#poetry and prose (roleplay)

[blaxkfirre]

what is love?

sometimes love is a unknown thing. It can come from admiration, it can come from envy. It can come from pleasure, it can come from pain, it can come from fear, it can come from a sense of wanting. It can go as far as being something out of reach, or it could be right ahead of you. Love can be sweet, love can be sour. Love can be happy, love can be sad. Love can be short as a few hours, love can be long as a whole life time. Love can be full of surprises, or life can be dull as a lecture. Love can be private, or love can be public. Love can be priceless, love can be as priced so low that you can break it with the smallest amount of effort. Love can be weak. Love can be strong. Love can be hallow as a light bulb or a log. Love can be as full as a glass of water. It doesn’t have anything it can’t be. Because love is endless.

that’s love. It doesn’t have a meaning to it.

It never did.

That’s what’s so great about it. 💜

@sunshift-tried @fashionablystella @aquafury you guys better not tell a soul.

[moonlights-tears]

Im the shadow at the end of the hall

When night creeks you'll hear my call

Whispers and visions creep in the night

Lurking behind you'll feel my fright

Deep down the macabre is what I adore

Skeletons, bats, and the ghouls next door

[tugsheartstrings]

@rcckstars

It’s dark. The air is brittle; the moonlight that illuminates the little clearing where they sit and keep watch is chilly and silver with wintertime frost. Solomon keeps stealing glances at John’s wound.

It’s bad. Puffy and red and crusted with blood and pus—and while he’s no doctor, he picked up a few first aid tricks from one, and these stitches… Well. They’re lacking. To put it politely. They need to be redone, or at least cleaned.

He clears his throat. First noise he’s made since he joined the gang.

“Your stitches are infected.”

[willowdaleroleplay]

Willowdale

🍃 A Very Unique Writing Experience

Joining Willowdale Roleplay offers an unparalleled and immersive roleplaying experience unlike any other in the community. Our platform stands out as a completely custom forum, designed to cater to roleplayers from various platforms such as Tumblr, Discord, ProBoards, Jcink, and more. With a user-friendly interface and comprehensive tutorials, even newcomers to roleplaying can quickly learn the ropes and dive into the action. Whether you're accessing our full mobile version or downloading our dedicated mobile app, you'll have the flexibility to engage in storytelling anytime, anywhere. With over 100 canons available, spanning both familial and occupational roles, there's a character for every player to bring to life in the small fictional town of Willowdale Falls, Massachusetts. Plus, our 3-3-3 rating system ensures a space for mature content, allowing writers aged 18 and older to explore diverse themes and narratives. Join Willowdale Roleplay today and embark on a journey of creativity, collaboration, and endless storytelling possibilities.

What Is Willowdale Roleplay? • How To Roleplay • Scholarships

[themagicianasmr]

Beware my little star; for the black and white voices in the sky attempt to transmute your light in their kind. Beware my little star; don't shy away from reflecting your own light and cast those shadows away.

[teapot-of-tyrahn]

the prose in the description of zombiecleo's life series videos are absolute POETRY. these sound like FANFIC TITLES. like:

"You hold on until you can't hold on anymore." "Things descend into what they were always going to become." "Happy endings are about where you stop your story." "No way to win and nothing to lose."

WHAT DO YOU MEAN THOSE WEREN'T MADE BY SYLVIA PATH BUT A MINECRAFT YOUTUBER ABOUT A MINECRAFT ROLEPLAY. ABSOLUTELY INSANE. ZOMBIECLEO I LOVE YOU. YOU ARE AN ABSOLUTE ARTIST. I AM USING THESE IN ALL MY FANFICS NOW FOREVER. AMEN.

[bardic-inspo]

Writer Interview

Playing some catch up on tags. Tagged by the wonderful @pursuitseternal, @marlowethebard, @nyx-knox, @honeybee-bard, @snowfolly,

and @paganwitchisis holy shit thank you all!!

Not sure who all in my circles has done this already, but gonna tag @wilteddreamsofbaldursgate, @astarionancuntnin, @pinkberrytea, @locallegume, @thedreamlessnights,

@ladymdc, and @carooosa if you see this and would like to do it! No worries if not!

When did you start writing?

