The Writer's corner

[midwinterhunt]

hot artists don't gatekeep

I've been resource gathering for YEARS so now I am going to share my dragons hoard

Floorplanner. Design and furnish a house for you to use for having a consistent background in your comic or anything! Free, you need an account, easy to use, and you can save multiple houses.

Comparing Heights. Input the heights of characters to see what the different is between them. Great for keeping consistency. Free.

Magma. Draw online with friends in real time. Great for practice or hanging out. Free, paid plan available, account preferred.

Smithsonian Open Access. Loads of free images. Free.

SketchDaily. Lots of pose references, massive library, is set on a timer so you can practice quick figure drawing. Free.

SculptGL. A sculpting tool which I am yet to master, but you should be able to make whatever 3d object you like with it. free.

Pexels. Free stock images. And the search engine is actually pretty good at pulling up what you want.

Figurosity. Great pose references, diverse body types, lots of "how to draw" videos directly on the site, the models are 3d and you can rotate the angle, but you can't make custom poses or edit body proportions. Free, account option, paid plans available.

Line of Action. More drawing references, this one also has a focus on expressions, hands/feet, animals, landscapes. Free.

Animal Photo. You pose a 3d skull model and select an animal species, and they give you a bunch of photo references for that animal at that angle. Super handy. Free.

Height Weight Chart. You ever see an OC listed as having a certain weight but then they look Wildly different than the number suggests? Well here's a site to avoid that! It shows real people at different weights and heights to give you a better idea of what these abstract numbers all look like. Free to use.

[adudelol]

@achillesheelarrow

[creativepromptsforwriting]

How do i write a character who just got wings and getting used to them

How to write a character who just got wings

The extent on what happens depends on the span of the wings and if they can retract them. Some general ideas you can build on are:

1. Physical Sensations and Adjustment

Immediate sensations:

Weight or shift in balance, large wings pull the center of gravity backward.

Muscle soreness in the back/shoulders, especially along new muscle groups.

Hyper-awareness of the wings brushing against objects or catching air.

Itchiness or sensitivity if the wings "grew" recently.

Movement challenges:

Misjudging the wingspan and knocking things over.

Falling backwards because of the weight.

Learning how to fold them, awkward, slow, maybe painful at first.

Retraction (if possible) could feel like tensing very deep muscles or like closing a fist behind your back.

2. Clothing and Practical Issues

Clothing must be modified with slits, stretchy backs, or specialized harnesses. Jackets especially are a pain in the ass.

Backpacks don't really work anymore.

Sleeping becomes complicated, lying flat may be impossible.

Washing and grooming: preening feathers, drying membranes, accidental shedding, etc. maybe they need someone else to help them with this.

3. Emotional and Psychological Reactions

Internal:

Awe, excitement, disbelief, fear, claustrophobia (from a suddenly bigger body).

Feeling "larger than life" or feeling like a burden/monster depending on tone.

Social:

Depends on the worldbuilding and if this is a normal occurrence or not.

People stare, doors are narrower than they remembered, chairs become inpractible

Friends may react with fascination, jealousy, fear, or awkwardness.

4. Sensory Changes

Wings have nerves. Touch may be pleasant, ticklish, or painful.

Wind sensitivity, your character can feel air currents like a sixth sense.

Temperature issues: feathers insulate, membrane wings may get cold easily.

5. Learning to Use the Wings

Pre-flight:

Figuring out how to flare, beat, and angle them.

Overworking the muscles, leading to cramps.

Instinct vs. trial-and-error, do they feel intuitive or alien to the character?

First attempts at flight:

Running starts, panic flapping, short glides, messy crash landings.

Realizing flight requires technique (lifting angle, timing, wing power), not just force.

6. Realistic Physical Consequences of Flight

Flight demands big caloric intake, your character may become constantly hungry.

Stronger chest/back muscles develop, posture shifts.

Calluses or pads on feet if landing involves impact.

7. Daily Life & Worldbuilding

Will buildings accommodate large-winged beings?

Are wings common or unique? Does society have norms (wing etiquette)?

How does weather matter? Rain makes feathers heavy, wind can blow them sideways.

Also: If Wings Are Retractable

Retraction might feel like compressing or tucking away something huge, which may cause soreness or a sense of phantom wings when retracted.

Retraction could consume energy or rely on magic/technology.

There may be a risk of malfunction or partial transformation.

Retracting them can mess with the feathers, needing support to care for them when opened up again.

Hope this helps!

- Jana

[wip-by-the-month]

*DRUM ROLLSS!!!* YOUR NEW WIP FOR THE MONTH OF MAY IS HEEEREEEE!!!!

YES i know I skipped two months but hey!! Your girl a got a college! So things are going...going

I ahve a lot of free time now tho lol so it's a little weird after so many years of never having free time.

This months bingo board is a little more negative with a lack of some of the more sweeter prompts but it is what it is. It's completely randomised and I just put whatever I remember XD

a littel cheesy and little abusey, as always . If something jumps out to you, don't forget to let your creativity run me over. And as always, tag my blog and put "wip by the month" in your tags!!

oh and of course have fun!

