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@witherednightmare
Hello everyone, it's been a long time since I have last logged into this account, and taking a break from Tumblr as a social media site has helped. Not to worry about notifications or notes really can impact you, who would have thought.
Although I didn't make the conscious decision to come back I will go through the blog and past posts to delete most of them, if not all. Things have changed project-wise and if I come back I want to start anew.
I hope you are all doing well!
Hi, hello, Scaley! 👋 How’s it going? How’s writing Story Sandbox? 🤔 Don’t forget to take breaks between sessions.
Hi Aye! Things are going quite ok at the moment, quiet and safe so far. How is it for you?
Oh, you saw the NaNo project! It's going well! I still have to hit the 10k mark for today but I am getting (somewh)there! Actually, Story Sandbox is a project to give me the freedom to work on several WIPs during NaNo when things are not running with Project Souls. Like a collaboration word count, you know?
Are you participating in NaNo this year? If so, how is it going for you?
Lmao, more like taking sessions between breaks! But follow your own advice, ok?
Gorgeous hardware
he's the worst man alive he's the love of my life he's covered in blood he's weird about god and he's a lot, he's not perfect, but most importantly he's bisexual
babygirl I can feel guilty in ways you can't even imagine
Writers, please, please, please, I am begging you
I know we don't vibe with Mary Sues, and I know we like watching characters fail...
But if your character is the world's best assassin, they shouldn't be botching nearly every single step of every single job just because the plot demands it. If your character is one of the greatest fighters to ever live, they can't badly lose every single fight the plot throws at them and then barely win the final confrontation. If your character is a competent military strategist, they need at least a few small successes during the course of the plot. If your character is an experienced leader, they can't be constantly making the kind of missteps that realistically would cause their subordinates to lose confidence in them.
If your character is good at something. Show them being good at it.
omgthatdress
Evening Cape
Maria Gallenga, 1925
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
I love you characters who are bad people, I love you characters that make me think, I love you characters that represent what happens to a person if they make bad choices, I love you characters that make me scared, I love you characters who take out their problems on other people, I love you characters that dont get redeemed, I love seeing the dark side of the human condition
DESCRIBING THE PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES OF CHARACTERS:
Body
descriptors; ample, athletic, barrel-chested, beefy, blocky, bony, brawny, buff, burly, chubby, chiseled, coltish, curvy, fat, fit, herculean, hulking, lanky, lean, long, long-legged, lush, medium build, muscular, narrow, overweight, plump, pot-bellied, pudgy, round, skeletal, skinny, slender, slim, stocky, strong, stout, strong, taut, toned, wide.
Eyebrows
descriptors; bushy, dark, faint, furry, long, plucked, raised, seductive, shaved, short, sleek, sparse, thin, unruly.
shape; arched, diagonal, peaked, round, s-shaped, straight.
Ears
shape; attached lobe, broad lobe, narrow, pointed, round, square, sticking-out.
Eyes
colour; albino, blue (azure, baby blue, caribbean blue, cobalt, ice blue, light blue, midnight, ocean blue, sky blue, steel blue, storm blue,) brown (amber, dark brown, chestnut, chocolate, ebony, gold, hazel, honey, light brown, mocha, pale gold, sable, sepia, teakwood, topaz, whiskey,) gray (concrete gray, marble, misty gray, raincloud, satin gray, smoky, sterling, sugar gray), green (aquamarine, emerald, evergreen, forest green, jade green, leaf green, olive, moss green, sea green, teal, vale).
descriptors; bedroom, bright, cat-like, dull, glittering, red-rimmed, sharp, small, squinty, sunken, sparkling, teary.
positioning/shape; almond, close-set, cross, deep-set, downturned, heavy-lidded, hooded, monolid, round, slanted, upturned, wide-set.
Face
descriptors; angular, cat-like, hallow, sculpted, sharp, wolfish.
shape; chubby, diamond, heart-shaped, long, narrow, oblong, oval, rectangle, round, square, thin, triangle.
Facial Hair
beard; chin curtain, classic, circle, ducktail, dutch, french fork, garibaldi, goatee, hipster, neckbeard, old dutch, spade, stubble, verdi, winter.
clean-shaven
moustache; anchor, brush, english, fu manchu, handlebar, hooked, horseshoe, imperial, lampshade, mistletoe, pencil, toothbrush, walrus.
sideburns; chin strap, mutton chops.
