puzzled ducks

🕊"Did you slay the sweet birds in your brothers countenance?!!"🕊 - Else Lasker-Schüler

[writingwithfolklore]

Writing Resources to use instead of AI

For coming up with character names:

Behind the name (my absolute fav)

Allows you to choose the origin of where you want the name to be from, whether you want a more feminine vs masculine vs androgenous name (as voted by users), random surname generator, and clicking on the name gives you important info like if there are any famous people with the same name, where it’s from, how common it is, and how people tend to see it, etc.

You can also search their name database by letter or meaning or origin, so if you know you want a character who has a name/surname that starts with an A from Ireland, there’s a whole list for you to choose from.

Census sites

Especially useful if you’re looking for a name from a specific place and/or time period. Just search “(country) census (year)” and you’ll find a database of real people who lived in that place at that time. No one can ever call your names unrealistic again.

For coming up with place names:

Fantasy name generator

This site can basically come up with any name for any person, place, or thing you might ever need. There are also specific generators for different fandoms if you’re looking to make an OC in an established world.

For finding that one word on the tip of your tongue:

One Look Thesaurus

This is my go-to. Not only can you find synonyms like a regular thesaurus, but you can also describe words like “unhappy smile” or “quiet laugh” to find the more specific word you’re looking for.

For coming up with ideas:

Word cloud

When I need to inspire a new idea, I write down all the things I’m interested in (hauntings, academia, lesbians, etc.) and put them into a word cloud to shuffle them next to each other. Sometimes seeing a concept in a new context can spark new ideas!

WWF Discord

This is my discord channel (shameless plug) for when you need to brainstorm off other people but don’t have anyone irl to talk to. We’re also happy to read and give feedback on writing, answer writing questions, or just chat!

For visualizing places and characters:

Pinterest

Pinterest can at times be a bit too sterile for my tastes, but if you use the right words, you can find more realistic photos of places. For example, adding “aesthetic” after basically any word will bring up a more broad collection of photos to help you flesh out places.

This is also a great way to find photos of people and fashion to help visualize characters. I’m bad at describing clothes, so I usually collect photos of outfits to help me know what my characters are wearing. Searching up “character inspiration” will collect more interesting photos and drawings of people who might not exactly be of our world.

(However, to make Pinterest not show you AI results, you have to go into your settings and check the “reduce AI” box. Luckily, it does mostly work.)

Death to Stock

Like pinterest but completely AI free (hooray!) Only drawback is that you have to pay a monthly subscription (about $20 CAD).

Cosmos

Very similar to pinterest but slightly more "artsy". I'm not super familiar with this one but I believe all the photos are human and you can save them and create collections with a free account.

Dupe Photos

Royalty-free stock image site with very Pinterest-core photos!

Minecraft

If you haven’t built your entire fictional city in Minecraft instead of writing, why not? It’s fun.

The Sims

This one is dual purpose because you can not only create your characters in Create a Sim, but you can design their houses. If you really want to go for it, you can bulldoze all the lots in your town and build your world from scratch.

For checking grammar:

Grammar Girl

Easy to follow definitions and examples, and if you learn better by listening, every article comes with a podcast to follow along with instead.

Grammar Monster

This one is my favourite for checking grammar rules because there’s tons of examples in graphics that helps for any situation.

Reedsy

Among other things, reedsy can connect you to professional editors within your budget.

For writing advice:

One Stop for Writers

This one was recommended from my discord channel and has all sorts of tutorials and resources for the writing craft.

My Blog Directory

Another shameless plug, but if you need writing advice on something specific, you can search through my directory to see if it’s there. If it isn’t, you can always send me an ask about it!

For an alternative to Google Docs:

Ellipsus

Think google docs but without AI. Yay!

(will update this list with any more suggestions or resources I discover 😊)

[just-a-readthrough]

A great resource

[permanenteclipse]

The reason you hate when someone tells you to do something you were already going to do is because you had an opportunity to display responsibility but they needed it to be obedience. So now you feel you're being perceived as lazy and deferential instead of considerate and independent. Btw

[permanenteclipse]

Nobody else tell me what this is called in the DSM, stop pathologizing every possible experience, stop treating yourself like a fascinating case study in brain diseases instead of a person healing from mistreatment. We're talking about "wanting to be taken seriously" today, not psychiatry-approved "stubborn and petulant for no reason disorder"

[segamascott]

[segamascott]

both countries withdrew to avoid an "international incident" ie israel would have attacked them and they would be forced to actually materially do something instead of making statements

[toweringclam]

I'll be honest with you. If I had just created an animated pilot that was going to have a good 3-year gap before episode 2 and had garnered a very passionate fan base who were poring over every frame like it was a sacred text, and said fans had already formed a trans headcanon that made it look like the show's primary gay male representation—representation that is already on shaky ground for flying more death flags than a pirate armada and just being a real dick in general—was also a raging transphobe who casually misgenders and deadnames his trans daughter before beating the shit out of her, I'd also try to nip that in the bud REAL fucking fast before fans could think through the rest of those implications, especially if I planned to give him some kind of redemption arc later on.

