Fiction of the Offworld_Lamb

Where ideas come to fester until I remember it on a look-through and obsess over some writing.

[offworldlamb-writes]

For the writing-types that have recently followed, heres my primary writblr: offworldlamb-writes (formerly offworldlamb-nanowrimo but we all know how that's going...)

I write fantasy, high fantasy, and some modern(ish) day fiction. Gotta say, I love characters, places and situations to the point that I stopped writing fanfiction to focus more on my own.

Always looking to participate in more writing events like fictober and oc-kiss-week.

Current projects are:

3Kingdoms: two friends are searching for a cure for a wasting disease called 'the decay' that affects anything that channels magic, including the planet itself. High fantasy, based off an old Tales of Symphonia fanfic called 'Aftertales' (which you can read here if you want).

The Runaway Princess/Adaw: the heir of the fair folk royal family is gathering help for his homeland to finally gain independence from the overbearing king of the neighbouring country, and enlists the help of a local witch with a sinister reputation. Another high fantasy, inspired by Wales and Welsh mythology.

The Waywards: ScanTech own the city and everything made inside its walls. It's no surprise that there's a thriving underground beneath the Ocean of Lights, thanks in large part to the endless piles of scrap thrown out on a daily basis. The best way to spend your time and hard earned keep? Betting on MEC suit fights and races, obviously. (Not a lot of this one up just yet)

Aspects and Everlongs: a wicked figure works from the shadows to grant themselves immortality and ultimate power, no matter the cost. Over the course of three hundred years there are people working to prevent the worst from coming true: an Everlong (a human cursed by a demon), an Aspect (someone or something granted deep power by super/natural means), and an animated scarecrow guarding the castle ruins where everything started. Fantasy set in Wales. (only one thing on tumblr so far)

The No Headphones Rule Sucks: first original fiction. Claudia always knew she was a third wheel, but seventh? That was just a little too much, and it was only the first week of Sixth Form.

The Midnight Cafe: In an attempts at getting away from an awful relationship Deacon winds up in a little university town, working in a cafe called Ground In Reality. The staff are nice, but they're always talking about events that never happened in the cafe. At least not during the day...

And my one fanfiction I have multiple fanfic now!

The View From the Farm: Saving up to move away is difficult when there's no local jobs and your best skills are in IT. So surviving another six months in the Valley are Sebastian's best option.

Unamed Kadaj redemption fanfic: exactly what it says on the tin. Final fantasy vii fanfiction based after Advent Children with not a lot of connection to Remake/Rebirth because i can't stand those fuckin games.

In Ruins: final fantasy ix kuja lives fanfic. i just finished the game and couldn't get this post-game idea out of my head.

I swear not everything is set in/inspired by Wales, I just love it here.

My fave OCs from these works are:

3Kingdoms: Lilla Bjorna Skösgard, Keet San Marrett, Calista Marta, and Tully the Owl Lady

The Runaway Princess: Awen, Kane Howel, Alister Lambert

The Waywards: Noir, Yuan, Alpha, Michael

Aspects and Everlongs: Morgan, Layton, the Scarecrow, Mac

The NHRS: Claudia Morgan, Lloyd Greyson, Daisy Evans, Simon Prince, Frank Fletcher, Sam Perry

The Midnight Cafe: Deacon 'Deek' (i dont remember his surname uh oh), Eri, Frank and Sam (same as the ones in NHRS)

Banner by @cafekitsune

[deathofthespider]

romantic scenario prompts (Part II)

⊹₊˚‧︵‿₊୨ᰔ୧₊‿︵‧˚₊⊹

ꨄ︎ being jealous of each other at the beach because they look too good in their swimwear and everyone is staring

ꨄ︎ swimming at night under the moonlight

ꨄ︎ one being scared of the dark water and the other helping them get into the water

ꨄ︎ pulling the car over at a cliffside and watching the sunset together, one sitting on the other’s lap in the driver’s seat

ꨄ︎ having to share a single bed together, pretending to be annoyed but secretly enjoying it

ꨄ︎ removing their makeup when they’re too sleepy or drunk to do it themselves

ꨄ︎ staying in a mountain cabin when the power goes out and one of them is scared of the dark

ꨄ︎ parenting a dog or cat together (very seriously)

ꨄ︎ the one who knows nothing about makeup trying to do the other’s makeup

ꨄ︎ drying each other’s hair after a shower

ꨄ︎ warming each other up by hugging during the cold

ꨄ︎ having to sit on the other’s lap because the car ride is too crowded

ꨄ︎ wearing chained bracelets all day after losing a bet

⊹₊˚‧︵‿₊୨ᰔ୧₊‿︵‧˚₊⊹

(all of these prompts are original, by me. feel free to use.)