Hair
colour; blonde (ash blonde, golden blonde, beige, honey, platinum blonde, reddish blonde, strawberry-blonde, sunflower blonde,) brown (amber, butterscotch, caramel, champagne, cool brown, golden brown, chocolate, cinnamon, mahogany,) red (apricot, auburn, copper, ginger, titain-haired,), black (expresso, inky-black, jet black, raven, soft black) grey (charcoal gray, salt-and-pepper, silver, steel gray,), white (bleached, snow-white).
descriptors; bedhead, dull, dry, fine, full, layered, limp, messy, neat, oily, shaggy, shinny, slick, smooth, spiky, tangled, thick, thin, thinning, tousled, wispy, wild, windblown.
length; ankle length, bald, buzzed, collar length, ear length, floor length, hip length, mid-back length, neck length, shaved, shoulder length, waist length.
type; beach waves, bushy, curly, frizzy, natural, permed, puffy, ringlets, spiral, straight, thick, thin, wavy.
Hands; calloused, clammy, delicate, elegant, large, plump, rough, small, smooth, square, sturdy, strong.
Fingernails; acrylic, bitten, chipped, curved, claw-like, dirty, fake, grimy, long, manicured, painted, peeling, pointed, ragged, short, uneven.
Fingers; arthritic, cold, elegant, fat, greasy, knobby, slender, stubby.
Lips/Mouth
colour (lipstick); brown (caramel, coffee, nude, nutmeg,) pink (deep rose, fuchsia, magenta, pale peach, raspberry, rose, ) purple (black cherry, plum, violet, wine,) red (deep red, ruby.)
descriptors; chapped, cracked, dry, full, glossy, lush, narrow, pierced, scabby, small, soft, split, swollen, thin, uneven, wide, wrinkled.
shape; bottom-heavy, bow-turned, cupid’s bow, downturned, oval, pouty, rosebud, sharp, top-heavy.
Nose
descriptors; broad, broken, crooked, dainty, droopy, hooked, long, narrow, pointed, raised, round, short, strong, stubby, thin, turned-up, wide.
shape; button, flared, grecian, hawk, roman.
Skin
descriptors; blemished, bruised, chalky, clear, dewy, dimpled, dirty, dry, flaky, flawless, freckled, glowing, hairy, itchy, lined, oily, pimply, rashy, rough, sagging, satiny, scarred, scratched, smooth, splotchy, spotted, tattooed, uneven, wrinkly.
complexion; black, bronzed, brown, dark, fair, ivory, light, medium, olive, pale, peach, porcelain, rosy, tan, white.
final straw
If your plot feels flat, STUDY it! Your story might be lacking...
Stakes - What would happen if the protagonist failed? Would it really be such a bad thing if it happened?
Thematic relevance - Do the events of the story speak to a greater emotional or moral message? Is the conflict resolved in a way that befits the theme?
Urgency - How much time does the protagonist have to complete their goal? Are there multiple factors complicating the situation?
Drive - What motivates the protagonist? Are they an active player in the story, or are they repeatedly getting pushed around by external forces? Could you swap them out for a different character with no impact on the plot? On the flip side, do the other characters have sensible motivations of their own?
Yield - Is there foreshadowing? Do the protagonist's choices have unforeseen consequences down the road? Do they use knowledge or clues from the beginning, to help them in the end? Do they learn things about the other characters that weren't immediately obvious?
Do you have any tips on how to write a character using magic?
Writing a Character Who uses Magic
Start by building your magic system. Even if you create a soft magic system (which doesn't have a lot of rules), you still need to have a general understanding of what the magic is, who possesses it and why/how, how the magic works, when/how it's typically used, who knows about magic and how it impacts the story's world. Once you know the general answers to those questions, you can start looking at how they apply to your character specifically... why/how your character possesses this magic, what that means for them/how it impacts their life and who they are, how the magic works for them, how they learned to use it, when/how they typically use this magic, etc.
Beyond that, you'll need to figure out the plot of your story and how the character's use of magic affects the plot.
