheep (kinda doglike)), and clothes that have been worn a bit smell like their owner. If someone’ll let you, you’ll be able to tell the difference between a clean shirt of theirs, and a shirt they’ve worn all day. Some people do things to give their clothes some smell- like putting their clothes in aromatic cedar chests, or hanging bits of cedar in their closet, or hanging little packets of scent, like lavender. Clothes are something that you’ll smell around hugging distance, usually, or within that person’s personal space. Unscented things: There are many reasons why people wouldn’t want to wear a lot of added scent. Some people are very allergic to artificial or natural scents, or work around people who are (there’s a scent ban at my uni, because some of the staff are pretty allergic). Lots of people who work with animals find that animals don’t care for a lot of scent, and leave it off (in particular, I know a lot of equestrians whose horses don’t like smelly stuff). Some people just prefer smelling like themselves, or have sensitive senses of smell, and find scents cloying.

Environmental smells!: People will have smells stick to them, in addition to what they put on themselves. So, consider what your character does all day. A baker might smell like flour and cinnamon. A janitor will probably smell like cleaning fluids. Someone who trains horses will smell like horse after a long day (which is a distinctive, large ungulate smell, mixed with sweet hay), and someone who has pets might smell a little like dog (all that hair on your clothes has a net effect). A bookshop worker probably smells like books and paper, and artists smell of their medium. Smokers, and people near smokers, will have a stale, smoky scent to them. Incense clings, and so does pot. Basically anything that has a smoky form clings like nobody’s business. Think about where they are, or what they do most of the day, and add some smells accordingly.

Finally- a word about how smells are perceived by other people: You mentioned romantic scenes in your ask. Based on some sciencey stuff, it is a thing that you’ll like the way someone that you like smells. It has to do with like hormones and pheromones and stuff. Personally, I generally like how my friends smell, because I’m fond of them. Generally, if you’re close enough to get a good whiff of someone, you’re in each other’s personal space. If their smell reaches you from outside that bubble, it’s either tempting, or an invasion of your space. If you’re really close to someone, it can be nice, or torture, based on whether they smell like light soap and cedar and a bit of shampoo, or if they smell like sour, unwashed human mixed with urine. Be sure to describe the effect the smell is having on the smeller- does the putrid scent of someone who hasn’t showered make them gag, or does smelling their lover make their back muscles relax as they breathe in? Some people have better senses of smell than others- but because we, as humans, don’t have that great a sense of smell, we usually smell the dominate, strongest scent of a person, and can sometimes make out other smells if we work at it. Non human characters might be able to glean even more interesting information- dogs smell the way that we see, which could make for some very interesting descriptions.

Alright, there you are! I hope that helped.

#potential

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