#Questionable Advice

[bluemoonperegrine]

Five Simple Tips

@oddbunny comes up with great writing prompts! This silly bit of Werewolf by Night fluff was inspired by her reaction to a real-life set of tips.

This wee fic is set in the MCU crossover universe I've been constructing. All you need to know to follow this is:

1. Elsa and Jack have been mated for about five months. 2. Jack has a younger sister named Lissa, and the two are close.

I've posted this to ao3 as well. Kudos and comments are welcome and appreciated!

Ninety percent of the time Jack was fine with being the subject of his mate Elsa’s or sister Lissa’s teasing. It was only right considering how much he dished it out himself. All three of them had endured enough bizarre and often dangerous situations to not take themselves and life in general too seriously. If they had, they’d likely be preppers living in a remote compound fortified with mechanical and magical booby traps. Jack had figured out how to manage his lycanthropy and more recently had found a mate. He was going to live and poke fun at anything even remotely absurd, including himself.

Jack had nothing in particular to poke fun at on the day before Thanksgiving at his sister’s and brother-in-law’s house in Bel Air, California. He and Elsa had arrived the previous day, and his werewolf-vampire niece Nina would join them sometime that evening. Jack looked forward to seeing her and introducing Elsa. Considering the trials he and Elsa had survived that summer, they truly were giving thanks for family and friends.

The occasional snickers Jack had heard as he swam laps in his sister’s infinity pool became more frequent, then turned to giggles. Treading water at the deep end of the pool, Jack peered in Elsa’s direction. She had been relaxing in a one-piece swimsuit on a lounge chair on the travertine veranda. Now she and slender, dark-haired Lissa sat shoulder to shoulder and grinning with their attention on one of their phones. His sister, who wore a sleeveless blouse and shorts, had something flat and yellow on her lap. Elsa obscured his view of Lissa, which didn’t bother Jack in the slightest with her lithe curves on display.

“Did James send more Gen-Z tiktoks?” Jack called. Their young sorcerer friend found often funny and always surreal short videos and passed them along at least once each week.

Elsa took a deep breath, sobered slightly, and met Jack’s eyes. “No new ones, amor.” Then Lissa snort-giggled and his mate lost her composure. 

Jack smiled with them; their amusement was contagious. “What?” he asked, then started swimming toward them. 

Something small and bright-colored flew through the air in Jack’s direction. Out of instinct he changed his position in the water, kicking hard to launch himself into the air and intercept the object. After splashing back into the water and surfacing, he found himself holding a yellow frisbee as gales of Elsa’s and Lissa’s laughter carried across Stone Canyon.

Jack felt his face flush; he was the butt of some sort of joke. Elsa wouldn’t meet his eyes, but Lissa did, still laughing. 

After wrestling with self-consciousness and annoyance, Jack decided to get to the bottom of it. He climbed out of the pool as Lissa chortled, “I gotta admit, hermano, that leap was impressive. You should play water polo.”

Grinning, Jack strode to his sister and sat close beside her, soaking some of her clothes in the process. Ignoring Lissa’s half-hearted protests, he bonked her on the head with the frisbee, then said, “Out with it, or I’m throwing you both in the pool.” The frisbee clattered to the ground.

From her seat on Lissa’s other side, Elsa smirked, “I’d like to see you tr—”

Using his supernatural speed, Jack reached behind his sister, grabbed Elsa’s upper arm, and spun her on the lounge chair toward him. After an initial yelp she laughed, quickly breaking his hold with her free hand. She clutched her phone with the other.

Lissa, who’d jumped to her feet to get away from the brief melee, grinned at them. “I swear, you two are made for each other.”

Jack chuckled as he shook his head; pool water was dripping from his hair into his eyes, and getting Lissa and Elsa wet was good-natured revenge. To his surprise, the action renewed the women’s laughter. “What?!” Jack demanded while laughing himself.

“You’re proving the list right!” his sister gasped.

Elsa wiped tears from her eyes with one hand as she handed her phone to Jack with the other. “We had cheese sticks the other day!” she wheezed.

Baffled, Jack turned his attention to his mate’s phone. He scrolled to the top of the page to find the title “5 Tips for Dating a Werewolf” and groaned facetiously. Elsa scooted to sit beside him. Jack slid one arm around her waist as he skimmed the article.

The first tip involved scents, and while clearly tongue-in-cheek, Jack felt himself blush again. Ignoring it, he quipped, “Six days of scent-marking? I consider that a challenge.” The joke sent Elsa into another round of giggles while his sister made a retching noise.

“Gifts of food? Check,” Jack said, again ignoring his flushed face. At least he’d never left a dead rabbit on Elsa’s doorstep. They’d been hand-delivered, thankyouverymuch.

As Jack skimmed tip number three, Lissa said, “After Adam’s done with work this evening, we all should go to Applebee’s. The closest one—”

“No,” Jack said flatly, fixing a mock scowl on his sister. Elsa gave him a quick peck on the cheek, which he appreciated.

The fourth tip got Jack laughing aloud. “Arching a single, devastating eyebrow? That I can do.” So he did, looking Elsa squarely in the eye. This time she blushed, and he pecked her on the cheek.

Lissa bounced on her toes. “Ooh! Read number five. That’s the best one!” Elsa chuckled and shook her head.

The fifth and final tip Jack found amusing until the squeaky ball part and the waffles.

He really liked waffles.

“I’m never going to Waffle House again,” he grumbled semi-seriously.

Elsa bumped his shoulder with hers. “I promise not to tease you, amor.” She added not-quite under her breath, “Much.”

Jack gave her a fond smile. “Eres imposible, mi vida.”

They kissed until motion got Jack’s attention. He pulled back to find the yellow frisbee zooming away from them and Lissa grinning like a loon.

Jack got to his feet while the women laughed. He laughed with them, then scooped up his traitorous sister and headed for the pool.

[astreatrimkurvhanrtoyumeort-blog]

Ok, i saw this ads yesterday, and i can't help to wonder if this is an advice for the game OR they try to make more case for the IRS.

[flightyquinn]

With America coming up on a big holiday meal a month before the rest of the Western world, I figure now is a good time for some friendly advice;

Know where your priorities lie. If you're truly worried about gaining weight, holiday meals are not for you.

Margarine has no place in holiday cooking. You are about to eat an unconscionable amount of food. Use real butter. It tastes better.