[pinnedwings]

one of the most difficult things about deciding you want to write a fictional doctor (of the non-who variety) is writing actual medical scenes. we all know that medical dramas are notoriously cliched, and i for one fully understand how unimportant factual accuracy can be to the emotional importance of a scene. sometimes you don’t have to get it write for your story to work. i have a disclaimer on my blog that i myself am just a layman, but i like to at least know what i’m writing about! in the interest of being as accurate as i can, i would like to spread that love around. here’s a list of medical fiction/fantasy writing resources i’ve found!

surgeonsblog

article i found this from^ (w/even more resources)

redwoods medical edge

^article where i found that

this article is short/basic/doesn’t link anywhere else, but i found it very helpful anyway

supposed to be good but to me, seemed difficult to navigate. (dp lyle)

this on the otherhand, is the jackpot (novelmalpractice)

tumblr blog centered around this topic

this is more about the common pitfalls/anachronisms of medical fiction but still helpful

writing medical scenes: useful links by paul anthony shortt

the last one im going to include is an article by a doctor about common mistakes in popular medical shows, i liked this one

tagging who liked the interest check on this @hesjustcarter @prodigiumamare @frankengeeks

[wip-by-the-month]

*DRUM ROLLSS!!!* YOUR NEW WIP FOR THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY IS HEEEREEEE!!!!

Yes I know I'm late, but i promised a bingo board and i've tried my best :)

(I am actually so tired, I kid you not, I just want to sleep, but I still have two days of exams left, god give me strength)

here you go

You have free real estate for the "spotted at transformation" get weird, werewolves are just the tip of the iceberg. Oh, and if you're wondering what D4 is, just refer to this(Reddit link).

a littel cheesy and little abusey, as always . If something jumps out to you, don't forget to let your creativity run me over. And as always, tag my blog and put "wip by the month" in your tags!!

oh and of course have fun!

[gloamscribe]

God help my poor readers, I've discovered the Snowflake Method X)

Decided to turn this into a full-blown post after it blew up in Fanfiction Writers Unite! What is the Snowflake Method?

Created by Randy Ingermanson in 2002, the Snowflake Method is a way of outlining novels before the large-scale writing begins. Since I've been struggling with a lot of things while working on my longfic (like context blindness), I decided to see if there was some way I could reduce that.

Here's the Cliff Notes version I wrote up, and there's more detail below:

Start with a 15-word sentence explaining your entire story. Like those blurbs they put on the backs of books.

Turn that sentence into a paragraph, with the same goal.

Make one page summaries of your MAIN characters. Name, motivations, goals, ALL of it.

Go back to your summary paragraph. Turn every sentence in that paragraph into its own paragraph.

Make half-page summaries of all your SIDE characters. Done correctly, all of the character pages you've done should briefly tell the story from each character's POV.

Those paragraphs from step 4? Turn that 1-page plot synopsis into FOUR pages now :)

All your character sheets? M O A R D E T A I L. birthdate, description, history, motivation, goal, etc. Most importantly, how will this character change by the end of the story?

Back to the plot synopsis now--time to make scenes! Randy Ingermanson (the guy who came up with all this) suggests using a spreadsheet to map out all your scenes, what happens in them, whose POV it is, etc. (You could probably pull off something similar in Scrivener. IDK about other writing software.)

OPTIONAL: In your main story doc, expand those scenes from general descriptions into multiple paragraphs. Ingermanson says EVERY scene should have conflict, but for fanfiction I disagree. Nothing wrong with a bit of fluff sometimes :D

(FINAL) Write the thing. All the pieces are in place, just put 'em together!

Under the cut, I have more info on each of these steps, as well as my own analysis of them.

(Full disclosure: some of this is directly copied from Ingermanson's page. This is just for simplicity's sake and nothing more.)

While it’s perfectly valid to write a fic entirely as improv (and often more fun lol), for longfics you’ll want some kind of framework. It’s the same thing as artists transitioning from line art to flat colors to a full-blown painting. The Snowflake Method is the writer’s version of that premise—and only one potential way of many to go about it! Ingermanson calls his method the Snowflake Method because you essentially design the novel in ever-increasing stages; you start small, then build stuff up in ten(-ish) steps, until it looks like a story.

Note that all of this is recommended to be completed over the course of about a month. Each step supposedly should take at least a week, but the original Snowflake Method was also written in 2002—a long, LONG time ago ^_^; Some of the things listed here can now be completed in a much shorter time (or in much easier ways), but the concept itself could still be quite helpful. Without further ado:

Step 1

Come up with a one-sentence summary of your fic. Ingermanson’s example was “A rogue physicist travels back in time to kill the apostle Paul,” the summary for his first novel, Transgression. Where it’s intended to be a simple selling tool to publishers and literary agents, it’s also the foundation of the Snowflake Method. In fanfic context, think of it as your fic’s first impression. What do you want readers to feel before they even click on your story?

Some hints on what makes a good sentence:

Shorter is better. Ingermanson says to try for fewer than 15 words.

In a fanfic context, character names are optional (though Ingermanson says not to put them). This if FAN fiction; readers want to know who you have doing what!

Tie together the big picture and the personal picture. Which character has the most to lose in this story? Now say what he or she wants to win.

Read some one-line blurbs from books you like to learn how to do this. Writing a one-sentence description is a lot harder than it looks, especially when you want to info dump about your fic so bad X)

Step 2

Expand that sentence to a full paragraph describing the story setup, major disasters, and ending of the novel. This is the second stage of the snowflake. Ingermanson suggests a three-act structure (or as he calls it, “three disasters plus an ending”), with each act taking up a quarter of the story. The final quarter should be devoted to the ending and epilogue (if you’re doing one).