[pixxyofice]

make that trio polyamorous

[azaablue]

the best fanfiction you've ever read was written by a woman in her 40s before she made dinner for her kids. it was written by a teenager after school when they should've been studying for a history test. and a barista came up with the idea while they cleaned the espresso machine and busser fact-checked it on their break and the post-doc edited between writing grant proposals and the nurse apologized for typos in the notes after a long shift and behind every drabble and one-shot and multi-chapter fic there is a person with a wonderful and interesting and chaotic life and it is such a privilege that we get to be a part of it because they decided to do this thing we all share, for fun.

[nondelphic]

the feminine urge to abandon the novel and start a newer, hotter, less emotionally demanding novel

[bambicest]

some people really do need to start reminding themselves that the answer to "why didn't the character just do [something entirely different]" is often simply "because then there wouldn't be a story"

[nondelphic]

writing is all fun and games until the scene requires a location

[creekfiend]

i think theres something thats unfortunate about some trends in fantasy books the last couple decades wherein people lose the story in the worldbuilding. the worldbuilding is generally there to support the story. u have to trust your readers to not need an explicitly detailed explanation of every aspect of how exactly things work... it doesnt have to have a Dungeon Manual. obviously it should hold up under scrutiny and not be, like, completely nonsensical in its implications in a way that contradicts things youve written into the plot and stuff. but it doesnt need to like. it doesnt have to be a situation where you have to Show Your Work all the time

[themeadowscene]

I would love to see a fantasy novel where the lore that the reader / protagonist learns at first is not true

[themeadowscene]

e.g. they're told that this kind of creature has some kind of psychic or pheromone-based "mate bond" that cannot be broken; but it turns out that's a popular myth that has never been scientifically substantiated, and is basically used to keep people in bad relationships (basically the equivalent of "human women are biologically submissive")

[themeadowscene]

"lore" is imo too often treated like information that the author is giving the reader, and it just happens to be using the medium of diagetic (that is, 'in-story') exposition.

it's so much more interesting and dynamic to treat "lore" as information that is generated and disseminated in-story. who is telling the protagonist this information? under what historical and social circumstances was this idea formed? what political motives are there for trying to get people to believe this information? which characters would disagree with it? would the protagonist believe it, or be sceptical? does the plot bear it out, or cast doubt on it?

[flagellant]

l

[socialprawn]

all of you ppl super into writing about and drawing your OCs... you are what make me go so smiler on tumblr.... ur so aspirational to me

(′д｀ )…彡…彡

[offworldlamb-writes]

7, 11, 27 for the ask game :>

(゜ロ゜) I cant believe this slipped me by thank you @stormyrainyday 🥰

7: top 5 tags in my complete history of works! Ahahah...

Fluff

OC kiss week

Romance

Swearing

Light angst

Sounds about right 🫣

11: forgot what summary i was going to write?? Oh shit

I usually go to what the conflict is within the scene, or what the inciting incident is that gets us to what the scene is about, like two characters meet after an argument, or wow that moment was intense what happened afterwards? Its a good starting point anyway.

27: share a random sentence from a wip?

Its going to be from an original work because thats what I wrote last lol, and I enjoyed writing the moment.

yipee feel free to send an ask or get me to send you one!

[allthingswhumpyandangsty]

I’m not a fan of ai, but I can accept that if someone chooses to use ai for their fics or their art, that is their choice. not something I agree with. but still not my business, and I will never condone harassment.

if anything, I think it’s better if these people feel comfortable enough to tag their stuff as ai, so that other people can avoid their works if they’re not comfortable with ai-generated contents.

that said, I think ai writers will stop tagging their stuff as ai entirely if people shame or harass them for it.

so now their stuff is still ai, just untagged, meaning there’s no way for others to know if it’s ai.

keep in mind that speculation, accusations and witch hunt harm genuine artists and writers as much as ai does, if not more.

so if you go to the “ai-generated” tag on ao3 just to harass people for using ai, just know that you’re not actually fighting against ai — you’re just being a bully and you’re also making people more wary of properly tagging their ai-generated works as such. so you’re just making sure they no longer tag their ai-generated stuff as ai. also you can be reported for harassment, and ao3 will not take your side. (whether or not you like it, ai-generated works are allowed on ao3, whereas harassment is not.)

the “ai-generated” tag on ao3 is there so people can either find or avoid works with ai (but in order for it to work, ai users must feel comfortable enough to be honest and tag their works properly, that won’t happen if people keep shaming and harassing them for it — the only thing harassment will do is make sure ai stuff go untagged, harassment doesn’t stop people from using ai).

the “ai-generated” tag is not there so that you can freely harass people with no consequences.