By the same token, the only reason to use low sodium anything is if you have someone with special dietary needs, or you are planning to add monosodium glutamate.

Make more gravy than you think you'll need. It pairs well with most of the meal.

You don't have enough side dishes until you think you've prepared too many.

Desert tastes just as good the next morning after you were too stuffed to eat it with your meal the night before.

[melodygatesauthor]

As a writer for a few of Oscars characters, I figured you would be a good one to go for this query. I recently found a crap movie that was made good by the grace of casting called Mojave. I feel conflicted thirsting for Oscars character, as he is a murderous drifter. BUT HES SO DAMN HOT HELP PLS

Alright babes listen up.... (help below the cut)

I can't help you. Kylo Ren is my space daddy and like one of the meanest people and I'd destroy a planet for him. It's ok to love problematic characters darling, it's fanfiction. Just love them :)

I haven't watched Mojave yet...but I probably will. Heard it wasn't great but then again...neither was Triple Frontier and I'm obsessed so. WHO KNOWS!

Bottom line is, it's ok to love him. You can fix him right?

[inky-duchess]

Fantasy Guide to Building A Culture

Culture is defined by a collection of morals, ethics, traditions, customs and behaviours shared by a group of people.

Hierarchy and Social Structures

Within every culture, there is a hierarchy. Hierarchies are an important part of any culture, usually do ingrained that one within the culture wouldn't even question it. Hierarchy can be established either by age, gender or wealth and could even determine roles within their society. Sometimes hierarchy can may be oppressive and rigid whilst other times, ranks can intermingle without trouble. You should consider how these different ranks interact with one another and whether there are any special gestures or acts of deference one must pay to those higher than them. For example, the Khasi people of Meghalaya (Northern India), are strictly matrillineal. Women run the households, inheritance runs through the female line, and the men of the culture typically defer to their mothers and wives. Here are a few questions to consider:

How is a leader determined within the culture as a whole and the family unit?

Is the culture matriarchal? Patriarchal? Or does gender even matter?

How would one recognise the different ranks?

How would one act around somebody higher ranking? How would somebody he expected to act around somebody lower ranking?

Can one move socially? If not, why? If so, how?

Traditions and Customs

Traditions are a staple in any culture. These can be gestures or living life a certain way or to the way a certain person should look. Traditions are a personal detail to culture, they are what make it important. Tradition can dictate how one should keep their home, run their family, take care of their appearance, act in public and even determine relationship. Tradition can also be a double edged sword. Traditions can also be restrictive and allow a culture to push away a former member if they do not adhere to them, eg Traditional expectations of chastity led to thousands of Irish women being imprisoned at the Magdelene Laundries. Customs could be anything from how one treats another, to how they greet someone.

How important is tradition?

What are some rituals your culture undertakes?

What are some traditional values in your world? Does it effect daily life?

Are there any traditions that determine one's status?

Values and Opinions

Values and Opinions are the bread and butter of any culture. This is the way your culture sees the world and how they approach different life hurdles. These may differ with other cultures and be considered odd to outsiders, what one culture may value another may not and what opinion another holds, one may not. There will be historical and traditional reasons to why these values and opinions are held. Cultures usually have a paragon to which they hold their members to, a list of characteristics that they expect one to if not adhere to then aspire to. The Yoruba people value honesty, hard work, courage and integrity. Here are some questions to consider?

How important are these ethics and core values? Could somebody be ostracised for not living up to them?

What are some morals that clash with other cultures?

What does your culture precieved to be right? Or wrong?

What are some opinions that are considered to be taboo in your culture? Why?

Dress Code

For many cultures, the way somebody dresses can be important. History and ethics can effect how one is meant to be dressed such as an expectation of chastity, can impose strict modesty. While other cultures, put more importance on details, the different sorts of clothes worn and when or what colour one might wear. The Palestinian people (من النهر إلى البحر ، قد يكونون أحرارا) denoted different family ties, marriage status and wealth by the embroidery and detailing on their thoub.

Are there traditional clothes for your world? Are they something somebody wears on a daily basis or just on occasion?

Are there any rules around what people can wear?

What would be considered formal dress? Casual dress?

What would happen if somebody wore the wrong clothes to an event?

Language

Language can also be ingrained as part of a Culture. It can be a specific way one speaks or a an entirely different language. For example, in the Southern States of America, one can engage in a sort of double talk, saying something that sounds sweet whilst delivering something pointed. Bless their heart. I have a post on creating your own language here.

Arts, Music and Craft

Many cultures are known for different styles of dance, their artwork and crafts. Art is a great part of culture, a way for people to express themselves and their culture in art form. Dance can be an integral part of culture, such as céilí dance in Ireland or the Polka in the Czech Republic. Handicrafts could also be important in culture, such as knitting in Scottish culture and Hebron glass in Palestine. Music is also close to culture, from traditional kinds of singing such as the White Voice in Ukraine and the playing of certain instruments such as the mvet.

Food and Diet

The way a culture prepares or intakes or treats certain foods are important to a culture. In some cultures, there is a diet yo adhere to, certain foods are completely banned. With Jewish culture, pork is prohibited along with fish such as sturgeon, along with shellfish and certain fowl. Meat must also be prepared in a certain way and animal byproducts such as dairy, must never be created or even eaten around this meat. This is known as kosher. The way one consumes food is also important to culture. In some cultures, only certain people may eat together. Some cultures place important on how food is eaten. In Nigerian culture, the oldest guests are served first usually the men before the women. In Japanese culture, one must say 'itadakimasu' (I recieve) before eating. Culture may also include fasting, periods of time one doesn't intake food for a specific reason.

What are some traditional dishes in your world?

What would be a basic diet for the common man?

What's considered a delicacy?

Is there a societal difference in diet? What are the factors that effect diet between classes?

Is there any influence from other cuisines? If not, why not? If so, to what extent?

What would a typical breakfast contain?

What meals are served during the day?

What's considered a comfort food or drink?

Are there any restrictions on who can eat what or when?

Are there any banned foods?

What stance does your world take on alcohol? Is it legal? Can anybody consume it?

Are there any dining customs? Are traditions?

Is there a difference in formal meals or casual meals? If so, what's involved?

Are there any gestures or actions unacceptable at the dinner table?

