to write is to live

Prose = words in their best order; — poetry = the best words in the best order main @ryvannanightshade

[ryvannanightshade-writing]

~ tags ~

original works → #ryvanna writes (details below the cut)

reblogs → #tips, #ideas, #resources

When The Plum Tree Blossom Falls (梅花落时, Mei Hua Luo Shi)

Feng Lanying, the most infamous assassin in Xianzhou's history, is dead. At least, he was, until someone dragged his soul back from the underworld and forced it into the body of Jian Xilan, the idle younger brother of the Jian Sect Leader. Now, with a new face and a new life, all Feng Lanying wants is to enjoy the life of a wealthy cultivator. But all is not well in Xianzhou; high-ranking cultivators are being murdered left and right, using the very same techniques that Feng Lanying was famous for. He is left with no choice but to investigate, if only out of curiosity as to who could possibly outsmart him — but this decision is fraught with risk, and brings his path across that of Ye Xuanhe, the current leader of the Ye sect, and the very man who killed Feng Lanying in the first place. Tempers flare and blades clash, but if they want to find the murderer, Feng Lanying and Ye Xuanhe must work together. Even if it means facing the deeply buried secrets of the past.

*****

On The Death Of A Butterfly

Kai Zhong is completely and utterly normal, insofar as any student studying meta-magi-medicine at the Academy for Wielders of the Odd and Occult can be. The last thing he needs is to be thrown into a cosmic war between ancient gods. Especially as worrying similarities between himself and a mysterious figure known only as the ‘Butterfly Prince’ keep popping up in the unlikeliest of places. Unfortunately for him, that's exactly what happens. Accompanied by his best friend Terry and a mysterious man called Yong Xiao who knows far more than he's letting on, Kai must embark on a perilous journey to change the very nature of reality—and in so doing, finally find a history to truly call his own.

*****

A Snake Among The Flowers (在花里躲的蛇, Zai Hua Li Duo De She)

Li Yuan is the prettiest and the most spoiled of all the spoiled pretty-boy sons of the affluent merchant families of Tongcheng. Unlike the other young masters of the city, however, he has brains to match his beauty. Therefore, when a case of mistaken identity means he is chosen as a candidate to marry the Crown Prince, Zhen Lian, he is quick to find a solution that will see him home before the end of the year. Namely, to pose as a woman, trust nobody, and find the fastest way to get expelled from the palace that does not involve committing a crime. However, when one of his fellow candidates is murdered, Li Yuan is compelled to seek out the truth behind her death — which drops him in the middle of a web of secrets, lies, and spiteful court gossip, all of it overshadowed by the Crown Prince, whose interest in Li Yuan is perhaps more dangerous than any poison could ever be.

***** A Thousand Furlongs Of Sea

In the hustle and bustle of Atlantis' royal court, Maera Macula is invisible and overlooked. With Hestia's blessing that grants her the goodwill of all who meet her and entry into every hearth, she can go anywhere in the palace without suspicion. In other words, she is exactly where she wants to be. As an Alismati, an assassin of the royal court, there is nothing more dangerous than being known. But when an attempt to murder the Crown Prince is made, Maera is assigned the job of protecting Princess Idyia Alismata. Idyia is beautiful, vicious, and blessed by the goddess Aphrodite — a dangerous combination that makes for a dangerous woman. Theirs is a hostile relationship, but neither Maera nor Idyia can find out who is plotting the downfall of the Alismata line without the other's help. And perhaps Hestia's flame might be enough to warm the ocean-cold heart of a princess.

[walmart-the-official]

Hey, don’t cry. Free online database of Japanese folk lore

[bleu-guacamole]

Might I add, free database of mostly European folklore and myths

[bogleech]

A Book of Creatures by @a-book-of-creatures doesn't update these days but is another thing along these lines, really huge, fully illustrated all by the author and cites all sources

[sailatina3]

I wish it were more common to have "bilingual" stories. By that i mean stories where it's important that 2 or more languages are spoken throughout. There isn't any translation, there's just multiple languages spoken by the characters. I understand why this is seldom done considering how heavily limiting it is to the number of people who can actually read or watch it. But idk I think the world would be better off with some stories like that.

[vampiremood]

personally I'm a big fan of the moment a vampire gets Embraced being a metaphor for a sudden, irreversible trauma. maybe you thought you knew what it would be like but you couldn't have understood the actual enormity; maybe it was an accident or something completely out of your control. either way this event happens to you and you are changed forever

now your emotions are unstable. your anger is all-consuming, your fear takes your body away from you, and always always always you are a danger to others if you can't control yourself from what you want and need. you can no longer be in the daylight living a typical life, so your social world completely changes and so does the environment. you might be stuck now with cold empty streets and buildings. you might cling to clubs and bars are the only places where you get to be around people living their lives. in some severe cases, you can't even look at yourself anymore, or perhaps the figure in the mirror is someone you don't recognize. your past identity and way of being has been taken away, permanently

you do what you have to in order to survive. and your new way of surviving, the only way you can exist, is something society finds disgusting or fetishizes. it doesn't matter what other people think because it's all you can do anyway. your new "community", those who most understand what you're going through, are themselves traumatized and suffering, in a constant state of victim and perpetrator. maybe they want to help you but maybe they want to use you. maybe you want to be kind but now your very nature makes real consent and honesty difficult, so in some ways you are a user and abuser too

do young vampires think about their last "normal" day? was it perfectly mundane, with no warning that it would be the last one? if they could have that day again, would they try appreciate all the little details like the warmth of the sun and the taste of lunch better this time? or would they try desperately to change their fate and avoid what's coming for them? well. you can't change the past. you can only do what you can with what you have now