It’s not like you have to be precise about it, though—this is still fanfiction. No sane person is gonna be like “Uh akshually yuor secund act wuz 2.034587 words longer than it shuda been!!1!1!!” Please block people who leave comments like that, seriously XD

Step 3

This is the part where you map out storylines for each of your characters. Write a one-page summary sheet that includes:

The character’s name

A one-sentence summary of the character’s storyline

The character’s motivation (what does he/she want abstractly?)

The character’s goal (what does he/she want concretely?)

The character’s conflict (what prevents him/her from reaching this goal?)

The character’s epiphany (what will he/she learn, how will he/she change?)

A one-paragraph summary of the character’s storyline

My personal suggestion: if you have an action-heavy story and want to get even more creative with it, try using DND character sheets for this! They’re still helpful even if your story doesn’t involve magic—just use the first 2 pages of this one and forget the magic section altogether.

IMPORTANT: You may need to go back and revise your one-sentence summary and/or your one-paragraph summary. Go ahead! Tweaking things is an inevitable part of the design process; better to do them during the planning stages now than when you’re 25k words in. (Ha ha. Ha ha. Ha... 🥲) You likely won’t get it right from the outset—and sometimes things will need to change to keep the story manageable, or even as you learn new things during the writing process.

Step 4

By this stage, you should have a good idea of your fic’s overall structure. Getting to this point can take some time, but if the story is broken, you know it now. From here, you keep growing each “node” of your story. Expand each sentence of your summary paragraph into a full paragraph. The final paragraph should say how the fic ends. At the end of the exercise, you’ll be left with a one-page skeleton of your longfic (or 2, or whatever—it’ll likely be single-digit). The idea is to expand the overall story.

Step 5

Write up a one-page description of each major character and a half-page description of the other important characters. These “character synopses” should tell the story from the point of view of each character. If needed, go back to the earlier steps and make revisions as needed.

TIP: If you're dealing with a story that has a large ensemble cast, rate each person in that cast on a scale of 1-10 (or a star rating) in terms of importance to your story.

If we're using ATLA as an example, Aang would be a 10 on the 1-10 scale (since he's the MC) and the cabbage guy would be a 1 or 2. And yet, both characters have distinct storylines; Aang is trying to master the 4 elements, and the cabbage guy just wants to sell his cabbages. Just because a character is a 1 or 2 in plot relevance doesn't mean they have to be boring! (This also tells you that not every storyline has to be overly complicated!)

Step 6

By now, you have a solid story and several story threads, one for each character. Next, expand the one-page plot synopsis to a four-page synopsis. Similar to the last step, you’ll be expanding each paragraph from step 4 into a full page. This is to help you figure out the high-level logic of the story and make strategic decisions. Here, you will definitely want to cycle back and fix things in the earlier steps as you gain insight into the story and new ideas whack you in the face.

Step 7

Expand your character descriptions into full-fledged character charts detailing everything there is to know about each character. The standard stuff such as birthdate, description, history, motivation, goal, etc. The most important thing you want to note is this though: how will this character change by the end of the story? Change can be literally anything from "He masters the 4 elements and becomes the Avatar" to "he finally sells a cabbage". (I must be in an ATLA mood today lol)

This is an expansion of your work in step 3, and it will teach you a lot about your characters. You'll probably go back and revise steps 1-6 as your characters become “real” to you and begin making petulant demands on the story. This is good — great fiction is character-driven. Take as much time as you need to do this, because you’re just saving time downstream. (It may take a full month of solid effort to get here. Longfics are long for the authors too, y'know?)

Step 8

Take that four-page synopsis and make a list of all the scenes that you’ll need to turn the story into a proper longfic. At this point, Ingermanson suggests using a spreadsheet (like Excel). Keep in mind this method was written in 2002, so yeah.

He says to make a spreadsheet detailing the scenes from your four-page plot outline:

one line for each scene

one column for the POV character

another (wide) column saying what happens

(optional): more columns that tell you how many pages you expect to write for the scene

Note: If you have something like Scrivener, you can do something similar by making a file for each scene and noting the POV character, what happens, and so on in the Notes window.

If you use the spreadsheet method, you’ll want to make new versions of the story spreadsheet as you progress. Ingermanson suggests determining what scenes go in which chapters after you’re done; I like to do it as I go (since Scrivener lets me drag and drop anyway).

Step 9

Ingermanson says this is optional, but I thought I would include it anyway.

Switch back to your word processor and begin writing a narrative description of the story. Take each line of the spreadsheet and expand it to a multi-paragraph description of the scene. Put in any cool lines of dialogue you think of, and sketch out the essential conflict of that scene. If there’s no conflict, you’ll know it here. Ingermanson says that every scene should have conflict, but for fanfiction I disagree. Nothing wrong with a little fluff now and then :D

Step 10

Start the real first draft of the fic! About midway through a first draft (or if you get writer’s block) take a break and fix all the broken parts of your design docs from all the previous steps, if needed. Nothing left after that than to polish—if you want to!

...Phew that was longer than I thought it was, but I'm glad I got it out there! :D If this was any help to anyone, let me know! (And check out Ingermanson's website, too. It's mostly geared toward novelists that want to get published, and he does sell some books and things, but most of the stuff on his site is free! That's how I wrote all this in the first place! :D)

[which-ocs]

found this awesome OC sheet on Twitter for those who like to be super thorough about their characters!

