☆ I'm not good with writing romance, but I'd like to try my hand at it.
☆ Cold weather makes wrist go T_T
☆ I do mainly mystery and detective stories with a big slice of supernatural.
☆ Would love to make manga, will probably end up compromising and making light novels instead.
☆ I don't make posts often, because I forget.
☆ Sleeps like 80% of the day.
☆ I might have an addiction to caffeine.
☆ Physically, I am here. Mentally? Probably in Arkham Asylum.
☆ Highly appreciates politeness and people being clear about what they mean. I am not a psychic and polite conversation is easier and more pleasant to have.
Twitter:
The latest Tweets from Nazo (@Nazoudayo). Call me a mangaka or a comic artist, I don't really care which, but I make comics and manga. Studi
Both parties are miserable before they meet one another to a horrible degree.
One of the characters (weirdly often the male lead) is a monster who needs to be understood and oh their backstory is so sad and oh nooo how they cannot live without the main character.
The characters who have just met and know nothing about one another are convinced that they are in love and at the end of the story they still know nothing about each other.
"This love between our species is forbidden for you are a human and I am a [insert other humanoid species most likely an elf or a demon here]."
Somehow, the "relationship" fixes ALL the problems the other person has had without any explanation.
Love potions.
The pairing is always F/M, which while all good and nice.... is weird when the characters aren't compatible with one another but rather with their friends or even the so-called villain if there is one.
Sex scenes. Why is it here, why do you describe it to this detail. Why is this the only notion of these characters doing something together. I thought that this was about romance, where the hell are the romantic gestures. Am I just too old fashioned or weird to want to see someone think about the other person and what they'd like while carefully picking a present/flowers/food for them to enjoy while taking into the account their possible food allergies etc?
Okay so the main character in a LOT of these is a woman who's supposedly independent and knows what she wants and the person she wants is the main love interest etc etc........ why isn't she trying to romance and making the effort of getting to know them, complimenting them and so forth? Why is she waiting for something to happen and instead of doing it herself?
Every single fantasy species magically follows the same gender binary and expression method as humans, how convenient is that, surely this doesn't mean that their cultures aren't exactly the same as regular humans so there will at least be interesting thing about them both learning about each others cultures and customs and..... what do you mean we skipped all that development so these characters can just have an awkward internal monologue about their conflicting feelings at the campsite?
Let me get this straight.... somehow... nobody ever thinks to use magic to do things other than *checks notes* eavesdrop, make prophecies about things and.... *looks closer at the paper* attempt to cheat their way into a relationship... by destroying another one..
There's way too many royals involved, give me a mercenary finding love instead.
Oh god, not the chosen one trope again.
Oh good, now the main character is a royal because they needed a cop-out on the previous can't be together because species thing.
Oh yeah, the main character chosen one soul mate love of the life of the other species prince who is now also royal got sent to that world from ours.
Of course someone gives up their life and... lived to tell the tale... am I reading this right?
Are you telling me that during all these months, after you had sex with that other person, you somehow missed on the fact that you suddenly stopped having periods, started to get hungrier and now you're surprised to learn that you're SIX MONTHS PREGNANT.
Oh my god you people didn't communicate and now there's unnecessary drama.
Who the fuck is this second guy and why does the main character thing that they're in love with them?
Please take this love corner away or at least make it make sense.
I am pretty sure that I just witnessed some level of gaslighting and a bunch of red flags from the behaviour of these two, these people won't make a healthy couple.
Incredible! The only character whom I liked (a side character with maybe three lines) is no longer part of the narrative!
Wasn't there some sort of prophecy and an objective that needed to be done in this novel?
Guy number two please just stop. I know that you were written in just to be an obstacle, but you're actually likeable and I am so sorry that you had to be treated this wa- who the hell is that person and why are they plotting a murder?
I'm pretty sure that this world had magic at some point.
Oh NOW there's magic again? AFTER the character I liked died and actually stayed dead?? Wow.
I still don't know how the hell this relationship fixed anything, I somehow know even less about these characters, but they're now married and have a child. If you ask me, they both needed therapy instead of dating. Also why the timeskip like this? You literally resolved nothing and you two created zero bonds! Your chosen one wasn't doing anything and neither was the male lead, the people who did all the work are DEAD! There better not be a sequel for this- OF COURSE THERE IS.
