1221bookworm

[1221bookworm]

maybe your fanfic doesn’t have to change someone’s life maybe it can just brighten someone’s day for a bit

[1221bookworm]

Bittersweet

Hi, Mom, Dad. I wanted you to meet someone.

This is your grandson. We haven't named him yet, but we narrowed down a few choices. Winry doesn't really like my ideas, but that's okay. I know we'll pick the right one. I don't know how she can tell, but she says he looks like me. I sure hope not, because it turns out I got your giant honker of a nose.

I wish he could know you the way I did. Well, maybe not the way I knew Dad, but… you know what I mean. The next best thing is me telling him all about you, I guess. The good things first, obviously.

Dad, Granny told me how nervous you were to be a father. I laughed and told her "no shit" because… well, yeah… but I understand why now, I guess. Better, anyway.

I'm terrified. More than ever. My first round of being responsible for someone else turned out pretty fucking poorly. That's hard to beat, though, so… I guess I'm already doing okay? Yeah. Just gotta move forward from that… and I'm gonna try my damnedest to do it right this time.

Anyway… this is him. My son. You would've been great grandparents.

I miss you. Both of you.

[1221bookworm]

All I need is for someone to gently cup my face and tell me I'm not as doomed as I feel.

[1221bookworm]

frog phone

[1221bookworm]

Gold Ring with Hidden Fold-Out Key. Dated ca. 1880, presumably Austrian origin. The rectangular ‘gem’ has an engraved scroll decoration and is framed either side by spread acanthus leaves.

(Source: collections.imm.hu)

[1221bookworm]

i know it’s been said before, but it bears repeating: a big, big part of maintaining your confidence & self esteem as a creator is fully embracing the concept of “you don’t have to be good like them.  you can be good like you.”

for example, i’m not someone who’s particularly good at coming up with complex, elaborate plots or incredibly unique ideas.  it’s just not how i choose to write.  and it would be easy for me to look at someone with an elaborate, super unique plot & decide that because i don’t write like that, i’m not a good writer.  after all, unique plots are good, and my writing lacks those, so my writing must not be good, right?  well, no, actually.  i just have different strengths, like taking a simple premise & digging super deep into its emotional depths.  that’s what i do well & it isn’t any better or worse than people who do elaborate world building or come up with really creative and unexpected plots.

your writing is never going to be all things to all people.  it just isn’t.  inevitably, you’ll have to make creative choices that favor certain aspects of writing over others.  there is truly no getting around that & it’s honestly a good thing, because it means you’ve developed your own style.  but you’ll always encounter other creators who posses strengths that you don’t.  it doesn’t mean one is better than the other or that your writing isn’t good enough. 

comparing yourself like that would be like taking a piece of pizza & a cupcake & going “oh no, that cupcake is so sweet & my pizza isn’t sweet at all.” or “gosh, the garlic crust on that pizza is delicious and my cupcake doesn’t have ANY garlic.”  obviously your pizza isn’t sweet.  obviously your cupcake doesn’t have garlic.  a food can’t have every single delicious flavor at once.  the cupcake is good like a cupcake.  the pizza is good like a pizza.  so you don’t have to be good like them.  you can be good like you.

[1221bookworm]

Fun little thing about medieval medicine.

So there’s this old German remedy for getting rid of boils. A mix of eggshells, egg whites, and sulfur rubbed into the boil while reciting the incantation and saying five Paternosters. And according to my prof’s friend (a doctor), it’s all very sensible. The eggshells abrade the skin so the sulfur can sink in and fry the boil. The egg white forms a flexible protective barrier. The incantation and prayers are important because you need to rub it in for a certain amount of time.

It’s easy to take the magic words as superstition, but they’re important.

[1221bookworm]

That first Polish-language encyclopedia was right about dragons. "It is hard to defeat a dragon, but you have to try." That is in fact a definition of "dragon" that cuts to the heart of the matter and covers all the essentials.

A dragon is something that A) is very hard to defeat and B) must be fought. That's it. That's all you really have to know when approaching the subject.

[1221bookworm]

show, don't tell:

anticipation - bouncing legs - darting eyes - breathing deeply - useless / mindless tasks - eyes on the clock - checking and re-checking

frustration - grumbling - heavy footsteps - hot flush - narrowed eyes - pointing fingers - pacing / stomping

sadness - eyes filling up with tears - blinking quickly - hiccuped breaths - face turned away - red / burning cheeks - short sentences with gulps

happiness - smiling / cheeks hurting - animated - chest hurts from laughing - rapid movements - eye contact - quick speaking

boredom - complaining - sighing - grumbling - pacing - leg bouncing - picking at nails

fear - quick heartbeat - shaking / clammy hands - pinching self - tuck away - closing eyes - clenched hands

disappointment - no eye contact - hard swallow - clenched hands - tears, occasionally - mhm-hmm

tiredness - spacing out - eyes closing - nodding head absently - long sighs - no eye contact - grim smile

confidence - prolonged eye contact - appreciates instead of apologizing - active listening - shoulders back - micro reactions

[1221bookworm]

[1221bookworm]

You know what I’m tired of seeing in fantasy novels? Conveniently kind strangers. The ones who take in the hero when he passes out on their doorstep and take care of him for an indeterminate number of days until he regains consciousness in a nice fluffy bed. Give me wary strangers. Strangers who are too afraid to help, who want nothing to do with a hero on his quest. Give me strangers who’ll stitch up the hero’s wounds and then run away as soon as he’s conscious. Give me strangers who pick the hero’s pocket so he wakes up with only his clothes on - and only some of them at that. No more conveniently kind strangers, okay?

[1221bookworm]

When you learned your mother was a goddess, things finally seemed to fall into place. The other demigods laughed at you, the only child born to the goddess of the hearth, Hestia. But your power was so much more than they could dream of.

[1221bookworm]

Cinder: What’s the easiest way to steal a man’s wallet?

Thorne: Knife to his throat?

Scarlet: Gun to his back?

Jacin: Poison in his cup?

Kai: You’re all horrible.

[1221bookworm]

You are constantly mocked for having such a weird superpower by all the other heroes. “The power to make anything into perfectly cooked soup”… One day, a massive meteor is barreling towards earth. As all the other heroes are panicking, you wait perfectly calm, at the impact zone, bowl in hand.

[1221bookworm]

Strong bond

(via)

[1221bookworm]

did you ever consider becoming a literary writer rather than a fantasy writer? w

I don’t think I ever wanted to be anything more than a storyteller and a writer. Other people can decide where the books get shelved.

[1221bookworm]

Clever Illustrations by Danish illustrator HuskMitNavn