[jeahreading]

I'm shifting the Echoes of Dissent work over to Ao3, do visit!>3

Sword of Candour (4143 words) by Jeah_Reading Chapters: 5/? Fandom: AFK Journey (Video Game) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Major Character Death Relationships: Merlin | Protagonist/Indris (AFK Journey), Merlin | Protagonist/Ravion (AFK Journey) Characters: Merlin | Protagonist (AFK Journey), Indris (AFK Journey), Ravion (AFK Journey), Zanie (AFK Journey), Chippy (AFK Journey), Hammie (AFK Journey), Hogan (AFK Arena), Velara (AFK Journey), Feli (AFK Journey), Seralyth (AFK Journey), Female Merlin | Protagonist (AFK Journey) Summary:

Magister Merlin is en route to the next part of her Journey in Esperia. I like writing, and my Merlin's lore is quite extensive...and also I want to flesh out and add some finesse to this beautiful underground haven...or is it a prison?

^^ I've posted all the previous chapters that were here on Tumblr, and plus one that I'll post today. Can check it if you're interested :) The word will continue on Ao3, no further chapters will be posted here.

[creativepromptsforwriting]

Terms of Endearment

List of various terms of endearment that can be used in different languages. A lot of them are gender neutral. Now in alphabetical order.

Afrikaans

Lief (love)

Liefie (lovey)

Arabic

Habibi حبيبي (m) (my love)

Habibti حبيبتي (f) (my love)

Ya hayati يا حياتي (my life)

Ya qalbi يا قلبي (my heart)

Ya ruhi يا روحي (my soul)

Hubbi/hobbi حبي (my love)

Catalan:

Estimat (m) /estimada (f) (dear)

Amor/amor meu (love/my love)

Sol (sun) (used more like "és un sol" ('they're a sun'??) and normally used when talking about well-behaved children lmao.

"Reiet meu" could also be used (means 'my little king') (m)

"Carinyo" (from spanish Cariño i guess)

"Bonic (m)/bonica (f)" (means nice or pretty (physically)) ("bonica" in feminine is more common as a term of endearment)

Vida (life) (can also be "videta" (diminutive version))

Bombó (that's like a chocolate sweet lmao)(used normally with women)

Princesa (means princess) (f)

Czech

Zlato (gold, my precious)

Lásko (love)

Miláčku (dearest, little dear)

Danish

Skat (treasure)

Engel (angel)

Smukke (pretty/beautiful)

Elskede/elskling (beloved)

Kæreste (dearest and also used for the term girlfriend/boyfriend)

Snut (sorta like babe, a bit outdated)

Dejlige (wonderful)

Smuksak (beautiful but only for endearment)

Pus (cute pitiful thing)

Pusling (Pus in diminutive)

Musling (mouse diminutive)

Putte[animal] (cuddle[animal of choice], most used is: animal, mouse and pig, but other animals or objects happen)

Kære (loved one)

Allerkæreste (most loved, argumentative)

Basse (cute fat, might come from bear, mostly used for children and men)

Dutch

Schatje (treasure)

Liefje (loved one)

Lieverd (loved one)

Lieveling (loved one)

English

Dear

Pet

Baby

Babe

Honey

Darling

My love

Sunshine

Sweetheart

Sweet cheeks

Prince/Princess

Farsi

Joon/Jaan جان (life)

Azizam عزیزم (my dear)

Asalam عسلم (my honey)

Golam گلم (flower)

Filipino (from various local languages, all gender neutral)

Mahal, sinta (tagalog) (love)

alternatively add "ko" or "aking" to turn it into "my love" (e.g. mahal ko, sinta ko; aking mahal, aking sinta) with "aking" being used more often when talking about the one you love to a 3rd party;

or turn it into a verb (e.g. aking minamahal, kasintahan) to make it "lover"

Paraluman, irog, liyag, giliw (tagalog) (darling) these are older terms though, you won't hear or see them being used unless you're lovers with someone 🌟Extra🌟

Tangi (tagalog) (only one)

Tinatangi (tagalog) (the one i hold dear/the only one for me)

Tinadhana - fated (from the root word "tadhana" meaning fate, which in and of itself should also be a term of endearment and I stand by that)

Hinigugma (bisaya) (beloved) (very old)

Palangga/pangga/langga or "ga" for short and sometimes pagingging (ilonggo) (love) (can also be used platonically or between family members)

Kalasahan (tausug) (beloved) (this is pronounced with an emphasis in the SA syllable (as in kalaSAhan) instead of the LA like in the tagalog word LAsa (which means taste)

Jowa (filipino slang) (significant other/boyfriend/girlfriend)

Bebe, bebe ko, beh, bhe, bhie, bih (filipino slang) (babe)

Lablabs (filipino slang) (literally "love-love" in a heavy filipino accent)

Finnish

Aarteeni (my treasure)

Armaani (my darling (A bit old fashioned to say.))

Höpönassu/höpönassukka/höpsö (silly)

Kalleimpani (my most valued one)

Kulta/kultaseni/kultu/kultsi/kultsipuppeli (gold; darling (These are ordered from least syrupy to most syrupy.)

Mielitietty/mielitiettyni (favourite/my favourite (Formal, usually used when speaking about your loved one to someone else.))

Murmeli (marmot)

Muru/murunen (crumb; honey)

Mussukka (sweetie)

Pikkuinen (little one (Used for children and animals.))