.... I see, forms of endearment do not exist in this world and everyone is always referred by their full name. By the way why are we focusing on this oddly specific body part for the fifth time in this chapter? Where are we? When are we? Can someone tell me what things look like or feel like and I don't mean emotions, I am talking about senses here. I need to know how that food that is so tasty tastes like or smells like or even looks like, I beg of you give me SOMETHING to work with.
Can someone please tell me why I am supposed to be rooting for these two to be together and stay together? I am no expert, but I'd like to have my partner to not want to lock me up in my room or be this weirdly possessive about me for no reason. Explain to me why they're acting this way because right now this looks more like a prisoner situation. Not to mention that the person keeps flipping between uncaring and frantic. What is going on.
So it turns out that the main character is a reincarnation of a past love of an ageless being who died because of falling from heights/being poisoned... not gonna lie, I'd be creeped out by someone telling me that they love me because I look or smell like someone they knew. Like I'm sorry what? So you're not in it for who I am, you just wanted a second chance with someone who's already dead. And you somehow think that I am that person and are hoping that I'd remember you? I can barely remember what I ate for lunch yesterday, what the hell are you on?
So... why exactly is the main character so prone to danger and why and how does it appear that they are loosing a fight against a door? Scratch that, why isn't the main character picking any skills during this journey or getting physically stronger? It seems like they're actually somehow weaker than at the beginning. I'd like to read about them saving the love interest and not the other way around.
Oh noooo the main character has been kidnapped, who could've ever seen this happen.
As a sidenote: A lot of these gripes are just about regular romance novels as well. And most of the ones that I've read through were something that my grandmother kept buying for my mom as a gift for decades, so it's more than likely that I've just somehow ended up finding the worst of the worst within the saturated market that is romance genre. It's not a secret that romance novelists are often given ludicrous deadlines for their new stories and made to practically churn out a new one once every few weeks (Nora Roberts is a great example of that), because publishers see that people will buy these stories and they read through them fast. It's why some series became series to begin with; the original was popular and left the readers craving for more, so the publishers nudged the author to write more of the same.
A lot of the actual clichés that I've listed could work if they're written well, so I don't have anything against them specifically, I just personally take an issue with them being written very badly and the story breaking its own canon without explaining why it happened. Often times things aren't established well in the world either, the character gives no briefing, doesn't receive one, and the world is left without being explored, you just get one trope after one another, and lot of the time the "romance" is just.... the main character staring at the other character and thinking about how much they want them. Which isn't romantic interest, it's infatuation which gets turned into lust.
I didn't come into the story expecting to see sex, I came in expecting to see people explore their feelings, showcasing them in various ways, getting to know one another on a deep personal level, about the ups and downs, the misunderstandings that stem from the differences between the characters and their potential cultures, learn about the world and its customs with the characters, softness, seeing the misunderstandings to be settled, apologies to be given and accepted, characters learning to communicate and understand one another and mutual respect and admiration to be born which turns into comradeship to loyalty and trust to love.
Does it take time? Yes, yes it does, but that is how relationships of any kind work. You can't rush a story that is so heavily tied to emotional journey, you can't rush feelings or love and while we like to think that we immediately know when we meet tbr right one, the truth is... there isn't just one "right one" and just like with friendships, you need time until you can trust someone with your more vulnerable side. Many of the novels I've read through were clearly rushed, or at least the writer hadn't thought the plot through. In some of them it's glaringly obvious that the person doesn't actually know how to establish a connection with someone as an adult or has a very limited view on what romance is, to them it's purely physical, and while that is fine and all, to some people that doesn't exactly read as romantic or love. And I am one of those people. But as I've been told many a times, I am old fashioned in my views of romance for I am the type to prefer self made gifts, poetry, carefully picked presents and flowers, quiet conversations that go deeper than just the surface, spending time together doing different activities, learning about one another, listening to one another, considering one another.
Sorry that this came out so long, I have a lot of feelings about this specific area of writing.
