crystalessenceswrites

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only the second most stressful wedding stellan skarsgård's been involved in

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sometimes you need dialogue tags and don't want to use the same four

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crying

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I do have a piece of writing advice, actually.

See, the first time I grew parsnips, I fucked it up good. I hadn't seen parsnips sprouting before, right, and in my eagerness I was keeping a close eye on the row. And every time I saw some intruding grass coming up, I twitched it right out, and went back to anticipating the germination of my parsnips.

But it turns out parsnips take a bit longer than anything else I'd ever grown to distinguish themselves visually. It's just the two little split leaves, almost identical to a newly seeded bit of kentucky bluegrass when they first come up, and they take a good bit to establish themselves and spread out flat before the main stem with its first distinctive scallopy leaf gets going.

I didn't get any parsnips, not that year, because I'd weeded them all out as soon as they showed their faces, with my 'ugh no that's grass' twitchy horticulture finger.

The next year, having in retrospect come to suspect what had happened, I left the row alone and didn't weed anything until all the sprouts coming up had all had a bit to set in and show their colors, and I've grown lots of parsnips since. They're kind of a slow crop, not a huge return, but I like them and watching them grow and digging them up, and their papery little seeds in the second year, if you don't harvest one either on purpose or because you misjudged the frost, so it's worth it.

Anyway, whenever I see someone stuck and struggling with their writing who's gotten into that frustration loop of typing a few words, rejecting them, backspacing, and starting again, I find myself thinking, you gotta stop weeding your parsnips, man.

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╭ ◜◝ ͡ ◝ ͡◜◝  ╮ (   fake       ) (  scenarios )   (                 )     ╰     ͜      ╯                     O                   o                            °      〃∩　∧＿∧     ⊂⌒（ ´・ω・）      ｀ヽ_っ＿/￣￣￣/ 　          　   ＼/＿＿＿/

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reader LIKED the fic? reader left thoughtful comment because they thought there was something worth analyzing? oh! oh! love for reader! love for reader for one thousand years!

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must we finish fic??? is it not enough to write unconnected 300 word snippets with no beginning or end, forever, until we die?

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I hope every writer who sees this writes LOADS the next few months. Like freetime opens up, no writers block, the ability to focus, etc etc you're able to write loads & make lots of progress <3

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I just know mando x reader fic writers are CRYING that his family name is Din and his individual name is Djarin (including me)

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Quick PSA, if you get one of those "Work scanned, AI use detected" comments on AO3, just mark them as spam.

Some moron apparently built a bot to annoy or prank hundreds of authors.

There is no scanning process, your work doesn't actually resemble AI writing, it's all bullshit. Mark the comment as spam (on AO3, not the email notification you got about the comment!) and don't let it get to you.

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How to Address Royals When Writing Fanfics

Alright, I’m going to address a pet peeve of mine: how to address medieval royalty in fanfiction. Now, I know Dragon Age plays fast and loose with it’s pseudo-medieval background, so in truth this may not apply, but this is a tic of mine borne from those hellish months that I spent pouring over 17th century English parliamentary records for my thesis. I don’t fucking recommend it.

Let’s start with Queen Anora and Prince Warden. Why is f!Cousland a queen but m!Cousland a prince consort? It is because Anora/Alistair is the one who actually holds the throne; the Couslands are consorts. Similar to how Obama is the president - the one actually ruling the country - but Michelle is the First Lady. She’s important but she has no right to the presidential powers. Just because you marry a king/queen, it does not give you automatic access to make decisions for the country. So, f!Cousland is a “queen consort” but Anora is a “queen regnant.” But the title of King is always higher than the title of Queen and since Anora is the ruler, that means her consort cannot have a title higher than hers so he becomes a “prince consort.” See: Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.

When addressing a King or a Queen, the general accepted styling is “Your Majesty”/”His Majesty”/”Her Majesty.” If you want to be extra formal, you can use “His/Her Most Gracious Majesty”

Prince Consorts and Heirs should be addressed as “Your Royal Highness”, “His/Her Royal Highness.”

Now, Sebastian Vael is different. Ferelden is a kingdom, but Starkhaven is a principality. Prince or Princess is the ruling rank. Prince Sebastian should be styled as “His Serene Highness.”

As Viscount, Varric would only be addressed as “The Right Honourable” in formal occasions. He would usually be styled as “Lord Varric.” Any children he might have would be addressed as “The Honorable ____.”

Empress Celene would be styled “Her Imperial Majesty.” Any children she might have, as her heirs, would be styled as “His/Her Imperial Highness.”