How are guests treated at meals? If they are given deference, how so?

[psychologicalnausea]

Pavlov's Dogs

For those of you who aren't aware, this is a really interesting experiment. The gist is that he (Pavlov) trained dogs to salivate at the sound of a bell by giving them a treat every time the bell rang. Which leads me to...

Story time:

I learned about this experiment in high school from a friend (my school education was terrible) but it stuck with me. I believed it instantly because for my entire life my grandfather - who was a massive a-hole, by the way - was a favorite grandparent because no matter how mean he was or how much he picked on all the kids, he always followed it up with giving us a piece of candy. And we all stupidly thought he was the best for that!

Fast forward several years and I am in a class of fourteen people, trying to learn something in three months that should take approximately a full year, minimum. (Government training at it's finest.)

Well, class started at 7:30 in the morning, and I'm NOT a morning person. We had one guy in our class that had a normal volume of basically screaming. By the end of the first week I was ready to commit murder, but that wouldn't go over well so I decided to try a different approach.

I always keep candy in my pockets because I have hypoglycemia and often I would forget to eat so the little strawberry candies would prevent me from having an attack until I could get a snack.

Anyway, I turned around and made eye contact with him when he was being particularly obnoxious talking to one of our classmates. I put my hand horizontally in front of my nose and slowly dropped it to my chin level - while he was still talking to our classmate - and he lowered his voice accordingly to an acceptable volume in an enclosed space. So, I slid a piece of my candy over the desk.

And the process continued that way any time he started to get too loud. I honestly wasn't thinking long term at the time because at the end of the three months we were going to different places. I just wanted us both to survive that long.

Five years later, I had transferred to the East coast but I was still in contact with some of my old coworkers. Two months after I transferred, guess who got transferred to my old place? The loud guy! And guess how my old coworkers reacted: annoyed at his normal volume!

At this point they knew that we knew each other from school so one of them asked how I dealt with it, because they know I don't like a lot of noise. So, I told them how to do the hand gesture to get him to quiet down without having to interrupt him.

The next day I got a bewildered call from my old coworker asking how the hell I trained him because it worked EVERY TIME HE DID IT!

I might be an asshole for doing an experiment - intentional or not - on someone without their knowledge, but I have zero regrets.

[themovieboards]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Gerald Le Duck (@geraldleduck)

[writers-potion]

Storyediting Questions to Ask

As You Read the First Draft:

Are there place that surprised you as you read your first draft? - Why do you suppose that is? - Is there material there you'd like to expand?

What are the character really doing in this story? - Might they have issues you haven't explored fully yet?

Look to the places that drag. - These might be scenes where you have avoided dealing with something deeper. - What are the characters really thinking in these places? - What are their passions, frustrations, and desires?

Imagine alternative plotlines. - How might your plot be different if ti headed off on another tangent from various points in the story? - You don't have to follow them, but they might suggest other streams that can flow into the main plot.

Think About Structure:

Does you story play out naturally in three acts?

Is there an immediate disturbance to the Lead's world?

Does the first doorway of no return occur before the one-fifth mark?

Are the stakes being raised sufficiently?

Does the second doorway of no return put the Lead on the path to the climax?

Does the rhythm of the sotyr match your intent? If this is an action novel, does the plot move relentlessly forward? If this is a character-driven novel, do the scenes delve deeply enough?

Are there strongly motivated characters?

Have coincidence been established?

Is something happeing immediately at the beginning? Did you establish a person in a setting with a problem, onfronted with change or threat?

Is the timeline logical?

Is the story too predictable in terms of sequence? Should it be rearranged?

About Your Lead Character:

Is the character memorable? Compelling? Enough to carry a reader all the way through the plot?

A lead character has to jump off the page. Does yours?

Does this character avoid cliches? Is he capable of surprising us?

What's unique about the character?

Is the character's objective strong enough?

How does the character grow over the course of the story?

How does the character demonstrate inner strength?

About Your Opposition:

Is your oppositing character interesting?

Is he fully realized, not just a cardboard cutout?

Is he justified (at least in his own mind) in his actions?

Is he believable?

Is he strong as or stronger than the Lead?

About Your Story's Adhesive Nature:

Is the conflcit between the Lead and opposition crucial for both?

Why can't they just walk away? What holds them together?

About Your Scene:

Are the big scenes big enough? Surprising enough? Can you make them more original, unanticipated, and draw them out for all they are worth?

Is there enough conflict in the scenes?

What is the least memorable scene? Cut it!

What else can be cut in order to move the story relentlessly forward?

Does the climactic scene come too fast (through a writer fatigue)? Can you make it more, write it for all it's worth?

Does we need a new minor subplot to build up a saggin midsection?

About Your Minor Characters:

What is their purpose in the plot?

Are they unique and colorful?

Polishing Questions:

Are you hooking the reader from the beginning?

Are suspenseful scenes drawn out for the ultimate tension?

Can any information be delayed? This creates tension in the reader, always a good thing.

Are there enough surprises?

Are character-reaction scenes deep and interesting?

Read chapter ending for read-on prompts

Are there places you can replace describing how a character feels with actions?

Do I use visual, sensory-laden words?

For a Dialogue Read-Through:

Dialogue is almost always strengthened by cutting words within the lines.

In dialogue, be fair to both sides. Don't give one character all the good lines.

Greate dialogue surprises the reader and creates tension. View it like a game, where the players are trying to outfox each other.

Can you get more conflict into dialogue, even emong allies?

If you like my blog, buy me a coffee☕ and find me on instagram! 📸

[crimeronan]

i've seen a couple people in the notes of this very good post about fictional polyamory by @thebibliosphere say things along the lines of "oh, i've been doing it wrong :(" or "how do i know if i did this right??" or "i should probably give up and start over, i wrote this badly :(" and. no!!!!

(i AM seeing far MORE people say "oh, this clarified and helped me so much, i think i know how to fix issues i've been having with my own story" which. YES!!!!)

listen. if you're a monogamous person who's writing a polyamorous relationship, and you've been focusing mainly on The Triad and All Three Together All The Time as the endgame, that's literally fine. that's a perfectly acceptable and strong starting point for your plotting, imo. you do not need to give up on a story that you've started like this.

but the things discussed in the post Can and Should improve your execution!

you can keep the same plot beats and overall relationship arc 100%. polyamorous relationships are infinite in their formations, every one is unique. "basically a monogamous romance but with three people" Does exist, as a relationship type. you're not hashtag Misrepresenting (TM) poly people with it

BUT i do think it will help to read up on some poly people talking about how their relationships Differ from monogamous ones.

so i have outlined some basic important concepts about polyamory.