[strawberisapphic]

everyone has a ship thats just: theyre perfect. they hate each other. theyre married. they havent spoken in 15 years. they have date nights three times a week. theyre divorced. theyre pining, its unrequited. its requited. theyre starcrossed. theyre meant to be. theyre doomed by the narrative. they love each other. theyve never held hands. they wont stop making out at parties. they cant look each other in the eye

[prokopetz]

Malicious unreliable narrator who really wants to lie to the audience for fun getting increasingly frustrated as every bit of bullshit they spin inexplicably later turns out to be technically true.

[digitalkiddo]

If you're writing anything involving cons, scams, heists, or morally questionable characters who are very good at lying, here are some free resources I've been using for research. Saving you the "why is this in my search history" anxiety.

1. The FBI's Famous Cases & Criminals archive (fbi.gov/history/famous-cases) has detailed breakdowns of real fraud cases, Ponzi schemes, and confidence operations. The language they use is clinical and precise, which is perfect for getting the procedural details right.

2. The FTC Consumer Sentinel Network publishes annual reports on the most common fraud tactics in the US. Great for understanding how modern scams actually work and what makes people fall for them.

3. The Smithsonian's American Art Museum has a free digital collection of forgery case studies. If your character forges documents or art, this is gold.

4. Court Listener (courtlistener.com) is a free legal database where you can read actual court transcripts from fraud trials. Want to know how a real con artist talks under oath? This is where you find out.

5. The Internet Archive's collection of old newspaper crime sections. Search for "confidence man" or "swindle" in papers from the 1920s through 1960s and you'll find incredible real stories that would feel too dramatic for fiction.

Bonus: The Psychology of Fraud section on the Association for Psychological Science website has accessible articles about why people trust, how deception works cognitively, and what makes someone a convincing liar. Essential reading if you want your con artist characters to feel psychologically real.

Reblog to save for later. Your WIP will thank you.

[valtsv]

i refused to stay buried because i love you why are you running

[valtsv]

babe it's me i'm just covered in dirt and blood because i had to claw my way up into the light and crawl on my hands and knees back home to you stop screaming

[counttwinkula]

hey did you know that uhh

i. the monster's body is a cultural body

ii. the monster always escapes

iii. the monster is the harbinger of category crisis

iv. the monster dwells at the gates of difference

v. the monster polices the borders of the possible

vi. fear of the monster is really a kind of desire

vii. the monster stands at the threshold… of becoming

[counttwinkula]

oh shit i didn't expect this to actually get notes lmao

these are all direct quotes from jeffrey jerome cohen's "monster culture (seven theses)" (full pdf linked) i highly encourage you to read it yourself!

that said, while i think cohen's writing is evocative, it can be a little dense, so while i'm here, here's my capsule summary (you can also hear me talk about this in the first episode of my podcast) (listen to @ghostswerepeopletoo)

i. the monster's body is a cultural body - The monster is a work of fiction to be analyzed through tools of literary and sociological theory.

ii. the monster always escapes - As long as the cultural fear from which the monster stems persists, the monster will reappear in retellings, reimaginings, and sequels.

iii. the monster is the harbinger of category crisis - Monsters defy binaries and challenge easy comprehension or categorization.

iv. the monster dwells at the gates of difference - The monster represents the Other.

v. the monster polices the borders of the possible - Tales of the monster exist to discourage unacceptable or taboo behaviors.

vi. fear of the monster is really a kind of desire - Subjects can vicariously participate in the disruption of the social order through the monster.

vii. the monster stands at the threshold… of becoming - Within the monster we find information about the self.