Around 13/14 years old, doing warrior cats roleplay on proboards forums. Roleplay isn't really my speed anymore, but it eventually bridged me into more traditional narrative writing and then fanfic later. Fallout 4 was the first fandom I really wrote fanfic for.

Are there different themes or genres you enjoy reading than what you write?

I really love intricate long-running plots with slow-burn pay off, and used to write more in that vein, but got pretty burnt out on it. It felt like it would take so long to get to those big moments I pictured the whole time, by the time I arrived to them, they felt played out in my head. Trying to strike a happy medium now by writing (relatively) shorter and more focused fic/storylines that still pack a punch, but maybe have fewer branches.

Otherwise my genre/theme preferences are generally the same with writing vs. reading and are pretty broad.

Is there a writer you want to emulate or get compared to often?

Not a writer, but I've been told at various times there is a poetical element in a lot of my writing, even in just the sentence structure or how I tend to pace my prose. That makes a lot of sense to me, since I wrote a lot of poetry before getting into writing a lot of prose.

Can you tell me a bit about your writing space?

I used too many tricks on my brain to jump start creativity (yummy beverage, cozy blanket, favorite candle when writing) and now my brain often demands all of these things be in place to do any writing 😬I can sometimes get away without all of them. Usually, I'm writing in my office, which is a pretty blue color with some gold picture frames and often a soothing space. But, I do work from home in there at times, too, and on workdays I can't make myself do creative things in the same spot I sat in working all day. Then, I'll be at my dining table or sitting on my couch, usually with headphones because I have a hard time concentrating with other noise around me.

What’s your most effective way to muster up a muse?

Self care. I mean, making sure I've got sleep/food/hygiene etc. squared away where they should be, even if it means taking a break from the page. Most of the time when I'm trying hard to write and it's just not jiving, it's because I've neglected one of those things, and the words always come easier once I've addressed them.

Playing the game again. Listening to character music. Chatting with friends who love the character, too.

Are there any recurring themes in your writing? Do they surprise you?

Yes! A lot of them became apparent to me only after switching fandoms and realizing I was writing about a lot of similar themes. Grief is a big one. Characters who've experienced both a lack of love and a loss of it. Characters who fall in love again or in spite of that loss. The main ships I've written for all feature characters who either loved someone else first or, in Astarion's case, have gone through the forced motions of romance.

Battle couples is another big one. Bisexual battle couples. 🥰

What is your reason for writing?

It's always felt like something I needed to do to feel whole. Not necessarily the sharing the writing or posting it part, or getting a reaction about it, but doing it at all, even just a little. Even if it's just for me. I feel more me when writing is at least a small part of my life. More free. It's my creative outlet.

Is there any specific comment or type of comment you find particularly motivating?

I adore any comment. I'm borrowing this from someone else's interview post, but I too am a slut for praise. In all honesty though, just knowing I'm not writing into some void or vacuum can be so powerful. Even just a heart emoji comment makes my spirits soar.

The ones that go full red string and corkboard about the plot or characters, or quote what parts stick out to them always stick with me. It lets me know I'm hitting the mark with what I'm trying to convey.

How do you want to be thought about by your readers?

I want them to know I'm still good for it even if it takes me a long time.💜That's the biggest thing to me right now. I'm not able to pour it out so quickly as others can. But I hope they know it'll be a good time when I do eventually post.

And also that I'm just some lady. I'm just another human bean. Wanting to share and enjoy stories with other human beans, and connect with a sense of community through those stories.

What do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer?

Visceral/punchy action scenes, vivid descriptions, setting tone, and portraying character personalities.

How do you feel about your own writing?

My feelings about it change with the tides. Right now, I'm a bit glum, and I think that's because I haven't had much to share or post lately, even though I've been doing lots of writing that isn't ready to be shared yet. On the other hand, I'm having the most fun with it that I've had in a very long time, and that element feels great.

I'm grateful for what I've done, incredibly blessed to have made friends and found community through writing, and ever-striving to find the happy medium of productivity and creativity.

When you write, are you influenced by what others enjoy might enjoy reading, or do you write purely for yourself, or a mix of both?

It's mostly what I'd like hehe. And I'm happy about that. I am often inspired to try things based on what I see in fandom, but if I don't enjoy it, too, I won't pursue it further.