I hope that helps! :)
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His self destructive nature and pretty brown eyes have captivated me
If your plot feels flat, STUDY it! Your story might be lacking...
Stakes - What would happen if the protagonist failed? Would it really be such a bad thing if it happened?
Thematic relevance - Do the events of the story speak to a greater emotional or moral message? Is the conflict resolved in a way that befits the theme?
Urgency - How much time does the protagonist have to complete their goal? Are there multiple factors complicating the situation?
Drive - What motivates the protagonist? Are they an active player in the story, or are they repeatedly getting pushed around by external forces? Could you swap them out for a different character with no impact on the plot? On the flip side, do the other characters have sensible motivations of their own?
Yield - Is there foreshadowing? Do the protagonist's choices have unforeseen consequences down the road? Do they use knowledge or clues from the beginning, to help them in the end? Do they learn things about the other characters that weren't immediately obvious?
Y’all “critical thinking” does not equal “criticism”.
I am very tired of saying positive things about characters and getting told I need to do some critical thinking (so that I’ll see the characters are actually bad). No. That’s not how that works. I already did some critical thinking and came to the conclusions that these characters are wonderful. Criticism or straight up character bashing is not more enlightened and is not how critical thinking works. “Critical thinking” is not “thinking about all the bad or problematic aspects of something.” It’s looking objectively at evidence, looking at context, recognizing and examining personal biases and assumptions, considering what assumptions and biases are being used in a given argument by other people, etc. Sometimes this process brings up criticisms, yes, but sometimes it also leads to the conclusion that something is actually good despite it being made out to be bad.
23 things to try if your story isn’t working for you:
Change the protagonist of the story.
Change the main characters’ personalities.
Make your characters’ personalities affect the plot in some way.
Figure out which characters have opposing desires. Let them get in each other’s ways.
Tell the story from the antagonist’s POV.
What’s the conflict? Does it make sense? Is it a strong conflict? Does it make sense that your characters are fighting this battle? What are the stakes?
Change the main settings of the story.
Make your story’s settings affect the plot in some way.
Up the tension and/or suspense. Build up your atmosphere.
Mess around with the tone/mood of the story.
Re-tell your story as a comedy/horror/etc.
Use a different narrative technique to tell the story.
A series of boring events. If your story has too many mundane, boring events that don’t add much to the plot, edit them out or make them more interesting.
Twist some plot. Hidden secrets, betrayal most foul, true identities, etc. Inject some delicious fun with plot twists that aren’t too far-fetched.
Start the story at a different point in the plot.
Pacing and rhythm - Is the pacing too slow? Too fast? Extremely uneven? What can you do to make the story’s rhythm flow better?
Consider a different ending for your story to work towards.
Journal about it: What do you love about it, and what do you think needs to change or be improved?
Backtrack: Where does the story start not working? What decision was made to get to that stage?
Get back to the roots. What is this story about? What are you trying to say with this story? Have you deviated from that at all?
Take a break. Sometimes, we’re just tired and the story’s fine.
Get someone else to read it. A fresh set of eyes can make all the difference. This can be a friend, a writing buddy, or critique group.
If all else fails, put the story into your archives. Maybe one day you’ll go back to it. Maybe you won’t. But you tried, and honed your craft along the way, and every word you wrote for it has brought you closer to becoming the writer you want to be.
Just a random assortment of thoughts! Hope these help. ^^
*Kicks down the door* YOU KNOW WHUMPY TROPES I LOVE SO MUCH BUT BARELY EVER SEE?
MAGIC FATIGUE/EXHAUSTION/OVERUSE.
Give me those sweet side effects of overusing magic:
Getting lightheaded and weak, struggling to stand let alone keep fighting
"Are you ok?" "Yeah I'm fine. *immediately faceplants because their legs can't support their weight anymore*"
F a i n t i n g
Physical injuries like burns, broken bones, etc
The risk of permanent damage either physically or mentally
Can I get uuuuhhhhh "loses a sense either temporarily or permanently depending on the severity of the overuse"?
Stopping their heart (cue the team scrambling to drag their dumbass friend back from death)
THERE'S SO MUCH YOU CAN DO AND I SO RARELY SEE IT.