[derinthescarletpescatarian]

God being a writer would be so great if I didn't have to write anything

[derinthescarletpescatarian]

#it always goes “I hate it I hate I hate I'm done. Wow that was awesome”

Yeah

[bleekay]

had a fucked up dream i had a book that turned out could never be read again the same as the first time because each reread the characters became incrementally more aware that the events of the book had happened before and they were “reliving” it and i reread enough times that they became self aware, figured out they were in a book, acknowledged me as the reader, and some lost their minds or had existential crises, became violent to other characters or themselves, some begged me to never stop reading or they ceased to exist and others begged me to end it all stop reading and keeping them trapped in the endless loop of torment, and the literal only way to get the book back to its first run was to hand it off to someone else to read for the first time and for some reason i physically couldn’t tell anyone about it so i’d have to just hope whoever i gave it to would only read it once and i could never open the book again to check if they were okay and back to normal because i was terrified of fucking them all up again :(

[bloodstainedgauntlet]

whats that kink called that you get from reading too much fantasy lit as a child that makes you want to be tortured in front of someone who loves you so you can see the pleading desperation in their eyes and hear how much they love you in between the cracks of their voice and really truly believe they would do anything to save you. also you get to look so cool and brave and covered in blood and soooo able to withstand pain haha no just me? ok

[ieatratsyummy]

They could never make me hate you, complex female character whose reaction to trauma was not pretty and digestible like how people think it should be.

[teaboot]

Why so many wolf attacks in fantasy. Where are the Boars. The immortal and humongous Boar

[hylianane]

functionally suicidal character saying “I would die for you” to their significant other and its like. I get the sentiment, honey, but if a hot dog vendor told me he’d sell hot dogs for me, I wouldn’t feel very moved now would I

[maseratus]

Now a functionally suicidal character saying “I will live for you”. Now that’s a dynamic I can sink my teeth into.

[redstonedust]

pet peeve is when you look up fashion references from a specific era and you keep getting modern day '[era]-inspired' fashion like NO i want authenticity damn it. i can see your 2020 photo quality and your 2020 hair and your 2020 makeup. youre not fooling me.

[bincliff]

hello i'm a historical fashion researcher and i have a lot of experience looking up things! this is a very widely experienced irritation and you're definitely not alone in this, but i am here to share everything i know!

so, ways to get around this:

turn off AI results. they're literally nonsense to us

don't use pinterest because the sources/provenance is often hard to trace

a standard internet search can be okay, but museum collections are the top tier (list of collections below this list)

instead of broad terms like victorian, regency, tudor, renaissance etc. try using the decade you're looking for. if you're not sure of what decade it is but have a vague image in your head, look on the fashion history timeline and just jump around until you find it. but even changing to e.g. 19th century will give better results than victorian

including terms like womenswear/menswear, daywear, formal wear, evening wear, court dress should increase the value of your search too

including "fashion plates" in your search can give you a nice impression of the intended silhouettes of the era. some of these might be a little stylised but will show you what was considered in vogue

for pre-fashion plate eras or things like makeup and styling, you'll have to look at portraiture or manuscripts. these are harder to actually find what you're looking for, but searching museum collections and limiting results to specific date ranges will be your friend

when looking at art, do bear in mind sometimes artists would paint fabric extra flow-y to show off their skills. it might not have been exactly like that in terms of fabric weight or drape. so, a pinch of salt required!

if you find something on image search where the provenance is dubious, reverse image search and you might find a source! i've been able to trace random pinterest images to real sources, but this does take a lot of time and effort and is often not worth the headache

some online resources and museum collections:

fashion history timeline is an invaluable resource if you're trying to get a feel for everything and should be your first port of call. it'll also link to good examples

the met has a vast number of extant examples of clothing, as well as fashion plates

costume institute fashion plates is a subcollection of the met for fashion plates (1800s-1922)

v&a also has many extant garments, fashion plates, and incredible articles on clothing and aesthetics. read the details of the objects because they'll often reveal a lot about the piece

lacma is good for C19th-20th pieces

nypl digital collection for photographs

national portrait gallery or similar for portraiture, or literally any museum in your country that has historical art

national museums scotland can be useful situationally but might be oddly specific

stout style history is a great collection for finding image references for fat people wearing historical clothes. survival bias of a lot of museum pieces tends towards smaller clothing that couldn't be repurposed, but this aims to counter that. it's not sortable, but is still a really nice resource

wikimedia commons is surprisingly handy! and the images, if you should need to link/repost them, are public domain

auction websites sound like a funny one to recommend. some won't have mannequins and some will. just look up historical garment auctions and you'll find some!

anyway, i hope this has been a good place to start for anyone interested! there are probably some i've missed because there are so many museums across the world and i don't know about all of them or can't remember them. but these are the ones i've used the most! (my specialisation/jobs i've had to research for have only really been in western fashion, so my resources reflect that)

[haemey]

Wikipedia has a list of fashion museums. Unfortunately, the page itself is only available in German, but the introductory paragraph is very short and after that, it's organised by country, and then it's a simple list. If you click on a museum's article, the website is usually linked in the overview table.

[frodo-of-the-nine-fingers]

immortality as theft (you have to steal life from something else) immortality as parasitism (there is something else inside You that is keeping you alive and you become less of yourself more and more the longer it stays in you) immortality as violence (everything is trying to kill you because everything is supposed to die and the universe will always try to find a way to right the wrong that is You) you understand

[ninewheels]

#at least once a month I think about that one post about laminating a paper towel#and how that makes it immortal but also forever prevents it from fulfilling its true purpose#yes you will live. but at the cost of everything that makes you You

(courtesy of noknowshame)