[ntzsche9]

So, hi! I'm Verne (they/them), practically a queer elder in my 30s, brand new to tumblr (dunno how I ever missed the boat), and I only ever seem to write in the 20 minutes or so between pulling up to work and clocking in, or when I'm putting my toddlers down for a nap but don't want to crawl out of their beds and address the chores I gotta do while they're out of the way. I've written poetry, prose, and roleplayed in the past but got away from it for years and years, and only recently started writing again. I have notebooks and lists of story ideas but the few things I have fleshed out are mostly silly character-based "what if?" scenarios, because those are the most fun to me. Too many of my stories are me simply wanting to write a scene, developing a bit of a world around it, then losing interest entirely. I hope this blog can change that a bit, help me focus on following through or figuring out how to better develop small ideas into something longer.

Interests:

Post-apocalyptic

Near-future dystopias

Scifi/Fantasy (urban) with magical realism

History/AltHistory (especially lesser-known and marginalized stories)

Horror, dark, violent, and mature themes

Queer everything. I can't write heteros to save my life and I'm not all that sorry about it.

Sexy melodrama and smut with too much plot

Fanfiction (I could read/write Fallout stuff all day)

Some Favorite Authors:

Octavia Butler

Nnedi Okorafor

VE Schwab

Starhawk

Madeline Miller

Ta-nehisi Coates

Becky Chambers

Emma Donoghue

Looking for:

Community, inspiration, other writers to follow, and problem-solving tips in storytelling and sticking to stories when things get tough. I really just need some folks to talk to when working through all the things in my head. Open to the occasional tag but I'm not great at responding.

I have plenty more little bits of nonsense in various states of readability, like character backgrounds, alt-ending scenes, slice-of-life banter between characters, etc. These will be posted under the tag #ntzsche misc

Noteworthy WIPs:

Bad Blood - A Fallout Nuka-World fanfic (#ntzsche Nuka-World)

My longest story is a fanfic, but with a cast of characters largely not in the Fallout 4 DLC. I intend to eventually write this in a way that someone who hasn't played the game would be able to easily read.

Lafayette, the son of a 'retired' raider, left his abusive father to find his place in the world and was taken in by an eclectic trauma-bonded found family that inspires him to be a better person and shows him love he is certain he doesn't deserve. When his father comes across them in a raid, Lafayette is given the offer to join him, and he agrees in order to save the settlement and his little brother. Lafayette finds that being with his dad again, and being the son he always wanted him to be, isn't nearly as difficult as he thought it would be. He struggles to maintain the person he wants to be with the person he suspects he is, all while a cast of scheming raiders, wastelanders, and slaves vie for power in the raider city built within the rusted remains of an amusement park.

Salem's Child (#ntzsche Salem)

A background on one of the lesser Nuka-World characters that I got carried away with.

Andrew Rook doesn't look like his parents. He looks like someone they are desperate to forget. Growing up in post-apocalyptic Salem, Massachusetts has it's perks, though. In a fading settlement run by incompetent men who would rather blame the population of feral black cats for their problems than try to solve them, Andrew and his two best friends build a world in their imagination that shields them from the wretchedness of the wasteland and the people they have to rely on to survive.

Hechizo

Another character background that I would love to expand into a few short stories around.

Mateo Zavala was born in the vibrant and tight-knit community of Navarro. His great-great-great-great-great-great grandmother, a pre-war ghoul, is still the ruling matriarch, and it's hard for her not to play favorites when she has over 300 living descendants.

The Crash (#ntzsche Crash)

A what-if real-world rewrite of an event from another story. I just really enjoy writing these two.

Gabe always knew his functional alcoholic roomie would get into a terrible car wreck some day, but he never thought he would be dumb enough to be in the car with him. When the consequences of the wreck threaten to destroy Dave's life, Gabe finds himself doing everything he can to hold those pieces together. The love he harbors for his straight, polyamorous best friend runs deeper than either of them are ready to face, and find that Dave's injury turns their relationship completely on end.