[luna-azzurra]

A non-writer asked me "but where do you get your ideas" and i genuinely did not know how to explain that it's not a place. it's not a website. it's not a folder. it's that i was on the bus and a woman was holding a paper bag very carefully and something about the way she held it made me need to know what was inside and then i needed to know why she was sad about it and then there was a whole person and then there was a whole story and the bus had already stopped and i missed my stop. that's where.

[thewriteadviceforwriters]

if you’re writing enemies-to-lovers, read this

first of all: 💀 why does every enemies-to-lovers dynamic either hit like a literary gut punch… or feel like two cardboard cutouts aggressively flirting?

there is no in between. i don’t make the rules.

and if you’re here, i’m guessing you’ve tasted both. the elite. the devastating. the oh my god i need to lie down after this confession scene kind… and also the ones where you’re like “why do you hate each other again? because he smirked?? be serious.”

yeah. we’re fixing that today.

⚔️ if you’re writing enemies-to-lovers, we need to talk.

because most people aren’t writing enemies.

they’re writing:

mild annoyances

workplace rivals with ✨tension✨

people who had one (1) misunderstanding in chapter two and never emotionally recovered

and listen. that’s fine. that’s a trope. it’s cute.

but it’s not enemies-to-lovers.

🩸 step one: define your enemy

an enemy is not someone who:

is kinda rude

disagrees with your protagonist

has a “bad attitude” (???)

an enemy is someone who cannot coexist with your protagonist without cost.

read that again. PLEASE.

their goals? incompatible. their values? clashing at a moral level. their existence? actively making the other’s life worse.

what i'm talking about:

opposing sides of a war

hunter vs hunted

“if i let you live, everything i believe in collapses” energy

if they can just… avoid each other and be fine?

that’s not enemies. that’s tension with good lighting.

🗡️ step two: make the hatred make sense

this is where people fumble it CONSTANTLY.

they jump straight to:

banter → sexual tension → accidental hand touch → oh no i’m in love

NO. come back. sit down.

before attraction, there needs to be justified hostility.

and not surface-level “you insulted me once.”

i’m talking about (and yes please quote 'rin t' on this!):

betrayal

loss

ideological opposition

deeply ingrained bias they don’t even realize they have

the kind of thing where, if someone asked your character:

“why do you hate them?”

they wouldn’t hesitate. they’d have a list

the twist:

👉 both sides need to be right. (or at least feel right)

if one is clearly wrong, you don’t have enemies-to-lovers. you have “problematic person gets redeemed because they’re hot.”

and we are not doing that today.

🔥 step three: attraction should feel like a problem

this is where it gets fun. :)

when they start catching feelings, it should not be:

“oh this is inconvenient but kind of exciting :)”

it should be:

“this is catastrophic. this compromises everything.”

love = risk.

because now:

their judgment is compromised

their loyalties are tested

their identity starts to crack

they should be actively resisting it.

denying it. sabotaging it. making worse choices because of it.

if falling in love doesn’t cost them something?

you skipped the entire point of the trope.

🕯️ step four: force proximity (but PLEASEEE make it hurt)

you can’t resolve enemies-to-lovers from opposite sides of the map.

they need to be stuck together.

BUT-important distinction-

not in a cute “one bed at the inn” way (yet. we’ll get there. don’t worry.)

in a:

forced alliance

mutual threat

political arrangement

survival situation

where they have to rely on each other…

while still fundamentally not trusting each other.

this creates:

tension

vulnerability leaks

moments where they see each other as human (ugh. disgusting. hate that.)

and every time that happens?

it should complicate things further.

💔 step five: the shift is not soft. it’s violent.

i need you to understand this.

the transition from enemies → lovers should feel like something breaking.

because it is.

their worldview? breaking. their assumptions? breaking. their sense of self? yeah. that too.

there should be a moment where:

they realize they were wrong about the other person

and it doesn’t feel good.

it feels like:

guilt

confusion

grief for the version of reality they believed in

this is what makes the payoff hit.

not the kiss.

the reckoning.

