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a list of 100+ buildings to put in your fantasy town

academy

adventurer's guild

alchemist

apiary

apothecary

aquarium

armory

art gallery

bakery

bank

barber

barracks

bathhouse

blacksmith

boathouse

book store

bookbinder

botanical garden

brothel

butcher

carpenter

cartographer

casino

castle

cobbler

coffee shop

council chamber

court house

crypt for the noble family

dentist

distillery

docks

dovecot

dyer

embassy

farmer's market

fighting pit

fishmonger

fortune teller

gallows

gatehouse

general store

graveyard

greenhouses

guard post

guildhall

gymnasium

haberdashery

haunted house

hedge maze

herbalist

hospice

hospital

house for sale

inn

jail

jeweller

kindergarten

leatherworker

library

locksmith

mail courier

manor house

market

mayor's house

monastery

morgue

museum

music shop

observatory

orchard

orphanage

outhouse

paper maker

pawnshop

pet shop

potion shop

potter

printmaker

quest board

residence

restricted zone

sawmill

school

scribe

sewer entrance

sheriff's office

shrine

silversmith

spa

speakeasy

spice merchant

sports stadium

stables

street market

tailor

tannery

tavern

tax collector

tea house

temple

textile shop

theatre

thieves guild

thrift store

tinker's workshop

town crier post

town square

townhall

toy store

trinket shop

warehouse

watchtower

water mill

weaver

well

windmill

wishing well

wizard tower

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You know the problem with reading a book? You get hooked and then it ends and you feel sad

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the two fundamental truths of historical and contemporary mankind:

we were just as smart then as we are now

we are just as stupid now as we were then

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Orwell's writing tips.

Not sure if I agree with all of them but they do make sense in most circumstances.

Saw this on pinterest.

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Moon thief

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RB if you think CD drives in computers are not obsolete, but in fact still necessary, despite being artificially phased out

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if you write a strong character, let them fail.

if you write a selfless hero, let them get mad at people.

if you write a cold-hearted villain, make them cry.

if you write a brokenhearted victim, let them smile again.

if you write a bold leader, make them seek guidance.

if you write a confident genius, make them be wrong, or get stumped once in a while.

if you write a fighter or a warrior, let them lose a battle, but let them win the war.

if you write a character who loses everything, let them find something.

if you write a reluctant hero, give them a reason to fight.

credit:@aj-eddy

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it’s willie nelson. on the road again. fekkin earworm XD

reblog w the song lyrics in your head NOW. either stuck in yr head or what yr listening to

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She was truly mad.

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Seven were built in the years leading up to the Soulless Riots. Machines that returned the dead to life. Useless machines, in a time of peace and prosperity, when humanity had conquered all ills, save one.

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You and your rival both find that your names have been used for the protagonist and antagonist of a new book that portrays an uncanny - if fantasized - resemblance to your actual relationship. Neither of you have met the author, and have no apparent connection to them.

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polish government has opened a website for ukrainians seeking safety and trying to cross the ukrainian-polish border:

ua.gov.pl

as of 13:10 polish time, it has been said as many people as possible will be let through the borders. they are also supposed to let through children who do not have passports, as to not divide families.

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[Prompt Response]

The Taniyn

No, not literally. I know, I know, you were thinking this was going to be another Henry Reiner story. Sorry to disappoint. What really happened was much less bloody. At least in the beginning.

"He's talking about the missing kids," Rotorizer whispered. "I think he knows where they are!"

I totally missed the shot I'd lined up. "What?!" I hissed into the mic.

"Only there's a word he keeps saying that I don't get. I don't think it's a name, but not Mandarin. A title maybe. Taniyn."

I glanced over at Erik, who'd shot me a look at my outburst. His eyebrows twitched just a little closer together.

"Jellyfish?" I heard Rotor inquire, a feeble defense against the silence that stretched across the room.

I suppose I could have grinned sheepishly and apologized for interrupting his call, but I've never been great at real world improv.

Eric said something else in Mandarin, and ended the call, never talking his eyes off me.

"Jelly?"