[lamarckianenterprises]

On Alledgely Intelligent Machines

All of this reminds me of like, two to three years ago when AI Dungeon 2 was this hot young thing and 'respectable' gaming news sites were posting opinion pieces about the wild unrestricted adventures they were having on it and how it would change the way they roleplayed forever, even though it was this bumbling, lawless thing that could barely find the plot to lose most of the time.

And then fast forward a year or so and we find out that the algorithm isn't magic, and that prompting it with 'the end' specifically outputs a 'thanks for reading, please donate to my patreon' message lifted from all of the thousands upon thousands of poor schumcks who had the misfortune of deciding to share their work online for other people to freely read.

All of this 'AI is progressing too rapidly and will one day very soon develop into real AGI that will change the world' malarkey is just jingling keys. I think it's called Longtermism, they want us to fret and fuss about how this will affect the lives of our great great great grandchildren commutting to Mars 200 years from now, and not about how this is affecting real people today.

"Think about how neat it would be to have an AI that can answer all of the questions left in the universe for us" Sam says, as his company hurriedly cuts ties with the underpaid Kenyan workers manually sorting and tagging the database his LLMs are based on.

"Look at how well it rhymes now, this will definitely distrupt the Poetry Industry which definitely is a thing that exists in real life I am a real scientist I know these things," his employees say, in a research paper hyping up their own product while they improve its ability to deepfake images that gradually erodes any trust we still have in our society.

All the while touting the most mediocre, average examples of just about any creative field as proof of its rapid, inevitable and perpetually explosive growth as if it was the figurative Antichrist heralding the coming of the Son of God and the Kingdom of Heaven.

I miss when we just let these things run rampant without a single care for consistent style and realism because we enjoyed witnessing what utter insanity it came up with, I miss when it was just a 'neat tool' that could maybe provide a freaky background or add trippy dogfaces to your clouds, I miss when we were wondering about what all of this weirdness said about what understanding language and having pattern recognition means when it's divorced entirely from reality instead of wondering how quickly we can refine and normalize its output well enough to mechanize all forms of artistry.

And above all else I miss not hearing about it, because honestly it still isn't that good. The slightly uncanny photos, mass art style plagiarism module and extremely resource intensive shorts are neat and all but, when it comes to prose, and DMing?

Well let's just say that AI Dungeon 2 crawled so that ChatGPT can sorta aimlessly waddle around in those babywalker things that seem neat and helpful, but are actually deathtraps that can cause long term health and developmental issues by actively preventing your child from spending the time they need to crawl around and develop the motoric skills and musculature needed to stand and fail repeatedly at walking. (Which is why they have been banned in Canada since 2004.)

_____

Maria D.R./Lamarck is an Indonesian writer whose boomer mother has talked about how great AI is to me and everyone in her social circle every damned day since ChatGPT was released.

[burpworm]

List 5 things that make you happy, then put this in the askbox for the last 10 people who reblogged something from you! Get to know your mutuals and followers. (no pressure!)

Coffee & tea making! Every day, I try to make something nice with fresh beans or steamed (plant) milk or a tea I love like earl grey or a very nice light/medium roast. It always improves the start of my day a lot.

Fashion, fashion photography and magazines. Though I don't buy a ton of clothes and tend to skimp out rather than going for big brands, I've been very into the theory, the techniques and ways models and stylists can compose such strong looks, and I've channeled that happiness into doing my own digital fashion/character work that pushed me out of a long break period from art itself.

I've always been a big fan of trying to deep dive and learn and appreciate 'classics', whether it's books, games, film, works of art, I always think I could learn a lot from what they do right, what things they influence and the way they shape our culture. It also helps me feel like I have a more developed understanding of the creative process.

Poetry.. I don't write as often as I want to but I love to read it, think about it a lot, explore what ways I can speak in a way that evokes prose poetry when describing things. Me and a friend lately have been doing in-character roleplay poems, sonnets, terza rima, villanelles, trying to put ourselves into the minds of characters that reflect a magical mythical time with a lot of emotional weight. I also want to try to work on my own free verse.