Detachable junk sounds good in theory, but I can't help but feel that the plug-and-play approach is just asking for trouble. Forget about USB compatibility – I want something mounted on a threaded rod that I have to spend several minutes turning into place, and it makes an obtrusive squeaka-squeaka-squeaka noise the whole time because I'm a dumbass and forgot to lubricate it. I want something that needs to be seated and secured like the parallel data cable from a 1950s computer. I want something where removing it requires disengaging a series of four interlocking mechanical toggles, and I want each of those toggles to go ka-chunk.
My favourite thing about this post is the number of folks in the notes who clearly have no idea that "junk" is slang for "genitals" and have convinced themselves that it's just an oddly phrased tech nostalgia thing and not a dick joke.
When writer's set out to world-build, language has a huge role in creating new cultures and lending a sense of realism to your efforts. A world and people just feel more real when language is involved. As the old Irish proverb says "tír gan teanga, tír gan anam”. A country without a language, is a country without a soul. So how can we create one?
Do Your Homework
First things off, you should start by studying languages. Nobody is asking you to get fluent but it's important to understand the basic mechanics of language. You will start to see certain tricks to language, how verbs are conjugated and how gender effects certain words. It will be easier to make up your own when you know these tricks. By immersing yourself in an array of different languages (I recommend finding ones close to how you want your language to sound), you can gain the tools necessary for creating a believable language.
Keep it Simple
Nobody expects you to pull a Tolkien or channel the powers of David J. Peterson (hail bisa vala). You're not writing a dictionary of your con-lang. You will probably use only a handful of words in your story. Don't over complicate things. A reader will not be fluent in your con-lang and if they have to continually search for the meaning of words they will likely loose patience.
Start Small
When you're learning a language, you always start with the basics. You do the exact same when writing one. Start with introductions, the names of simple objects, simple verbs (to be, to do, to have for example) and most importantly your pronouns (you will use these more than any other word, which is why I always start with them). Simple everyday phrases should always be taken care of first. Build your foundation and work your way up, this is a marathon not a race.
Music to the Ears
If your creating a new language, you're more than likely doing it phonetically. Sound is important to language and especially a con-lang because you want to trick your reader into thinking of a real language when reading the words on the page. I suggest sitting down and actually speak your words aloud, get the feel of them on the tongue to work out the spelling. Spellings shouldn't be too complicated, as I said before the readers aren't fluent and you want to make it easier for them to try it out themselves.
Also when you're creating the con-lang, it's important to figure out how it sounds to an unsuspecting ear. If a character is walking down a street and hears a conversation in a strange language, they will likely describe to the reader what it sounds like. It might be guttural or soft, it might be bursque or flowery. It's always interesting to compare how different languages flow in the ear.
Writing in Your Language
Now that you've written your language and created some words, you will want to incoperate them into your story. The way most writers do this is by italicising them. As a reader, I generally prefer authors not to go too overboard with their con-lang. Swathes of con-lang words might intrigue a reader but it can leave them confused as well. It is better to feed con-lang to your readers bit by bit. In most published works writer's tend to use words here and there but there are few whole sentences. For example in A Game Of Thrones by George RR Martin, has actually only a handful of short sentences in Dothraki despite the language being prevalent throughout the book. Daenerys Targaryen pronounces that "Khalakka dothrae mr’anha!"/"A prince rides inside me!" and it's one of the only sentence we actually see in actual Dothraki.
There's also nothing stopping you from just saying a language has been spoken. If you're not comfortable writing out the words, then don't make yourself. A simple dialogue tag can do the trick just fine.
Know your Words
I do recommend keeping an actual record of your words. Make a dictionary if you want or a simple list of words you need. This is one of the most entertaining aspects of world building, have fun with it, go mad if you like. Also here's a short list of questions you can ask yourself about language in general which might help your juices flow.