"Who you talking to, Kate?" He turned fully toward me, and the hairs on my arms stood up. This was just like that scene from Violet Unreal. My hairs had stood up when I'd played through it, too. What had my character done?

"Shit!" I threw the controller to the ground and sprinted for the door. He was after me. I heard his shoes slapping against the faux wood floor. His feet, and my heart, pounding in unison. In the game, Jesse had caught me.

This wouldn't turn out like the game.

Luckily, I wasn't the only one who failed to live up to video game reflexes. He got caught up on the couch and stumbled as he came after me, and I made it to the door. He was just getting up as I looked over my shoulder.

I threw myself down the stairs, nearly falling the entire way. As I sprinted across the pavement at the bottom I looked over my shoulder again. He wasn't following. I slowed, and looked back. He stared down at me from our apartment door, his hand resting on the railing. After a moment, he turned and went back inside, closing the door behind him.

I breathed heavily for a moment, and the situation began to settle deeper into my brain. "Shit," I said again, and pushed my fingers roughly into my hair, pulling at the skin of my face. My phone, my keys, everything was still inside. It was nearly five miles to the police station, and it was nearly dark.

Well, I couldn't go back in, obviously. Maybe I could hitch a ride. Surely it'd be safe enough, if I told them it was the police I needed. And what were the odds I'd escape a one kidnapper and immediately run into another, anyway? As I padded across the parking lot toward the road, Rotor's words came back to me. A title. Taniyn. What was that?

~~~~~~

"She's escaped."

My contact swore brutally into the phone, and my hands twitched. "You let her leave!?"

"I didn't let her," I said through gritted teeth. "Her online friend, handle Rotorizer27xx," I said, glancing at the screen. "He must speak Mandarin."

"So she knows." His voice grew calm, still. It was worse than the swearing, and the bank of my throat felt dry.

"Only about the children."

"She'll go to the police. You have to go after her."

I sighed. "If I go after her, one of two things will happen. Someone else will see the struggle, or she'll run into the woods."

"And if you don't, she'll go to the police!" His tone rose again.

"It doesn't matter."

"It does matter!"

"Well, what am I supposed to do, Lin!? Chase her into the woods?"

"Yes, Erik! That is what you'll have to do!"

Ridiculous. I almost laughed, but I managed to bite it back. I paused a breath before I responded, quietly. "I am not following a Taniyn into the woods by myself at night."

"You said she didn't know."

"I know."

Lin sighed again. "Then convince her."

"What?"

"Go find her and convince her to come back, Erik!"

I jerked the phone away from my ear. When I pulled it back, the line was dead. Apparently he was done with this conversation.

"Shit." He was right. I had to try, at least, or all our efforts would be dashed. And there was at least one other person who'd be pretty unhappy about that.

I grabbed my keys and headed out. She couldn't be far, right? I glanced at her wall of consoles, a collection built up over a lifetime. She'd want to come back for those, at least. I could use that.

She wasn't far - maybe a mile down the road. I pulled up beside her and she jumped, heading toward the tree line.

"Wait! I yelled, fumbling out of the car. She paused. "Please, Kate. I can explain."

"And you will. To the police." She backed slowly towards the woods.

"No, no, no. I can explain it to you. Just listen. Please. Look!" I leaned back into the car and wrestled the keys out of the ignition. "You can have the car."

"What?" She stopped. Good. A green SUV swerved around me, blaring it's horn.

"Just hear me out, and if you still don't like what I have to say, you can drive yourself to the police station." Without waiting, I threw her the keys.

She caught them, clumsily. "What could you possibly say? You kidnapped those children."

"I-" Well, sort of. "Yes. Not alone, but yes." I put my hands up and backed away from the car. She eyed it suspiciously, like a beast eyeing a trap. That wasn't too far off.

"Why?"

"It's kind of complicated."

"Where are they?" She approached the car and scrambled at the passenger door, keeping it between us. Another car approached, and I stepped back onto the shoulder.

I waited for her to get in and crack the window. "There's a place, outside town. I've sent you the coordinates."

"My phone's back at the apartment."

"Yes," I told her. "Understand, if you go to the police now, I'll get to the location before they can find it."

She balked at that. "I have your car."

"And I'll have yours."

"Shit." She whispered it under her breath, and I suppressed the urge to laugh for the second time today. Though this time it was a sort of tense solidarity that inspired me.

"They're not hurt, if that helps," I offered, and a flash of headlights nearly blinded me. I turned to stare down the road at the offending car, which had slowed it's approach.

A sleek black Mercedes convertible came to a stop between us. The man behind the wheel turned to Kate. "You okay, Jellyfish?"

"Rotor?" Her voice cracked, uncertainty spilling in.

"What is this?" I asked.

He turned to me, and I saw it. The scar down the right side of his face. The one I'd given him the last time we met. "You," I growled, forgetting myself.

He grinned. "Hello, Therikiel."