Rakas/rakkaani (love/my love; dear)

Sydänkäpyseni/sydänkäpynen (my heart cone/heart cone; sweetheart)

Söpöliini (cutie)

French

Mon amour (my love)

Mon cœur (my heart)

Chéri (m) / Chérie (f) (darling)

Chou (used like "honey", but directly translates to cabbage)

Mon lapin (my bunny)

Ma vie (my life)

L'/amour de ma vie (love of my life)

Ma poupée (f) (my doll)

Gàidhlig (Scottish)

A chuisle (a hoo-sluh)/ A ghràidh (a ghrah-ee) (my love)

Mo chridhe (moh hree-uh) (my heart)

A chiall mo chridhe (a heel moh hree-uh) (my dearest darling)

Both romantic or otherwise, i.e. they don't have specific romantic connotations.

Leannan (lyen-an) (sweetheart)

M' eudail (may-thal) (darling, romantic)

Luaidheag (luah-yak) (darling, the way a wee old lady talks to a child)

German

Liebling (beloved/favourite)

Schatz (treasure, I would say the most common one between established couples)

Liebes (loved one) (not that romantic, can be used by older people)

Liebster (m) (loved one, bit old-fashioned)

Liebste (f) (loved one, bit old-fashioned)

Hase / Hasi (bunny)

Maus (mouse)

Spatz (sparrow)

Bär / Bärchen (bear)

Engel / Engelchen (angel)

Prinzessin (f) (princess)

Sonnenschein (sunshine)

Kleines (f/n) (little one, can be used in a cute way for women, (while actually being neutral), but can also sound degrading or offensive)

Greek

Αγάπη /Αγάπη μου (love /my love) (the first can also be used among friends, usually between women, but both are very often used in romantic relationships)

Ψυχή μου (my soul) (mostly romantic but can be used by a parent to their kid)

Hebrew

Chaim sheli חיים שלי (my life)

Neshama sheli נשמה שלי (my soul)

Lev sheli לב שלי (my heart)

Ahoovi אהובי (m) (my love)

Ahoovati אהובתי (f) (my love)

Hindi

Meri jaan मेरी जान (f) (my life)

Mera jaan (m/n) (my life)

Rani रानी (f) (queen)

Hungarian

Kedvesem (my dear)

Szerelmem (my love)

Drága (precious)

Édesem (my sweetie)

Kicsim (my little one)

Babám (my baby)

Kincsem (my treasure)

Indonesian

Sayang (to love/love, can be used as 'honey', doesn't have to be romantic)

Cintaku (my love, mostly used romantically)

Irish

A stór (darling)

A stórín (little darling, sweetie. More commonly used for children, but can be used romantically too)

A chroí (heart, you can say "mo chroí" too, that means "my heart")

A ghrá (love)

Aingeal (angel, used both romantically, and for people who've done something nice for you (think "you're a doll"))

A ghrá geal (directly translates to "bright love", but means something more like "honey" or "darling")

Mo ghrá amháin (my one, my one love, my true love)

Mo chailín/mo bhuachaill (my girl/my boy, we say this in place of "girlfriend" or "boyfriend" because there's no proper words for those)

Mo bhean/mo fhear (my woman/my man, like the above, but more seriously, usually said by married couples as a short form of "bean chéile" (wife) and "fear chéile" (husband))

A réaltín (star/little star, used both romantically and to refer to children)

Italian

Tesoro (treasure)

Amore mio (my love)

Cuore (heart)

Vita mia (my life)

Cucciola (puppy/cub) (mostly used for women, but you could say "cucciolo" for men)

Piccola (little one) (mostly for women, "piccolo" would be the male version)

Cara/caro (dear) (now mostly used by grandmas for grandkids but perfect for couples in the past or old couples nowadays

Bimba (f) (child)

Patata/patatina (potato/little potato) (again mostly women when used romantically, "patato/patatino" for men, but they can also be used for pets, babies, your kids or anyone that you find cute)

Tata/tato (short version of papata/patato)

Polpetta/polpettina (meatball/little meatball) (very uncommon, but I've heard it used for girls)

Topolina (little mouse) (very uncommon, but could be used for girls)

Bambola (doll)

Korean

Jagiya 자기야 (honey/baby)

Aegiya 애기야 (baby/little one)

Gongjunim 공주님 (f) (princess)

Wangjanim 왕자님 (m) (prince)

Nae Sarang 내 사랑 (my love)

Gwiyomi 귀요미 (cutie)

Yeobo 여보 (darling, loved one to a spouse)

Malay

Sayang (dear/darling)

Polish

Kochanie (my beloved)

Myszko (f) (little mouse for women romantic, or for young daughters)

Misiu (m) (diminutive bear, romantic for men)

Misiaczku (another form of the above but more intersex)

Słoneczko (diminutive for sun, can be for children but also romantic for women)

Pączusiu (diminutive doughnut, romantic partner)

Bąbelku (bubble diminutive for young children, toddlers or infants)

Duszko moja (very outdated, meaning my soul, for women)

Serce moje (also old school, meaning my heart, unisex)

Gwiazdeczko (diminutive star, for girls and romantic female partner)

Kotek/Kotku (kitten, unisex)

Mała (literally: little (f), for women, can be romantic but also offensive if used by strangers)

Skarbie (my treasure, unisex)

Rybciu (diminutive for fish, little fish, for women)

żabko (diminutive for frog, little frog, for women)

Portuguese

Meu querido (m)/ minha querida (f) (my darling)

Meu amor (my love)

Princesa (f) (princess)

Meu docinho (my sweetheart)

Coração (heart)

Amado (m)/Amada (f) (my beloved)

Meu (m)/ minha (f) mais que tudo (my above overall) Meu tesouro (my treasure)