Indie games!! Or indie media in general These are probably the favorite things I like to seek out for fun. Indie stuff just makes me happy to see what people can make with so little, and it's usually stuff that blows me away that I'd never expect or see in anything outside of the low budget self published circuit. Lately what I've been thinking a lot about is Signalis, Pseudoregalia, Caves of Qud, Dujanah, Lunacid, and FAITH

<3 thanks for asking

[moonlights-tears]

Sit on your desk

Let me take that test

Eagerly opened legs

That wetness begs

[tugsheartstrings]

@leadtohell

He doesn't actually like cigarettes that much, but after a night like last night, Solomon finds he needs one badly. He leans in the doorway of the pie shop and takes a long drag off his cigarette, and then lets the smoke leave his lips.

Mr. Todd soon appears shortly, no doubt to tell him off for smoking within range of his and Mrs. Lovett's doorway, and, well, he's in a mood, so he nips that in the bud with a quiet, pointed, "If the smell of the pies doesn't deter your customers, then this won't either."

[sfsolstice]

for the tarot game! 3 19 34

03. THE EMPRESS: CREATIVITY (What do you do to feed your creativity and gain inspiration?)

connecting with myself (through reading others' work, or going out even to do just errands, tarot, oh and music !) helps to feed the machine lol since pretty much everything i write is just a reflection of myself (poetry AND prose)

19. THE SUN: POSITIVITY (What is your greatest writing strength or skill?)

GOOD QUESTION LMAO i honestly haven't a clue, but looking back on mainly my prose, i like to think i have a good command on how to write emotion and emotional scenes, especially tense ones !! (some of my absolute favorite to write)

34. QUEEN OF CUPS: EMOTIONALLY IN-TOUCH (Do you express yourself emotionally through your writing? Do you find yourself putting your feelings upon your characters?)

OH ABSOLUTELY ADJKS barring poetry, just about all of my OCs (especially my d&d ones) have some aspect of myself in their characters; so specifically with my current d&d character maeve, when i roleplay as her, i often base her actions off of my own emotions and what i might do in her situation

[dyrewrites]

I've answered that "5 things that make you happy" ask a few times now and haven't stated the obvious even once.

Writing makes me happy.

Extremely happy. I could do it all day (and have, which is bad because I have other things I need to do in a day). If I am too stressed to write scenes, I write notes. If I can't write that day, because of previous engagements, my mood suffers.

It has been my happy place and my therapy for so long that I don't feel like me without it.

Even when I wasn't actively writing poetry or prose, I was writing worlds and stories for games (both my own silly little video games and as DM for roleplaying games). I even wrote out scenes for characters I wanted to draw, with backstory for why they were doing what they were (not even pinups were safe from my story meddling).

I started writing in my preteens and, despite the active discouragement from certain family members that convinced me to stop sharing it, I never actually stopped. Except during my teens, when I was broken and drunk and entirely checked out from reality. Or maybe mired too deeply in it, matter of perspective that.

Point is;

I love making up stories and I love sharing them and I want you all to know that I appreciate you caring about all the weird stuff that spills out of my noggin.

[greypetrel]

Hey!! <3 For the writing questions, 4 (in Italian or English or both c:), 19, 26, 36

Hello there! <3

Ooooooooooooh number 4 is such a cool question! Thanks for asking it!!

4. What’s a word that makes you go absolutely feral?

I love ideophones, onomatopoeic words that sounds as the thing they're describing. LOVE THEM.

Croccante (crunchy), in italian, it just gives you that idea of crunchiness when you say it! /krok-KAN-teh/ Sibilo/Hissing (meaning the same thing), you need to hiss to pronounce them? Wonderful.

Give me some well-done allitteration and I'll be yours forever, also don't let me start talking about Coleridge who was a genius in giving sound to his poetry ("furrow followed free" *swoons*)

I also love big, altisonant and funny-sounding words that takes too much time to say, or, as a person who studied philology, words that have history to them.

Pantagruelism (buffoonery or coarse humor with a satirical or serious purpose : cynical humor ) (also buffoonery is a great word) Boycott (to engage in a concerted refusal to have dealings with (a person, a store, an organization, etc.) usually to express disapproval or to force acceptance of certain conditions) who comes from the name of an Irishman that just... Decided to stop paying taxes to the English.