~~~~~~

I stared at his face in the fading light. This was Rotor? He didn't look anything like what I'd have expected. He certainly didn't look like someone who'd speak Mandarin.

I winced at my thoughts. Anyone can learn Chinese, Kate. "Jelly?" he asked, turning back to me. "Do you need a ride somewhere?" A scar on the right side of his face pulled at the corner of his eye before curving around his nose to the top of his mouth. It must have split his lip when he got it.

His voice was calm, and calming, but something wasn't right about this. How did he know where to find me? "I didn't know you lived around here."

Something twitched in his face, but in a blink it was gone. He pressed his teeth together sheepishly. "Sorry. I-" he cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck with one hand. "I know I shouldn't have, but I kind of did a little research on you a while ago. I was on my way to your apartment. I thought you were in trouble."

I frowned, and leaned back to look past him. Erik started at him with a look I'd rarely seen people wear in real life, and he crouched slightly, ready to fight. He was afraid. It's not a look that takes a lot of practice to recognize.

"Kate." He shifted closer to the car. "Be careful."

A flush of anger rose in me. "Be careful of what?" I demanded, and Rotor's face flickered again, surprised at my harshness. "At least I knew Rotorizer wasn't his real name!"

The corner of Rotor's mouth turned up. "Jelly - Kate? He's a kidnapper. Of course he wouldn't tell you his real name."

"Shut up. You're no better! How long have you been stalking me?" The anger pushed the fear away. It had always been good at that.

"No better than a kidnapper?" He had the grace to look offended, at least. "I came here to help you."

"Oh yea? How long ago did you find out where I live?" I squeezed the steering wheel, nearly shaking with rage. "How much do you know about me? When were you going to tell me you lived close by?"

He balked at that, and the pleasant visage slipped away. "Fine," he said coldly. "We can do this the hard way." He turned back to Erik and nodded, then floored it, speeding noisily off into the darkness.

I faced the windshield and took several shaky breaths, trying to calm down. This was not exactly the scenario my mother had warned me about when I got a male roommate. What was going on? I needed to go to the police. How could they both have been lying to me?

An acrid odor hit my nose, and I winced at it. What was that? It smelled like something burning - plastic or rubber. It grew stronger by the moment. Was the car on fire?

I turned to check the back for smoke, and my hands pulled away from the steering wheel with a loud sucking noise. I snapped back to it and stared in shock. Two indents in the shape of my palms had been melted into the material. I think my mouth actually fell open. What?

"Oh shit," Erik said softly, just outside the window. I snapped my head in his direction. I'd forgotten about him.

My jaw shook a little, the anger giving way to fear once more. "What's happening"

His shoulders dropped when he met my eyes, and he sighed. "Okay, Kate. I can explain, and I can do it here and now, if you want, but it's a lot, and Rotorizer is on his way to our apartment right now, where he's going to find your phone and the coordinates to the children."

"My phone is locked." That was a stupid thing to say. He'd found my address from my gamer tag - he could easily get into my phone.

"You're going to have to make a choice."

I started at him for a moment, then back at the melted steering wheel. There was a timer on this decision. It would only take a couple minutes for Rotor to get to that information. I didn't know what would happen once he had it, but my gut told me it wouldn't be good. I set my jaw, and unlocked the doors.