Some of my favorite words and phrases to describe a character in pain
coiling (up in a ball, in on themselves, against something, etc)
panting (there’s a slew of adjectives you can put after this, my favorites are shakily, weakly, etc)
keeling over (synonyms are words like collapsing, which is equally as good but overused in media)
trembling/shivering (additional adjectives could be violently, uncontrollably, etc)
sobbing (weeping is a synonym but i’ve never liked that word. also love using sob by itself, as a noun, like “he let out a quiet sob”)
whimpering (love hitting the wips with this word when a character is weak, especially when the pain is subsiding. also love using it for nightmares/attacks and things like that)
clinging (to someone or something, maybe even to themselves or their own clothes)
writhing/thrashing (maybe someone’s holding them down, or maybe they’re in bed alone)
crying (not actual tears. cry as in a shrill, sudden shout)
dazed (usually after the pain has subsided, or when adrenaline is still flowing)
wincing (probably overused but i love this word. synonym could be grimacing)
doubling-over (kinda close to keeling over but they don’t actually hit the ground, just kinda fold in on themselves)
heaving (i like to use it for describing the way someone’s breathing, ex. “heaving breaths” but can also be used for the nasty stuff like dry heaving or vomiting)
gasping/sucking/drawing in a breath (or any other words and phrases that mean a sharp intake of breath, that shite is gold)
murmuring/muttering/whispering (or other quiet forms of speaking after enduring intense pain)
hiccuping/spluttering/sniffling (words that generally imply crying without saying crying. the word crying is used so much it kinda loses its appeal, that’s why i like to mix other words like these in)
stuttering (or other general terms that show an impaired ability to speak — when someone’s in intense pain, it gets hard to talk)
staggering/stumbling (there is a difference between pain that makes you not want to stand, and pain that makes it impossible to stand. explore that!)
recoiling/shrinking away (from either the threat or someone trying to help)
pleading/begging (again, to the threat, someone trying to help, or just begging the pain to stop)
Feel free to add your favorites or most used in the comments/reblogs!
Hello, Tumblr. Tumblr here. We’re launching live streaming on Tumblr, and we’re calling it…well, Tumblr Live.
Tumblr Live brings streaming directly to the dashboard, meaning your Tumblr audience and your streaming audience can converge. What’s that, you say? Synergy? Beautiful.
Initially, we’re rolling Tumblr Live out to the US only via our Android and iOS apps. Desktop and international streaming and viewing will follow in time.
Here’s how it works:
The little 🎥 at the bottom of your dashboard in your mobile app will take you to a Tumblr Live tab, where you’ll be able to scroll through streams that are live at that time—indicated by a green dot. (Your search bar is still there! It now lives in the top right corner of your screen.)
As long as you keep it clean, you can stream anything that takes your fancy by tapping the “Go Live!” button—ducks in the park, the wonky snowman you built, your cursed cross stitch, etc.
Streaming works with both front and back cameras, so if you’re camera-shy, you can stream without showing your face.
You can bestow bouncer status upon your most trusted and loyal viewers, which means they can help you moderate your stream for any nasties while you’re live.
You can tap on any live avatar to jump into their stream—whether you follow that blog or not.
You can send little gifts to the streamer during their stream if you’re enjoying what they’re up to.
You can collect your favorite streamers in a special tab for later.
And that’s it for now. Just imagine! Gaming live streams! Book clubs! Live fungi feed! D’n’D campaigns! Artist live draws! Shark facts! GRWMs! Cosplay and con casts! Knitting hour! Photography tutorials! Storytime! Plant parenting tips! Living room concerts! Furby workshop! Museum tours! Crabs! (just crabs!)
It’s a whole new ball pit out there. We’re so excited to see what you come up with.
Hello Tumblr, Tumblr here. The time has come. We’re rolling Tumblr Live out to more places over the next week.
This means that if you’re in any of the countries or regions listed below, you will be able to watch streams, as well as stream your own Minecraft adventures, your froggy crocheting club, your morning walks, your Furby customization rituals—or, ya know, whatever you’ve got going on there that you want to share with the world.
The aforementioned list:
– Brazil
– Canada
– European Union
– Japan
– Malaysia
– Mexico
– South Korea
– Turkey
– United Kingdom
I love Clark Kent because realistically both a nice 6'5 superhero with godlike powers AND a friendly 6'5 country boy reporter would be rolling in bitches, but Clark suffers from terminal Sweetiepie Syndrome and has zero game as a result
omg no, stop this. as long as they’re in a theater (private property) and children are not allowed in, they can be performed. a lot of those can still have kids viewing (but quite a few shouldn't, kids don't need to see a tennessee williams play), as the bill affects adult cabaret performers specifically, not just men in dresses in general.