[unbloodiedmartyr]

dont worry kid. if you just devote yourself to your craft and put enough time and energy into practice one day you will also be able to make art that gets 50 notes on tumblr dot com

[multitrackdrifting]

in tears every time i check this account

[pocket-deer-belly]

this shit is genuinely fucking baffling to me. imagine being dana terrace, creator of hit tv show the owl house, lauded for how queer inclusive your past works are, creating a pilot for a new show. a lot of people assume that the protagonist for this new show is a transgender woman, evidencing this claim with bits of writing within the show. Namely, a character who is depicted as violent and abusive towards her uses the traditionally masculine name "franklin" instead of frankie for her, and this masculine name is specifically tied to him threatening violence on her. you didn't actually intend for this. there's two ways you can honestly respond to this:

admit that you didn't intend for this, but are excited to see a particular group of trans people resonate with the character and state that you are open to this interpretation of her, and want to consider this in writing trans woman characters in the future, which you haven't done a lot yet.

whatevere the fucke his thingeth is:

[puzzleducks]

Coming out of the trenches rn. I‘m just curious, at everyone mad at her:

If Frankie WAS intended to be trans, would y‘all be happy if the only transfem character so far was a big muscly rough woman who dresses and sounds masculine and opens beer bottles with her eye sockets? Written by cis people?? You see her and think she is a trans woman??? This is the most insane controversy I‘ve ever witnessed oh my god get a job

[count-of-monte-fucko]

reread ops post and tell me where they say frankie needs to be a trans woman in canon. what this post SAYS is that transfems were ALREADY identifying her as transfem, seeing elements of their experience in her, and got excited at the prospect of having representation in this show. and then dt’s response was to shut that down. THAT is the complaint. i promise the big creator doesnt need you to defend her

[puzzleducks]

„DT’s response was to shut that down“ it‘s clearing out a misconception about the name thing since people thought her being called by multiple names meant she‘s trans. About her OWN CHARACTER that she created (alongside two other people who don‘t get harassed bc they‘re not in reach for people the way Dana is). People asked if she was trans, she said no. Where is the problem with that?

[count-of-monte-fucko]

the problem is brushing off the idea that this character could even potentially be transfem. lets go back to the op for an idea of a more appropriate response:

instead she was extremely dismissive of the way transfems identified with frankie and shut down the hc entirely. which means not only are transfems once AGAIN not represented in a popular queer series (at least so far) but that they were shot down from even seeing themselves in the main character. thats what people are upset about. not “frankie needs to be transfem” or “they shouldve made her transfem on the spot”. its a response to a pattern of being dismissed even by queer creatives.

[puzzleducks]

Ok. she apologized and made a new post clarifying what she meant. Now what. What‘s the point of keeping this post up then

[pocket-deer-belly]

this shit is genuinely fucking baffling to me. imagine being dana terrace, creator of hit tv show the owl house, lauded for how queer inclusive your past works are, creating a pilot for a new show. a lot of people assume that the protagonist for this new show is a transgender woman, evidencing this claim with bits of writing within the show. Namely, a character who is depicted as violent and abusive towards her uses the traditionally masculine name "franklin" instead of frankie for her, and this masculine name is specifically tied to him threatening violence on her. you didn't actually intend for this. there's two ways you can honestly respond to this:

admit that you didn't intend for this, but are excited to see a particular group of trans people resonate with the character and state that you are open to this interpretation of her, and want to consider this in writing trans woman characters in the future, which you haven't done a lot yet.

whatevere the fucke his thingeth is:

[puzzleducks]

Coming out of the trenches rn. I‘m just curious, at everyone mad at her:

If Frankie WAS intended to be trans, would y‘all be happy if the only transfem character so far was a big muscly rough woman who dresses and sounds masculine and opens beer bottles with her eye sockets? Written by cis people?? You see her and think she is a trans woman??? This is the most insane controversy I‘ve ever witnessed oh my god get a job

[count-of-monte-fucko]

reread ops post and tell me where they say frankie needs to be a trans woman in canon. what this post SAYS is that transfems were ALREADY identifying her as transfem, seeing elements of their experience in her, and got excited at the prospect of having representation in this show. and then dt’s response was to shut that down. THAT is the complaint. i promise the big creator doesnt need you to defend her

[puzzleducks]

„DT’s response was to shut that down“ it‘s clearing out a misconception about the name thing since people thought her being called by multiple names meant she‘s trans. About her OWN CHARACTER that she created (alongside two other people who don‘t get harassed bc they‘re not in reach for people the way Dana is). People asked if she was trans, she said no. Where is the problem with that?