Paixão (passion)

Meu bem/ meu benzinho (my goodness)

Meu doce/meu docinho (my sweet/ my little sweet)

Brazilian Portuguese

Amor (love)

Querido (m) / Querida (f) (darling)

Bebê (baby)

Meu bem (untraslatable; something between "my dear" and "my treasure")

Meu docinho de coco (my coconut candy - really old slang, nowadays used only for fun)

Patroa (f) (it means a female boss; not ironic not aggressive, but used by men to describe their wives affectionately, eg. "I can't go today, my patroa is waiting for me at home")

Gato/gatinho (m) / gata/gatinha (f) (cat/little cat; if a person is pretty, they are called a "cat")

Minha vida (my life)

Meu xodó (my crush)

Bebê (baby)

Docinho (sweetie)

Chuchu (honey)

Fofura (cutie)

Querida (dear)

Lindinha (beautiful/cutie)

Meu anjo (my angel)

Mozão or Mor (love, more like slang)

Romanian

Iubi (Sweet heart/darling)

Iubirea mea (my love)

Draga mea (f) / Dragul meu (m) (my dear)

Dulceața mea (jam/honey)

Sufletul meu (my soul)

Suflețel (little soul)

Russian

lyubov' moya / любовь моя (my love)

radost' moya / радость моя (joy of mine)

dusha moya / душа моя (my soul)

schast'e moyo / счастье моё (my happiness)

sokrovishche moyo / сокровище моё (my treasure)

solnyshko / солнышко (sunny)

zolotce / золотце (golden)

lyubimyj (m) + lyubimaya (f) / любимый + любимая (beloved)

dorogoj (m) + dorogaya (f) / дорогой + дорогая (darling, dear)

milyj (m) + milaya (f) / милый + милая (dear but in more informal way)

kotik / котик (kitty) malysh / малыш (baby)

zajchik (m) + zajka (f) / зайчик + зайка (bunny)

ptenchik / птенчик (little bird, hatchling)

rybka moya (f) / рыбка моя (my fish)

Serbian

Sreća(o) moja (my happiness)

Zlato moje (my gold)

Srce moje (my heart)

Život(e) moj (my life)

Duša(o) (my soul)

Slovak

Zlato / zlatko (gold)

Láska (love)

Miláčik (bit cheesy, but means my lovely)

Spanish

Cariño (darling)

Bebé (baby)

Corazón (heart)

Mi amor (my love)

Mi vida (my life)

Cielo (sky)

Amor (love)

Swedish

Sötnos (cute nose)

Älskling (darling)

Tamil

Kanmani [cun-mun-ee] (darling)

Turkish

Aşkım (my loved one)

Canım (my love/soul)

Hayatım (my life)

Bebeğim (my baby)

Kocacığım/karıcığım

(my husband/my wife, but in a more endearing way, you can say it to a person you're not married yet but thinking about marrying)

Her şeyim (my everything)

Yaşama sebebim (my reason to live)

Ceylanım (My gazelle, it's a gorgeous creature like cmon)

Güzel gözlüm (My lover with beautiful eyes)

Nazlı yarim (My coy lover)

Kalbimin sahibi (the owner of my heart)

Güzelim/yakışıklım (my beautiful/my handsome)

Kediciğim (my kitty/kitten)

Biriciğim/bi'tanem (my one and only)

Çiçeğim (my flower)

Balım (my honey) (can also say "bal dudaklım (my lover with honey lips)" if you feeling on fire)

Evimin direği (literally meaning "the post of my house," if you say this to a person (usually your husband), you mean to say that he keeps your household/family up, whether financially or with emotional maturity)

Ukrainian

Mostly romantic:

зіронька [zironʹka] (star)

мій світ [miy svit] (my world)

моє життя [moye zhyttya] (my life)

моє серденько [moye serdenʹko] (my heart)

коханий [kokhanyy](m) /кохана [kokhana] (f) (my beloved one)

милий мій [mylyy miy] (m) / мила моя [myla moya] (f) (my dear one)

любий мій [lyubyy miy] (m) / люба моя [lyuba moya] (f) (my loved one)

мій єдиний [miy yedynyy] (m) /моя єдина [moya yedyna] (f) (my only one)

Mostly between friends:

сонце [sontse], сонечко [sonechko] (sun, sunshine)

пташка [ptashka] (f) (birdie)

душа [dusha] (soul)

друг (m)/ подруга (f) моєї душі [druh (m)/podruha (f) moyeyi dushi] (a friend of my soul)

Urdu

Meri jaan میری جان (my life)

Pyaari پیاری (sweetheart)

Shahzadi شہزادی (f) (princess)

Welsh

Cariad (love)

Nghariad (sweetheart)

Let me know more terms of endearment in your languages! And please correct me if I'm wrong somewhere.

Please note that they are not all romantic. You can ask in the replies, so a native speaker can answer if it's appropiate for the type of relationship you want your characters to have.