Ya'll will do anything and say anything to keep people down, won't you? Like, what would it take for you to speak up against a bill that is clearly intended to target LGBT people? When they make the Pride parade illegal would you speak up? IF not, will you at least stop fighting for the enemy?
And stop pretending to care about KIDS. You don't give a shit about children. IF you did, you would be worried about the ones being exposed to extreme poverty and violence EVERY DAY in real life. Seeing sexy stuff on tv as a kid didn't hurt me. Going cold and hungry and being without proper healthcare DID.
Where are you fucking priorities that you're putting all your time into banning an art form MOST PRACTICED by the LGBT community. But sure, it wasn't a targeted law. And if they outlawed Jazz Bars you'd say it was to protect the kiddies too. Sure. It wouldn't have anything to do with Racism.
except they aren’t doing what you say they are doing.
the bill in question: https://www.capitol.tennesee.gov/bills/113/amend/ha0011.pdf
the bill is an amendment adding adult cabaret performers. there’s a world of difference between someone impersonating the opposite sex and someone that’s simply gender nonconforming and you know it, the lawmakers know it, and the law enforcers know it. they’re not going to slap a felony charge on some guy that decided to wear a skirt that day, unless he happened to be performing adult oriented things in public.
i’d be more than happy to support y’all if you’d just be honest. they’re not coming after pride ffs they’re simply making an amendment to an already existing law that acknowledges the people as being on the list of who limitations already apply to. they’re not outlawing your existence, they’re simply putting a limitation on y’all that applies to everybody else. and seriously though, with a lot of stuff that happens at pride parades, anyone else would go to jail for public indecency, so welcome to the world where you have to follow the same rules as everybody else.
bitch i’m homeless don’t sit there and tell me what i care about and what i know. you know jack shit about me. i’m happy to support anybody, but i loathe liars and fear mongerers. and honestly, i run a tumblr blog, do you honestly think i'm a tennesee legislator? you think i have the power to make bills and turn them into laws?
again, it's not being banned, it's being limited to adult only spaces. two distinctly different things.
Yeah they aren't going to slap a felony charge on a guy who just happens to be wearing a skirt unless someone abuses their interpretation of the law. Or unless the law enforcer happens to be a bigot.
Listen it might have been wrong of me to snap you specifically and I'm sorry about that. But can you please recognize how easy it would be for someone to abuse the wording of this law? Can you really not see that just in the reading of it?
You say this, yet you refuse to admit OP was wrong. You can move the goalposts to "but the law could be abused!" all you like. Someone on your side was flat out wrong.
Not even remotely close to right.
And you have spent every word of every post talking around that.
Why exactly should bees concede anything to you, when you can't even explicitly apologize? "I might have been wrong to yell at you" is not an apology.
I'm not sure what coin you think you're trading in.
I've had heated conversations with people about pizza. The fun part about it is me being a fully trained food professional with a degree, who actually had to be able to give out historical facts about certain foods, pastries, and companies, while most of the people I've bickered with were dating one of my siblings and didn't have any means to prove their point about why something shouldn't be on a pizza.
So, I decided to make a meme out of it.
I think that the funniest instance of this was my sister's ex-boyfriend asking what I knew about making pizza only for my entire family going silent for a moment before I said "I have a degree as a baker-confectioner and it just happens to be so that pizza, as a savoury pie, falls under my jurisdiction. I've already spent a few years making pizza, and as a student, the pizza orders for the chef students were redirected to us because nobody there knew how to make a dough to save their life. If someone here knows how to make pizza, it's me."
First, all souls go to Hell, where they experience the suffering they inflicted upon others. Then, heaven, which reminds them of all the happiness they brought. And only then they are allowed to move on to the next step.
I always thought that this was how it worked, but then I got yelled at by a Christian™ who had a different idea.
Then again I also was taught that Purgatory is like.... Being completely cut off from the divine? Look man, I need a group of theologists without any biases towards one religion or another to take a good look at the thousands of different religious texts to compile the ultimate punishment and the ultimate prize along with the middle ground before I'll be able to really get behind anything.