[puzzleducks]

She is not required to hold people‘s hands, pat them on the head, and gently tell them that she didn’t envision it that way but it is absolutely okay to interpret it differently. You can do that already, she is not stopping anyone. People just get caught up in the blunt wording like they need it baby-talked to them.

[pocket-deer-belly]

this shit is genuinely fucking baffling to me. imagine being dana terrace, creator of hit tv show the owl house, lauded for how queer inclusive your past works are, creating a pilot for a new show. a lot of people assume that the protagonist for this new show is a transgender woman, evidencing this claim with bits of writing within the show. Namely, a character who is depicted as violent and abusive towards her uses the traditionally masculine name "franklin" instead of frankie for her, and this masculine name is specifically tied to him threatening violence on her. you didn't actually intend for this. there's two ways you can honestly respond to this:

admit that you didn't intend for this, but are excited to see a particular group of trans people resonate with the character and state that you are open to this interpretation of her, and want to consider this in writing trans woman characters in the future, which you haven't done a lot yet.

whatevere the fucke his thingeth is:

[puzzleducks]

Coming out of the trenches rn. I‘m just curious, at everyone mad at her:

If Frankie WAS intended to be trans, would y‘all be happy if the only transfem character so far was a big muscly rough woman who dresses and sounds masculine and opens beer bottles with her eye sockets? Written by cis people?? You see her and think she is a trans woman??? This is the most insane controversy I‘ve ever witnessed oh my god get a job

[count-of-monte-fucko]

reread ops post and tell me where they say frankie needs to be a trans woman in canon. what this post SAYS is that transfems were ALREADY identifying her as transfem, seeing elements of their experience in her, and got excited at the prospect of having representation in this show. and then dt’s response was to shut that down. THAT is the complaint. i promise the big creator doesnt need you to defend her

[puzzleducks]

„DT’s response was to shut that down“ it‘s clearing out a misconception about the name thing since people thought her being called by multiple names meant she‘s trans. About her OWN CHARACTER that she created (alongside two other people who don‘t get harassed bc they‘re not in reach for people the way Dana is). People asked if she was trans, she said no. Where is the problem with that?

[pocket-deer-belly]

this shit is genuinely fucking baffling to me. imagine being dana terrace, creator of hit tv show the owl house, lauded for how queer inclusive your past works are, creating a pilot for a new show. a lot of people assume that the protagonist for this new show is a transgender woman, evidencing this claim with bits of writing within the show. Namely, a character who is depicted as violent and abusive towards her uses the traditionally masculine name "franklin" instead of frankie for her, and this masculine name is specifically tied to him threatening violence on her. you didn't actually intend for this. there's two ways you can honestly respond to this:

admit that you didn't intend for this, but are excited to see a particular group of trans people resonate with the character and state that you are open to this interpretation of her, and want to consider this in writing trans woman characters in the future, which you haven't done a lot yet.

whatevere the fucke his thingeth is:

[puzzleducks]

Coming out of the trenches rn. I‘m just curious, at everyone mad at her:

If Frankie WAS intended to be trans, would y‘all be happy if the only transfem character so far was a big muscly rough woman who dresses and sounds masculine and opens beer bottles with her eye sockets? Written by cis people?? You see her and think she is a trans woman??? This is the most insane controversy I‘ve ever witnessed oh my god get a job

[number-1-soup-fan]

no one will know which one it is.

[elon-musty-ass]

[ozempicofficial]

[splodgo]

day 2 - portals

I love the idea of Caleb and Evelyn working on the portal door together, not originally Philip (who probably stole it knowing him)

It’s literally in the colours of the rebus too, combines his carving skills, demon realm technology which is wayyyy above that of the human realm, and their love for both worlds + to unite them

maybe I’m just overthinking it :,| anyways

@wittecoupleweek

[sourlemontart]

I MUST draw him pregnant

[jamonilla]

da boy

[scorchedcandy]

Unrelated: I have also been injected with praying mantis DNA

[ailithnight]

This looks so much like a "normal" Tumblr ad, I almost scrolled past it until my brain registered the Aperture logo. Then I had to scroll back up to it to reblog.

[skorpionegrass]

finally finished my mlp human designs ^^ i hope i can draw more of them in the future