As "Feral" in the sense of words I can't stand... anything with a "squelchy" sound (squelch is another onomatopoeic word... But it's a kind of sounds that triggers me and I can't stand xD). "Squelch", "Moist", in italian "Ciuccio" (EEEEW. Ciuccio is probably one of the words I find the most horrible ever. PLEH. /TCHOO-tchow/ . I repeat. PLEH.)

19. Tell me a story about your writing journey. When did you start? Why did you start? Were there bumps along the way? Where are you now and where are you going?

I started very early on as a hobby. In my family we all write little silly stories for funsies, so I just... Followed the example and wrote my own. I think I started writing prose along with comics (a friend and me used to draw little comics one for the other). I came to an abrupt stop with prose in my early 20s: I started playing GDRs that worked with writing what your character did... And it was fun, but I was getting problems with Anxiety, very stressed, and a couple of bad comments convinced me my prose was boring and hard to read. I felt EXTREMELY self-conscious about it and stopped with prose whatsoever, just stuck to comics and screenwriting where I could rely on drawing. I got back to prose... In September, with Dragon Age fics. It's being a difficult and busy period, but I still needed some creative outlet. So I started to write because it's quicker than comics, I can do it on my phone, with zero instruments to bring along and needing no space. It was just for my own consumption, when inspirations stroke or I played something that left me with a "Yes that was good... But I want MORE of it. I think the first think I blorted out was this Trespasser piece (it's longer on my file, there's an extract). I started to write pieces here and there... And then thought it would have been nice to have a place to put them all in order. And sent a request to AO3. (as a person who once said "No I could never write fanfiction!". Look at us, little me, we're getting better!)

26. How do you get into your character’s head? How do you get out? Do you ever regret going in there in the first place?

Massively daydreaming, doodling things, roleplaying them in my head. DnD alignments and personality tests GREATLY help me to get to know them better (MBTI works fine as guidelines, as Tarot cards and even Zodiac Signs. Don't believe in Astrology, but as a personality test it's fine enough). Listening to music and imagining scenes and scenarios on it. Whatever works. I get out when I need to focus on other things, mainly I change the playlist. xD

36. They say to Write What You Know. Setting aside for a moment the fact that this is terrible advice...what do you Know?

I know passion and believing in my opinions and standing up and making them heard. I know sadness and melancholy, I know of crippling anxiety and being scared and feeling little... And how to live with it. I know blood does not run thicker than water, and that sometimes your family is not the one you're born with, but the one you find for yourself. I know of distances, and that they don't really matter with the right people, not today, not with internet. I know kindness even if it's still a work in progress. I know my mistakes and of trying to learn from those and getting better. I like to think I know of books, or that I am enthusiast enough to reference them and take inspirations from dead authors, lore and mythologies, finding patterns and recurrencies. I know of sailing and the sea, and I'm lucky to know what it feels like to have an animal choose you as its companion.

... And this is getting sappy and too lyrical so I'll stop. Oh, I know when I'm getting sappy too!

[veil-of-exordia]

Autobio post>>>

Hey. I go by Xor/Exordium/Veil, or any recognisable conjugation of one of these.

My pronouns are he/they. Regular alternation between the two sets is optional. pronouns.page (also in Chinese here)

I’m Canadian Chinese, aroace (queerplatonic-partnering), and a minor. I’m affected by dysgraphia, GAD, MDD, and possibly other neurodivergences.

I'm off to college! My desired future career is an ecologist.

Although I don’t really discuss this much, I’m a Roman polytheist. My main deities are Saturn and Mars. Please do not use ‘pagan’ or its variations to indicate me or my faith, as it has been a slur and I do not feel comfortable reclaiming it. 'Mythology', though, is fine.

Right, contents of this blog! I post:

-Reblogs of anything I find useful or entertaining. These are non-fandom specific.

-Analysis and headcanons of Hamlet.

-General Ace Attorney.

-Original writing, both prose and poetry.

-Time aesthetic.

I also run a roleplay blog for Polonius @polonius-counsels.

Some other pieces of media I like, listed with my favs:

-The Iliad (Sarpedon)

-The Memory Police (the unnamed narrator)

-Undertale (Asgore Dreemurr)

-Riordanverse (Grover Underwood)

-BEASTARS (Juno)

-Wikidot!Backrooms (The Gearmaker)

-Umineko (Nanjo)

That is all. Best of luck your way!