MORE IMPORTANTLY though, i've broken down some questions that you can answer throughout the writing process to strengthen your individual dyad relationships, your individual characterization, & your characters' individual feelings/experiences. this is a writing resource have fun

future kitkat butting in to say i spent over two hours writing this and it definitely needs a readmore. it is also NOT comprehensive. but everything should be pretty simple to follow! feel free to reblog if you find it helpful yourself or just want to reward me for how gotdan long this took KSLDKFJKDL.

i've grabbed quick links for a couple of the important concepts, some have SEO pitches in them but the info largely seems to be good. (if i missed anything Egregiously Gross on these sites i should be able to update the links with better ones later, since they're under the readmore.)

sidenote: this is NOT meant to be overwhelming, despite the length. if you can't read all of this, that's Okay. you do not need to give up on your writing.

here we go:

compersion!

compersion is a BIG thing in a lot of polyamorous relationships. it's joy derived from seeing two (or more) of your partners happy together, or joy derived from seeing your partner happy with someone else.

compersion is really important as a concept because it highlights that every individual relationship within a polycule is different -- and that that's a GOOD thing. it's sort of the inverse of jealousy.

by the "inverse of jealousy," i mean that instead of feeling left out and upset and possessive, you feel happy/joyous/content.

i can use personal experience as an example: it's a Relief for me when my partners receive joy/support/sex/romance/etc that i can't (or prefer not to) give them. and i love seeing my partners make each other laugh and be silly together.

it's 100% okay for a poly triad not to be together 100% of the time, it doesn't mean that the third member is being left out or not treated equally when two people do things alone together.

(i have individual dates with my partners all the time! PLUS larger 3-and-4-person date nights.)

if the third member DOES feel jealous or left out, then the polycule can have a conversation to figure out what needs/wants aren't being met, and solve that. this happens semi-regularly in my polycule, as it will happen in any relationship (including monogamous ones)! it's just part of being an adult, sometimes you have to talk about feelings.

metamours!

a metamour is someone who is dating your partner, but ISN'T dating you. this may not be relevant for people writing closed three-person romantic sexual triads, but it's a super helpful term to know.

the linked article also lists different types of metamour relationships with some fun phrasing i hadn't heard before. the tl;dr is: sometimes you'll be domestic cohabitation friends, sometimes you'll be buddies with your own friendship, sometimes you might not interact much outside of parties, every relationship is different.

there's no one-size-fits-all requirement for metamour relationships. sometimes polyamorous people will end up dating their metamour after a while (has happened to me), sometimes polyamorous people will break up with one partner for normal life reasons, but remain friendly metamours.

the goal of polyamory is NOT for EVERYONE to fall in love. it is 100% okay if this happens in your story, it happens in real life too! but it is also 100% okay for characters to be metamours without ever becoming "more than friends."

(sidenote: try to kill any internalized "more than" that you have when it comes to friendship. friends are just as important and special and vital as partners.)

of course there are a million ways for messiness to occur with metamours within a complex polycule, exactly like with close-knit platonic friend groups. however this post is not about that! there's enough "here's how polyamory can go wrong" stuff out there already, so i'm focusing on the positives here :)

open versus closed polyamorous relationships!

i'm struggling to find an online article that reflects my experience without directly contradicting at least SOME stuff. so i'll give a quick rundown

google has a bunch of conflicting definitions of open relationships and whether open relationships are different from polyamory. the general consensus seems to be that an open relationship prioritizes one partnership (often a marriage), but that each partner can have extraneous flings or long-term commitments (most often sexual in nature).

this is not typically how i use the term wrt polyamory. the poly concept is pretty simple. a closed polyamorous relationship is one with boundaries like a monogamous one. there are multiple partners in the polycule, but they are not interested in having anybody new join said polycule.

an open polyamorous relationship tends to be more flexible -- it just means that IF someone in the polycule develops mutual feelings for a new person, it's fine for them to become part of said polycule if they want to! the relationship/person is open to newcomers.

some groups will need to negotiate this all together, others will just go "haha, you kids have fun." just depends on the individuals!

with open AND closed polyamorous relationships, the most important thing is making sure that there's respectful communication and that everyone is on the same page. but there's no one-size-fits-all way to do that.

i wish i could give you guys a prescriptive "You Must Do It This Way" guide, but that's.... basically the opposite of what polyamory is about, HAHA.

feelings for multiple people!

i was gonna tack this on to the previous section but decided it warranted its own lil bit.

a defining feature (....i'm told?) of monogamous relationships is that a monogamous person only has feelings for One individual at a time. they only want a relationship with one individual at a time. or, if they DO have feelings for multiple people simultaneously, they're still only comfortable dating one person at a time & being exclusive with that one person.

this is perfectly fine!

the poly experience is generally different from this. but once again..... polyamorous people all have different individual perspectives on this.

for me, i have never been able to draw hard boxes around romantic vs sexual vs platonic relationships, & i love many people at once. my personal polycule lacks many strict definitions beyond "these are my chosen people, i want to forge a life with them indefinitely, whatever shape that life takes"

some poly people feel explicit romantic or sexual attraction to multiple people at once, some poly people feel almost no romantic or sexual attraction at all. i'd say that MOST poly people feel different things for different partners, which is not a bad thing!

some poly people are even monogamous-leaning -- they have just chosen one romantic partner who is themselves part of a larger polycule. (so this monogamous-leaning person has at least one metamour!)

or alternatively, they might have one romantic partner AND a qpr, or other ways of defining relationships. (this is a factor in my own polycule!)

i made this its own point because if you're writing a straightforward triad, this is unlikely to come up in the story itself -- but it's worth thinking about how your characters develop/handle feelings outside of their partnerships.

like, is this sort of a soulmateship, 'these are the only ones for me' type deal? in which they won't fall in love with anyone else, and can be fairly certain of that?

that's pretty close to typical monogamous standards but you Can make it work. just be thoughtful with it

alternatively, can you see any of these characters falling in love Again after the happily-ever-after? and how would the triad approach it, if so? what would they all need to talk about beforehand, and what feelings would everybody have about the situation?

it's worth considering these questions even if the hypothetical will never feature in your actual canon, because knowing the answers to these questions will help you understand all of the individuals & their relationship(s) MUCH better.

i've been typing this for nearly two hours and there's a lot more i COULD say because... there's just a lot to say. i'll close out with some quick questions that you can ask yourself when developing the dyad dynamics within your triad

first, take a page and create a separate section for each individual dyad. then answer these questions for every pair:

how does each pair act when alone?

how do they act differently alone compared to when they're with their third partner?

are there any elements of this dyad (romantic, sexual, financial, domestic, etc) that these two people DON'T have with the third partner?

if so, what are they?

are there any boundaries or hard limits within this dyad that aren't shared with the third partner?

if so, what are they?

partner 3 goes out of town alone for a few weeks. what are the remaining two doing in their absence?