[jeahreading]

i don't know if they are here anymore or not, but I remember sometimes last to last year, a blog on Tumblr posted an excerpt of their writing(their first, they said) and asked for feedback, a young writer, i gleaned from reading the excerpt, and being very honest, it wasn't very good, there was just, something wrong with the text that I couldn't quite tell. Regardless, I knew they could definitely write better if they practiced and I was proud of them for posting in the first place. However, the reblogs and comments pointed out the same in less than polite words. In fact, the truth was that it is one of the most hateful and impolite notes I've ever read on this website so far. Gruesomely bringing the author down and telling them they should pursue other interests, I was surprised to say the least, and I hoped someone in the comments or reblogs would knock some sense into the others. I regret it now, but back then I just kind of...scrolled past and forgot about it. A few days later i noticed a new poll account popped up(something about the grishaverse if i'm not wrong), and weirdly enough, I was already following it even if I had no recollection of doing so. As I had significantly fewer followers and even moots, I quickly understood that this was the same account as that writer's, and they had completely scrapped their blog and transformed it into a new poll blog. It ran for a few months before it fizzled out, and I can't seem to find the account on my followings list now. I wonder....if that post was their breaking point, of seeing just so many hateful comments and completely giving up on writing.

I don't know, maybe I'm wrong or overanalyzing, but I just want to say this to anyone who bothered to read so far down, don't....say unkind things when you cannot point out something actually useful, i sometimes wonder what I would have done if it had been me who got pelted, I'm not strong willed I could have possibly given up writing too(trust me I was horrible at the beginning), I would never have gotten the opportunity to write and think and have the liberty to put down such wonderful ideas on paper. I won't say I'm super proud of my writing, but it's definitely much better and cleaner now than it was back then. And only because of the continued support of the people around me irl, and also those online who never stopped giving me love and support and most importantly constructive critisim.

[jeahreading]

look what I found suckers,

Sellsword Fencing

Share your videos with friends, family, and the world

[wip-by-the-month]

*DRUM ROLLSS!!!* YOUR NEW YEAR, NEW WIP FOR THE MONTH OF JANUARY IS HEEEREEEE!!!!

Tried some new things, tell me if you think it's good or not, also let's not talk about how I couldn't find a good enough 2026 graphic so I individually placed each no. together.....

here you go

a littel cheesy and little abusey, as always . If something jumps out to you, don't forget to let your creativity run me over. And as always, tag my blog and put "wip by the month" in your tags!!

oh and of course have fun!

[blankcanvasmagazine]

Hello my tumblr peeps!

We had an amazing rollout with our open art call for artist, we have selected some amazing talented individuals. Now we are searching for writers!

Blank canvas wants creative writers to share their writing on Art. The topics can be anything that is Art related!. Be creative! Be vocal!

Blank Canvas Writers Submission

Looking for writers for the first issue of Blank Canvas. an artist making done by artist for artists. Looking for submissions about art arti

[lotemaach]

Join Reads and Rants • Community on Tumblr

we'd love to hear about the 5Ws of your favourite book

join my bookish community. it's still building.

[lotemaach]

we need more readers to join our community <3

[jeahreading]

Ch-4

Merlin tuned out Zanie's ramblings about some new things she wanted to construct, humming occasionally when she heard her name being called. The only thing going through her mind was the newest vision. What did it mean? What was the sword of candour? It wasn't the first time she had had a vision mentioning a sword, the sword of faith, the sword of valour and a few others, she'd tell hammie later to note down what she saw. Most importantly, who did she have a duty towards? Indris? After all the vision came immedietly after he introduced himself. Her headache though still there had started to ebb allowing her to think more clearly.

It had been ages since she had felt this powerless, no, vulnerable...anxiety coiled itself tight around her stomach, a mage without her magic was like a snake without its venom.

Merlin had taken her magic for granted, the way it flowed through her hands, incantations and magic circles were second nature and yet, without them she was handicapped. She feared that the disguise she had put so much effort into, the disguise which the world now knew as her would fade and she would be left standing bear, the truth of her out for anyone to see.

No...no that couldn't be she had to get out of Sal'Thorin as quickly as possible and never return.

She brought her hand to her face, swirling it in the air before trying to summon a flame, the easiest of tricks, they taught this to children, warmth rushed to her hand, palm going red before blue flames licked the top of her skin. That was but the spectacle of the second as the fire went out with a pop, and no matter how hard she tried it would not come back. The remnants of the heat warmed her hand as she curled up tighter in herself, shivering despite the thick clothes she always wore.

"HALT! WHO GOES THERE!"

A voice boomed across to them, from one side of the chasm to the other.

"Indris, Captain of the Sal'Thoris Guard, unfurl the bridge Thyron"

"Yes sir!"

As she looked on, purple and blue materialized, joining the two sides in what resembled a bridge, strings of starlight weaving into the air, sparkling as though the sky itself had decided to wrap its arms around it. It did not look like one could stand on it, let alone walk across a fissure this big.

Indris stepped onto the platform, clearly intending to cross it.

"Uh Indris, this does not look secure enough to carry even your weight"

Not breaking his apparent vow of silence, he started walking across the bridge, with no hesitation in sight. In no time at all they were on the the other side, walking through grandiose gates adorned with numerous braziers holding an odd sort of fire, almost aquamarine in color, it seemed to burn out of nothing, as far as Merlin could see. On either side of the entrance stood on huge stone pedestals, were two identical knights poised as though they were about to shoot someone down, bow raised and arrow pulled taut, they would make for some excellent guardians, thought Merlin, if one were able to enchant them.

As Indris talked to the guards, Merlin had time to look at the huge semicircular structure right in front of them, richly decorated in vines and more braziers, though this time something was gleaming at the bottom of the bowl. Mushrooms crept in through every crack in the ground, and the more she looked at the building the more her thoughts scrambled, the structure, why had it started looking so beautiful, with the swoop of the vines and the curves of the stone, every detail mesmerised her more and more, she wanted to stare at it forever and ever, as if staring at it would maybe make more of these beautiful details pop out. Just as she was ready to jump out of Indris's grip and crawl towards the building, she became aware of someone pinching her arm, quite painfully too. She snapped out of her reverent admiration of the building to look at Zanie, there was a warning in her eyes, a simple message written in her stare.