The Archon is a tricky one. It’s possible he would not have a formal style address like the ones above, but he might be addressed similar to a Roman emperor would have been with a simple “Hail Archon!”

Now for Banns/Arls/Teyrns. Banns and Arls seem to be equal to Barons and Earls, respectively. Both of these ranks have the same address, so it would be “The Right Honourable Bann Teagan” and “The Right Honourable Arl Eamon.” Teyrns = Dukes, so for them it would be “His Grace, the Teyrn of Highever” or just “Your Grace” when being a bit more informal.

Although “serah” and “ser” seem very similar, the games use them differently. “Ser” is a gender-neutral title for knights and templars, such as “Ser Thrask.” “Serah” seems to be a vague, gender-neutral form of address for a squire/yeoman/freeholder. It’s a polite why to address someone who looks like they might have a little bit of money at least. Their children should be addressed as “Miss” (for a girl) or “Master” (for a boy). Please note that “Master” or “Mstr.” is the correct form of address for a juvenile male. Even today, boys should not be addressed as “Mister.” “Mister” is for adult men.

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Me opening up the word doc and getting stuck in the exact same place as last time

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How to write a kiss scene

requested by: anon request: How do I write a good kiss scene? As how do I describe it? What details or words would make it good?

What goes into the writing of a kiss scene?

details to incorporate:

the sensations in their stomach, their chest, and their knees

the way their breathing changes shortly before the kiss

the feeling of the other's hands

the texture of the other's clothing

the moment they realise they've reached the point of no return

the feeling they're left with after the kiss

words to use...

... to describe the kiss:

tentative

tender

hesitant

quick

soft

gentle

delicate

languid

feathery

familiar

exploring

hungry

heated

fiery

frantic

impatient

sloppy

messy

aggressive

... to describe how they feel about the kiss:

nervous

excited

giddy

anxious

apprehensive

ambiguous

surprised

reassured

certain

confident

relieved

eager

greedy

... to show what the lips do:

exploring each other

brushing over each other

locking

devouring

touching

sealing

pressing against each other

capturing

lapping

tasting

crushing together

travelling (the other's body)

trailing (down to the other's chin)

grinning into the kiss

caressing

lingering

... to show how their body reacts:

feeling warm all over

buzzing

humming

pumping/palpitating heart

clenching lungs

joy bubbling up

tingly stomach

warm chest

burning cheeks

sweaty palms

blood rushing through their veins

... to describe what their hands are doing:

tangling in their lover's hair

wrapping their arms around their lover's neck

intertwining their fingers with their lover

resting on their lover's hips

pressing into their lover's shoulder blades

cupping their lover's cheeks

touching their lover's chin

curling their arm around their lover's waist

resting on their lover's shoulders

grabbing their lover's collar

sneaking up under their lover's shirt

brushing over their lover's bare skin

lightly squeezing their lover's butt

focus on:

the sensations instead of what's physically happening. (the protagonists might very well not know themselves what is happening exactly, but they feel very precisely)

I hope this helps <3

[crystalessenceswrites]

The Moon In May Writing Challenge

2023 Writing Challenge Prompt List & Prompt Photos

Another year, another writing challenge! 🌙

The goal is one piece of writing (reader insert, self insert, oc, poetry, whatever you want) a week using the accompanying prompts set in an A/B/O AU, Shifter AU, Supernatural/Paranormal AU of your choice!

Each week is a phase of the moon (stated in the most general terms) with some themed words that might inspire. Below the cut are a few photo prompts that can be used or not used as you see fit. 

To participate simply tag #TheMoonInMay and tag me!  I’ll repost once a week in May. All I ask is that you tag your content accordingly and you have so much fun with this!

2022

The Moon in May Prompt List

Week 1 (May 1-7) - New Moon Luna - Perfume - Cadre - Shift - Track

Week 2 (May 8-14) - Waxing Moon Den - Heat - Imprint - Bite - Curse

Week 3 (May 15-21) - Full Moon Purr - Knot - Pack - Scent - Moonlight

Week 4 (May 22- 31) - Crescent Moon Breed - Run - Rut - Mark - Bond

Prompt Photos

I hope this inspires!

See you in May!

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site that you can type in the definition of a word and get the word

site for when you can only remember part of a word/its definition 

site that gives you words that rhyme with a word

site that gives you synonyms and antonyms

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What do you think Din's biggest kink is?

a solid eight hours of sleep and a visit to the chiropractor