(doesn't have to be anything special, it's just to get a sense of how the two interact on a day-by-day basis without the third there)

what is something that each partner in the dyad admires about the other -- that they DON'T necessarily see in the third partner?

what problem do These Two Specifically need to solve in the story before their relationship will work?

how is that problem DIFFERENT from the problems being solved within the other two dyads?

doing this for ALL THREE dyads is VITAL imo. that way, you develop complex and nuanced and different relationships that all have unique dynamics.

those questions should be enough to get you started, i hope

then After you've charted the differences in relationships, you can start to jot down similarities in the overarching triad. what does one person admire in Both of their partners? what are activities that all three like to do together? what are boundaries or discussions that all three share?

but the main goal is to figure out how to Differentiate each relationship!

a polycule is only as strong as the individual relationships within it. if two people are struggling with their own relationship, adding a third person won't fix that.

(UNLESS the third person is the catalyst for those two to, like, Actually Communicate And Work Their Shit Out. i just mean that the old adage of "maybe if we just add a third-" works about as well to fix a miserable non-communicative marriage as, uh, "maybe if we have a baby-")

AND FINALLY.

if you're not sure whether your poly romance reads organically to poly people, you can hire a sensitivity reader with poly experience. if you can't afford that, you can read up on polyamorous resources like a glossary of terms & articles actually written by poly people. (and stories written by poly people!)

you can also just.... ask poly people questions, if they're open to it. i like talking about polyamory and my own relationships so you're welcome to send asks if u want, i just can't guarantee i'll answer bc my energy levels fluctuate a lot and i don't always have time.

polyamorous people are in an uphill battle for positive representation right now & so the LAST thing i want to see is authors giving up on their stories bc they're worried about getting things Wrong. well-meaning and positive stories that treat this kind of love as normal, healthy, & aspirational are So So So Needed. even if you guys end up with some funky-feeling details.

seriously, if you're monogamous then you probably don't have a full idea of Just How Nasty a lot of people can get about polyamory. i wish it DIDN'T mean so much for you guys to want to write nice stories about us, but it does mean a lot. and it means a lot that you want to do it WELL.

in conclusion. this is not a prescriptive guide, it's just a way to raise questions. and also, you all are doing FINE.

[fallen-g0dz]

Quotes for 177103 and life in general

What would you do, If it was you? Would you take everything for Granted like you do?

-StainD "Open Your Eyes"

It ties well into the book. To my sisters in Traumacore. This can also be for you guys. After all, you people have suffered so much more than I can fathom. But a word of advice from a good source

“Beware the fury of a patient man.”

You can take revenge. And do so in a way that will make you look strong, and make your abuser look weak. Plan out your revenge, and for that sonofabitch abuser, make his suffering equal to yours. Embarrass him, make him look stupid, weak or make him look like how you see them, evil.

Here is a quote I made:

"Revenge is a weird process, when you have a good idea. It takes ages to make that Idea a reality. And when it's done, the person you want to hurt is either dead or doesn't remember you."

Actually don't listen to that. Maybe this

"There ain't no place in the world for someone who hurts kids, destroys innocence, and makes people miserable in cruel and unusual ways."

And lastly, a quote from my Mother. this ties into Child molestation and pedophilia more than 177103 and Trauma core.

"What they should do with a pedophile or a rapist. Castrate him."

Now that can tie into 177103. Castrate those rapist bastards!

Sorry about my shitpost of an advice column. I need coffee.

[supersoakerfullofblood]

Point of View: the Biggest Thing You're Missing!

Point of view is one of the most important elements of narrative fiction, especially in our modern writing climate, but you rarely hear it seriously discussed unless you go to school for writing; rarely do help blogs or channels hit on it, and when they do, it's never as in-depth as it should be. This is my intro to POV: what you're probably missing out on right now and why it matters. There are three essential parts of POV that we'll discuss.

Person: This is the easiest part to understand and the part you probably know already. You can write in first person (I/me), second (You), and third person (He/she/they). You might hear people talk about how first person brings the reader closer to the central character, and third person keeps them further away, but this isn't true (and will be talked about in the third part of this post!) You can keep the reader at an intimate or alien distance to a character regardless of which person you write in. The only difference--and this is arguable--is that first person necessitates this intimacy where third person doesn't, but you still can create this intimacy in third person just as easily. In general, third person was the dominant (and really the only) tense until the late 19th century, and first person grew in popularity with the advent of modernism, and nowadays, many children's/YA/NA books are written in first person (though this of course doesn't mean you can't or shouldn't write those genres in the third person). Second person is the bastard child. Don't touch it, even if you think you're clever, for anything the length of a novel. Shorter experimental pieces can use it well, but for anything long, its sounds more like a gimmick than a genuine stylistic choice.

Viewpoint Character: This is a simple idea that's difficult in practice. Ask yourself who is telling your story. This is typically the main character, but it needn't be. Books like The Book Thief, The Great Gatsby, Rebecca, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and the Sherlock series are told from the perspective of a side character who isn't of chief importance to the narrative. Your viewpoint character is this side character, the character the reader is seeing the world through, so the main character has to be described through them. This isn't a super popular narrative choice because authors usually like to write from the perspective of their most interesting character, but if you think this choice could fit your story, go for it! You can also swap viewpoint characters throughout a story! A word of warning on that: only change your viewpoint character during a scene/chapter break. Switching mid-scene without alerting the reader (and even when you do alert the reader) will cause confusion. I guarantee it.