🗝️ step six: they don’t “fix” each other

if i see one more enemies-to-lovers arc where:

“he became a better person because she loved him 🥺”

i will simply pass away.

they don’t fix each other.

they force each other to confront things they were avoiding.

that’s different.

love isn’t the solution.

it’s the pressure that reveals the cracks.

🖤 final thought (and a gentle threat):

if your enemies-to-lovers could be replaced with:

friends-to-lovers + mild inconvenience

and nothing changes?

you didn’t go far enough.

push them harder.

make it uglier. riskier. a little bit devastating.

so, question to you my chaotic writers... what’s the real reason your characters hate each other?

not the surface answer.

the one they’d never admit out loud.

i’m nosy. tell me everything. 👀 I LOVE HEARING your thoughts (i reply because yes, i am a real person!)

I HAVE DIGITAL PRODUCTS!!!

if you're writing dark academia feel free to check out this packet filled with all the juicy prompts to spark ideas!

Write the Darkness: 75 Dark Academia x Horror Prompts

A gothic prompt pack for writers who love cursed universities, secret societies, and scholarly rot.✎ Write the Darkness ✎A 75-prompt horror

need help with your opening pages?! i have a free ebook for you all (aesthetic, cohesive and actually informative! it's free! but tips are highly appreciated!)

5 Opening Pages Mistakes to Stop Making — A Mini eBook for Fiction Writers

✦ A free (and actually helpful) guide to leveling up your first 10 pages ✦If you're unsure whether your opening is ✨doing enough✨ to hook re

[museaway]

✍️ yet another list of fic writer asks

You all seem to like these, so here is another batch of writer asks! These questions are a little more relaxed than the last two. Followers can send an ask with a number OR you can reblog and answer everything like a Q&A. I always see a lot of “idk if i’m a writer” in the tags for these so let me just say in advance, yes you are and you can play.

What is the crackiest* thing you’ve ever written? (*I mean this with great affection)

Has writing a fic ever changed your opinion of a character?

Tell us about a headcanon you invented for a fic

Have you ever written a fic inspired by a tumblr post?

How do you know when you’re finished writing a fic? At what point do you call it done?

When do you title your fics? Before you write them? As you write them? While posting to AO3 and that “Work Title” field is staring at you?

Navigate to your complete list of works on AO3. What are your top 5 Additional Tags?

Tell us your shortest and longest titles of all time

The two fandoms you’ve written the most have been suddenly crossed with each other! What AU are you writing?

What’s a phrase you catch yourself using in multiple fics, not necessarily on purpose?

Oh no! You’re posting a fic to AO3 and completely forgot to write a summary. What is your summary-writing strategy?

Do you write in order, jump around the draft, or a mix? Something else?

Congratulations, you’ve just finished the WIP you’ve been working on for months! How are you going to celebrate?

Is there a word or phrase you intentionally use in every fic?

How many times has someone nodded in your current WIP? This is for posterity so be honest

Describe your current WIP with just emojis

When you get a new fic idea, what does that look like in your mind? Does it play out like a film? Do you imagine lines of dialogue or a certain moment? Does a character just sit there staring at you?

If you have noticed themes emerging in your writing, what are they? What broad themes and topics do you enjoy exploring?

It’s a lovely morning in fandom land and a horrible goose is running rampant through your folders. How many WIPs is it going to step on?

What’s the story behind your pen name?

Without getting into any discourse, just thinking as a writer approaching characters, would you ever write about your NOTP? If you did, do you think that would change how you feel about it? (If you’ve done this, how did it go?)

Do you have a fixed writing routine, or do you write when you have time? Is there a time of day when you prefer to write?

What is your #1 distraction when you’re trying to write? If it’s a pet, post a pic

What colors, sights, sounds, textures, etc. inspire you? Do certain environments make you feel more creative than others?

Someone you know outside of fandom has heard that you’re a writer. “I’d like to read something of yours!” they say with sincere enthusiasm. “Where can I find it?” What’s your answer?

Do you have a routine you run through before you write?

Share a random sentence from a WIP. The less context, the better. Be confusing.

You’re out and about, nowhere near your home, when a fantastic story idea pops into your head! What do you do?

Have you ever actually remembered one of those 3am “I’ll remember it in the morning” ideas?

Finish this sentence with your fandom’s variation(s): No beta, we die like _________

[allthingswhumpyandangsty]

#know your fandom history

[kayvsworld]

most tragic thing about wanting to see more stuff of your oc is that the c is o and YOU have to make the stuff. devastating. why can’t art of my beautiful baby just appear in my hands. just materialize under my pillow, like from the tooth fairy