Beware

That was enough for Merlin to realise there was something enchanted going on, something that was powerful enough to bewitch even her, her inability to perform magic did not mean she was any less a mage, it wasn't petty magic that she just experienced. She blocked out the thoughts invading her mind and instead tried putting her attention on something else, but before she had the chance to do that, she felt Indris sigh deeply and start walking towards the building.

She looked quizzically towards Zanie, why was Indris walking towards the clear death trap?

Zanie shrugged but didn't do anything else. Well if she had to have the second rendezvous with death today she might as well be on her feet.

"I - I think I can walk now..."

"No need, we're almost there-"

"No really, it's fine, trust me I can stand now, besides" she chuckled humorlessly, "My legs are cramping up, you've carried me long enough, I do not wish to bother you any longer"

"Very well" Indris sighed and slowly lowered her onto the ground. Merlin's legs trembled as they carried the weight of her body, even though Indris was still mostly holding her up. Her eyes screwed shut as the burning sensation returned to accompany her again.

"At least allow me to support you" Merlin nodded slowly as he pulled her hand across his shoulders and wrapped his arm around her torso. Not that she didn't want to be carried by this handsome knight in shining armour, but she needed that split second of advantage to make a run for it, if it turned out the knight was a part of an evil cult, it wouldn't be the first time.

[jeahreading]

Ok a bit of writing advice from a reader and writer. I'm not saying this as a writer but as a reader. The thing is if you're doing a lot of big reveals in a high stakes high energy situation you need to break it up into chunks.

Because when i'm reading a scene where there's reveals all over the place baam boom bara baaam, what it sounds like in my head is a classroom in a soap-opera where every person is raising their hand and getting up after one another to say something in an over-exited obnoxious voice(maybe even signing), I think a lot of the emotion is lost when there is no breaks in the scene. Here I'll try to give an example. Say a group of characters just fought with someone and are now talking after a certain period of time, so they're telling each other info

"Holy hell where did that guy come from?" A looked around puzzled, "I don't know? are you all right? where have you been?" "B you wouldn't believe it I found the map to the treasure!" "Sounds like bullcrap, cuz it doesn't even exist, D talked to the South-side Medium and she confirmed it's just a silly rumour" C said pointedly, still stepping on the unconsious body of the bandit" "Actually C, you're both wrong I found the treasure itself!"

See how crowded that sounds? It's high stakes and the situation is still hot! But since all the characters are dumping exposition on your head it sounds like a bunch of overexcited kids. This is still not that bad, what would be worse if in this particular situation they were all giving info that was completely different from each other. Here's see this example,(I'm not accusing the writer of anything, I am so sorry if you're here writer I truly am but I am JUST using this as an example, I think your writing is wonderful and beautiful)

The conversation starts after the character defeat a monster,

The four of them catch their breath for a moment before Vala turns to Mirael. "How did you do that? That was one of Merlin's spells."

Valen looks up from where he is retrieving his other sword. "What? Hang on, how would you know that?" Cassadee appears from where she and the others had retreated to. She's clearly over the traumatic experience, all but bouncing with excitement. "Corporeal spells have only ever been done by Merlin! Mages have tried to replicate it without success for millennia!" She turns to Mirael in awe. "Miss, how did you command Merlin's magic? That's incredible! Where did you learn it?" Mirael looks smug. "Straight from the source, obviously. He once said that I was his greatest student and this was his reward for me." Cassadee looks starstruck. "Wow... I am so jealous of you!"

At this point the tone completely shifts,

Lorsan speaks up, puzzled. "Wait, but I thought Merlin fought in the second divine war. That was two thousand years ago. How could he have been your teacher?" Ren clears their throat. "We don't have to get into-" Cassadee interrupts. "Lorsan, haven't you heard all the whispers of Merlin's returning after his most recent disappearance?" she exclaims. "I thought they were just rumors!" 

And then it changed again

Valen breaks in. "Uh- sorry to interrupt, but I'm a little concerned that Merlin's ward has weakened to the point where a hypofiend could break through," he says. Ren bridles. "It did not break through. Franz has been working with a powerful mage. They took advantage of the weakened ward to cut a rift to allow the hypogean to come through." Mirael speaks up. "Actually, I did more research today. The truth is, you've all been lied to." She stares pointedly at Ren. "Lied to by my mentor." Ignoring the bewildered looks from the group, she continues. "What you placed over Ryeham one hundred years ago wasn't a ward, Merlin. It was a seal."

All three excerpts occurred in succession. See the conversation shifts around rapidly with no breaks. A break would be, say say example, they all pause for a second to look at __ person. They all stop in awkward silence distracted by what just happened, or really any other break in the conversation chain that would lead to a smoother bridge between this conversation topic and the next.

[wip-by-the-month]

*DRUM ROLLSS!!!* YOUR NEW WIP FOR THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER IS HEEEREEEE!!!!

Can you tell I was craving red velvet cupcakes when I made this, because I was(you better appreciate the damn board I placed the cupcake toppings individually, separately)

here you go

a littel cheesy and little abusey, as always . If something jumps out to you, don't forget to let your creativity run me over. And as always, tag my blog and put "wip by the month" in your tags!!

oh and of course have fun!