Means of Perception; or, the Camera: This part ties the first two together. If you've ever heard people talk about an omniscient, limited, etc. narrator, this is what they mean. This part also includes the level of intimacy the reader has with the viewpoint character: are we in their heads, reading their thoughts, or are we so far away that we can only see their actions? If your story is in a limited means of perception, you only have access to your character's head, eyes, and interpretations, where an omniscient narrator sees through all characters' heads at once. (This doesn't eliminate the viewpoint character--most of your writing will still be in that character's head, but you're allowed to reach into other characters' thoughts when needed. You could also be Virginia Woolf, who does fluidly move through everyone's perspectives without a solid viewpoint character, but I would advise against this unless you really are a master of the craft.) Older novels skew towards third person omniscient narration, where contemporary novels skew towards first person limited. You also have a spectrum of "distant" and "close." If omniscient and limited are a spectrum of where the camera can swivel to, distant and close is a spectrum of how much the camera can zoom in and out. Distant only has access to the physical realities of the world and can come off as cold, and close accesses your character's (or characters', if omniscient) thoughts. Notice how I said narration. Your means of perception dramatically effects how your story can be told! Here's a scene from one of my stories rewritten in third-person distant omniscient. The scene is a high school football game:

“Sometimes,” he said. “Not much anymore.” “It’s not better, then?” She shivered; the wind blew in. “A little.” His tone lifted. “I don’t know if it’ll ever be better, though.” She placed a hand on his arm, stuttered there, and slipped her arm around his waist. “Did it help to be on your own?” He raised an eyebrow. “You were there.” “Yes and no.” “And the guys, the leaders.” “Come on,” she heckled. “Okay, okay.” Carmen sighed. “Yeah, it helped. I don’t think—I don’t know—I’d be me if they’d fixed it all.” She grinned. “And who might you be?” “Oh, you know. Scared, lonely.” He fired them haphazardly, and a bout of laughter possessed him which Piper mirrored. “Impatient.” “And that’s a good thing?” “No.” He sat straight. “Gosh, no. But I don’t want to be like him, either.” He pointed to the field; Devon recovered a fumbled ball. “He’s never been hurt in his life.” She met his eyes, which he pulled away. “You don’t mean that," Piper said. “Maybe not. He’s too confident, though.” The cloth of Carmen's uniform caved and expanded under Piper's fingers.

With distant-omniscient, we only get the bare actions of the scene: the wind blows in, Piper shivers, the cloth rises and falls, Carmen points, etc. But you can tell there's some emotional and romantic tension in the scene, so let's highlight that with a first person limited close POV:

“Sometimes,” he said. “Not much anymore.” “It’s not better, then?” Frost spread up from her legs and filled her as if she were perforated rock, froze and expanded against herself so that any motion would disturb a world far greater than her, would drop needles through the mind’s fabric. A misplaced word would shatter her, shatter him. “A little.” His tone lifted. “I don’t know if it’ll ever be better, though.” She placed a hand on his arm, thought better, and slipped her arm around his waist. “Did it help to be on your own?” He raised an eyebrow. “You were there.” “Yes and no.” “And the guys, the leaders.” “Come on,” she heckled. “Okay, okay.” Carmen sighed. “Yeah, it helped. I don’t think—I don’t know—I’d be me if they’d fixed it all.” She grinned. “And who might you be?” “Oh, you know. Scared, lonely.” He fired them haphazardly, and a bout of laughter possessed him which Piper mirrored. “Impatient.” “And that’s a good thing?” “No.” He sat straight. “Gosh, no. But I don’t want to be like him, either.” He pointed to the field; Devon recovered a fumbled ball. “He’s never been hurt in his life.” “You don’t mean that.” She spoke like a jaded mother, spoke with some level of implied authority, and reminded herself again to stop. “Maybe not. He’s too confident, though.” Piper felt the cloth of his waist cave and expand under her fingers and thought: is this not confidence?

Here, we get into Piper's thoughts and physical sensations: how the frost rises up her, and how this sensation of cold is really her body expressing her nervous fears; how she "thought better" and put her arm around his waist; her thought "is this not confidence?"; and how she reminds herself not to talk like a mother. Since I was writing from the close, limited perspective of a nervous high schooler, I wrote like one. If I was writing from the same perspective but with a child or an older person, I would write like them. If you're writing from those perspectives in distant narration, however, you don't need to write with those tones but with the authorial tone of "the narrator."

This is a lot of info, so let's synthesize this into easy bullet points to remember.

Limited vs. Omniscient. Are you stuck to one character's perspective per scene or many?

Close vs. Distant. Can you read your characters' thoughts or only their external worlds? Remember: if you can read your character's thoughts, you also need to write like you are that character experiencing the story. If child, write like child; if teen, write like teen; etc.

Here's another way to look at it!

This is a confusing and complex topics, so if you have any questions, hit up my ask box, and I'll answer as best I can. The long and short of it is to understand which POV you're writing from and to ruthlessly stick to it. If you're writing in limited close, under no circumstances should you describe how a character other than your viewpoint character is feeling. Maintaining a solid POV is necessary to keeping the dream in the reader's head. Don't make them stumble by tripping up on POV!

[utilitycaster]

In response to "Any advice for first-time players or DMs?"

ID: Three screenshots from the Critical Role: Sick Day livestream. Sam, wearing a Barbie hat and a bathrobe, is sitting next to Taliesin, who is wearing a pink shirt, one-piece pajamas, and is holding the game controller. Taliesin is speaking and the captions read "I'm not saying don't be cautious, but realize that there are worse things than dying on graph paper."

(note: these words were said as he built, in the BG3 character creator, Mollymauk Tealeaf, who famously died on graph paper.)

[moonkissedvisions]

Pick an image tarot reading: Your natural gifts 🎀🍓🧁

Important: 16+. This is a general tarot card reading. Take what resonates and leave the rest. Tarot readings are not meant to be a replacement for any professional advice. I use the Rider-Waite deck. Take a deep breath, think about the theme/question of the reading and pick an image. Let your intuition guide you and HAVE FUN!

🎀 First picture

cards: 6 of Cups, King of Pentacles, 5 of Swords.

🎀 Multitalented

🎀 Inner child

🎀Generosity

🎀 Compassion

🎀 Playfulness

🎀 Creating a beautiful atmosphere

🎀 Cooking

🎀 Decorating

🎀 Jewelry

🎀 Retailer

🎀 Drawing

🎀 Painting

🎀 Collecting

🎀 Servicial

🎀 Money

🎀 Finances

🎀 Comedy

🎀 Working with kids

🎀 Poetry

🎀 Charity

🎀 Imagination

🎀 Instruments

🎀 Memory

🎀 Discipline

🎀 Self control

🎀 Material world

🎀 Counseling

🎀 Security

🎀 Self esteem

🎀 Humility

🎀 Crafting

🎀 Asking questions

🎀 History

🎀 Adaptation

🎀 Inspiring

🎀 Fashion

🎀 Philosophy

🎀 Speech

🎀 Abundance

🎀 Nourishing

🎀 Assertiveness

🎀 Therapy

additional notes: you may be childlike and/or have a baby face. you are forever young. you are outgoing. you like presents. you like learning about the past/your ancestors. you may have melancholic and nostalgic thoughts and emotions. you have a lot of energy. you are caring. you like a bit of destruction and mess (whatever that means for you). you may like wearing adornments. you may have an abundance mindset. people may feel comfortable and happy around you. you may have a hard time letting go of stuff. you may like self-care. Leave a 🎀 if you picked this reading!

🍓 Second picture

cards: The Devil, The Lovers, Wheel of Fortune.

🍓 You could be a 6 in numerology, since you got both 6 life path number cards (The Lovers VI, The Devil XV). 6 may be a significant number to you, or you embody 6 number codes and energy.

🍓 Strong sexual and personal magnetism

🍓 Attracting people

🍓 Sensuality

🍓 Dealing with taboo and dark themes

🍓 Loving

🍓 Generous

🍓 Business

🍓 Tempting

🍓 Unmasking the truth

🍓 Strong intuition

🍓 Designing

🍓 Passionate

🍓 Psychology

🍓 Making love

🍓 Holistic medicine

🍓 Dominance

🍓 Beauty

🍓 Decision-making

🍓 Devoted/devotion

🍓 Romance

🍓 Surrender

🍓 Acceptance

🍓 Wisdom

🍓 Good luck

🍓 Deep understanding

🍓 Manifesting

🍓 Communication

🍓 Effortless persona

🍓 Relationships

🍓 Good lover

🍓 Family oriented

🍓 Artistic

🍓 Beautiful

🍓 Considerate

🍓 Appreciative

🍓 Magic

🍓 Aware

🍓 Psychic

🍓 Occult/hidden

additional notes: you may be considered sexy or conventionally attractive. people are curious about you. people tell you their secrets. you go through a lot of changes in your life/identity. you may be multi-talented like the first pic people. you are considered an open-minded person but at the same time you may be a conventional/traditional or conservative person. you like having a healthy lifestyle. you may not like sharing many stuff about yourself and that could make you a mysterious person. you like witchy stuff/ are open about witchcraft. you may get obsessed easily. you may have a lot of secrets. you may have to deal with self-pity. Leave a 🍓 if you picked this reading!

🧁 Third picture

cards: King of Swords, Strength, Justice.

🧁 Compassion

🧁 Determination

🧁 Integrity

🧁 Power of thoughts

🧁 Power of the unconscious

🧁 Focus

🧁 Respect for life, its cycles and the natural order

🧁 Caring

🧁 Harmonious

🧁 Patience

🧁 Control

🧁 Veterinary

🧁 Taming

🧁 Problem solving

🧁 Wildness

🧁 Royalty

🧁 Law

🧁 Sharpness

🧁 Command

🧁 Good balance of feminine and masculine energies. ☯️ There is an overall balance in you.

🧁 Judge

🧁 Popular

🧁 Honesty

🧁 Impartiality

🧁 Rationality

🧁 Incredible logic

🧁Intellectual

🧁 Unbiased

🧁 Fatherly

🧁 Authority

🧁 Intelligent

🧁 Discernment

🧁 Writing

🧁 Sense of justice

🧁 Giving and gaining respect

🧁 Political/good at politics

🧁 Hierarchy

🧁 Leader

additional notes: you may be a control freak. you deal with emotions harmoniously but you could also seem cold or may dislike emotionality. you are deeply spiritual though. you may be or come across as judgemental to some people but you have a fair judgement. people come to you for advice and help because of your perspectives. you sense when things aren't right or something is unfair. you may love animals and nature. maybe you have a lot of pets or you fight for animal rights. you may be bookish. you like power/feeling powerful and strong and being in high positions. you may have a clean style or like neatness. Leave a 🧁 if you picked this reading!

Thank you for reading my post! I hope you loved it.

[saraswritingtipps]

some original character (OC) questions that might pique your interest and spark your creativity:

What is your character's biggest fear, and how does it affect their actions and relationships?

What is something your character is deeply passionate about, and how does it drive their goals and motivations

Describe a memorable childhood experience that shaped your character's personality or outlook on life

What are your character's quirks or eccentricities that make them stand out from others?

Does your character have any hidden talents or abilities that only a few people know about?

What is your character's preferred way of coping with stress or difficult situations?

How does your character handle failure or setbacks? Are they resilient or easily discouraged?

Describe a significant relationship in your character's life and how it has influenced them.

What is your character's moral compass? What principles or values do they hold dear?

Imagine your character in a challenging moral dilemma. How would they approach it, and what choice would they make?

Is there a specific physical feature or item that holds special significance to your character? Why is it important to them?

How does your character react to change or unexpected situations? Are they adaptable or resistant?

Does your character have any recurring dreams or nightmares? How do these dreams affect them?

What is your character's preferred method of self-expression? Do they have any artistic talents or creative outlets?

Describe a defining moment in your character's life that marked a turning point or significant change in their path.

[nothorses]

What do you think gay men are attracted to in men that they can’t be attracted to in women?

It can’t be anything about femininity or masculinity obviously. That’s both sexist, and cultural so can’t be what drives men-only attraction.

It can’t be anything about stated identity because someone could lie just as easily as they could tell the truth in such a statement, and it makes no sense because homosexuality and heterosexuality exists in other species with no stated identities. It’s not like other animals without gender are all pan.

Saying idk it’s the vibes or some indescribable trait men have that women can’t but “I can’t explain” is a nonanswer.

Soooooooo what is it? Or do you think any sexuality but bi/pan is just cultural performance or an identity rather than an inborn orientation?

- [ ]

I think trying to find one perfect answer that applies universally is the critical mistake here. I mean, I am a gay man. I say this because as of yet, that's the clearest answer I have for myself personally; maybe there's a possibility I experience attraction to a woman at some point (maybe I already have???), but I don't really have clarity on that right now, and it doesn't serve me to shape or explain my identity around "maybe"s.

Trying to pinpoint exactly what it is that attracts me to other men, specifically, is also like... not that useful. I used to find myself really attracted to feminine men specifically; not feminine women, not masculine women, not masculine men, not androgynous anyone, but feminine men. Specifically, men who were feminine in a very particular, long-hair-certain-attitude kind of way.

Recently, I have found myself appreciating, more and more, a certain kind of masculine body type and gay masculinity that I was never really interested in before. I find it incredibly hot. A lot of that coincides with things I appreciate about my partner, too, and things I find myself appreciating more about my partner as time goes on- as well as things my partner expresses appreciation for about me!

And I haven't even touched on attraction to nonbinary folks here because, like, it's a massive spectrum. "Nonbinary" means something different for every individual nonbinary person. To my mind, of course there's a possibility I experience attraction to a nonbinary person; how they identity, present, and what attracts me to them are all even more impossible to know for certain than the "maybe"s and the "why"s around my attraction (or lack thereof) to men and women.

My relationship to my own orientation was vastly different pre-testosterone versus post-testosterone, too. I was much more reserved and uncomfortable with relationships and attraction before I started T, and the only dynamic I ever felt was even a little bit tolerable was one where I was the "masculine woman" in a lesbian relationship. I didn't realize until very shortly after starting T that, actually, I like men. A lot. I felt comfortable with my body and my masculinity in a way I never had been before, and I felt comfortable in relationships with men; I no longer felt like I was The Woman By Default in contrast.

And that's all just me! This is my personal, specific, individual relationship to attraction, and how gender- both others' and my own- factors into my relationship with orientation.

I don't think it's necessarily inborn, or completely unchanging for everyone. I also don't think the same factors apply for everyone. I think a lot of different things can be true for different people, all at once, and it's not really useful to try to pinpoint a specific, universal explanation for orientation.

Everyone has a different relationship to orientation and gender; everyone will be influenced differently by cultural factors, by their own ways of processing and understanding the world around them, by the ways different aspects of their culture, identity, personality, and inborn traits and how they all interact with one another, and sure, maybe even by biological factors and tendencies.

Trying to solve this puzzle for the entire world of diverse human beings isn't going to make it any easier to understand yourself. Focus on what this all means for you, personally, and accept that you will never, can never, fully and perfectly understand anyone else's internal world and workings. Things get a lot easier when you can let go of that & just appreciate the diversity of human experiences, y'know?

[inky-duchess]

Fantasy Guide to Royal Guards

Royals have multiple layers of servants but there is no set of servants most important that their protection. Royalty are never without some kind of protection and palaces are usually guarded to the teeth. So how do we write royal security. This is for @jamie-ties-writing

Recruitment

Royal guards aren't just any person plucked from the street and put into a uniform. They are usually recruited from within the royal army, from within particular regiments across the army (a mixture of calvary, naval, artillery, infantry). The Royal Guard is usually made of of multiple regiments, not just a single one. These regiments would share and rotate duties. The British Royal family are currently guarded by the Coldstream Regiment, Welsh Guards, Grenadier Guards among others. Royal guards will be selected for their skill, sometimes their birth (they may be chosen if they rank higher socially) and of course, loyalty to the Crown. Royal guards were intended to be a show of force, strength, Majesty so they were usually impressive specimens meant to instill some power to their monarch.

Duties

A royal guard's first order of business is the protection of the family. They may have sentry duty around the palace, guarding doors or patrolling palace grounds or corridors. A Royal Guard may be assigned to one member only but most likely they will rotate through the family as needed. Of course, a royal can request a guard to always be assigned to them if they want. They may escort their charge of the day to their engagements. If assigned a certain royal to protect, they would tail them throughout the day. A royal guard may even perform ceremonial duties such as the changing of the guard or riding in coronations or state funerals. A royal guard is expected to remain vigilant but never speak of what they see, they are meant to keep an ear out for threats but never repeat whatever is said, they are expected at all times to uphold a professional countenance and respect protocol. They will be expected to give their lives if needed, and be loyal to the last.

Rank

Royal guards are a military division and rank is a part of their lives. Their supreme commander would he the monarch first but there would be an appointed commander. Depending on how you want to write Royal Guards, each regiment would have it's own captain and leaders. Of course, not all regiments may adhere to the same ranks but this would be a basic outline for you to follow.

Colonel: Colonels actually have no duties, they are more an honourary figurehead. Many members of the royal family would have a regiment to be colonel of. This usually requires nothing more than a ceremonial role, the wearing of the uniform while inspecting the troops for example.

Captain: The Commander of the regiment. They would undertake managerial duties, issuing commands from the monarch, assigning duties, approving the induction of new guards into the Household Division. The Captain would decide who would guard which member of the royal family.

Lieutenant: The Second in command. They will assume command if the Captain is not available. They would take on a large portion of duties and aid the Captain.

Sergeant: The sergeant would be next in command.

Guardsman: The lowest rank. They will have the least experience but usually the most duties. They would be the ones patrolling and standing sentry.

Uniform

Of course, no royal guard is complete without their uniform. Royal guards would have to stand out, especially in ceremonial duties. This uniform would be distinctive, not only because it is a great honour for anybody to be named to the guard but also as mentioned above, to add a layer of might to those they protect.

Notable Royal Guard Units

Dahomey Mino (the inspiration of Black Panther's Dora Milaje)

The Praetorian Guard

The Imperial Guard of Napoleon

The Imperial German Bodyguard

Varangian Guard

Swiss Guards

The Kheshig

The Janissary

The Imperial Guards of Tsarist Russia

The Cossack Guard

Guardia Real

Coldstream Guards

Irish Guards

Welsh Guards

Grenadier Guards

Medjay of Ancient Egypt

Al-Ḥars al-Malakī as-Suʿūdī

Compagnie des Carabiniers du Prince

Thahan Raksa Phra Ong