#writing tips and rambles

[daisywrites-stuff]

probably been done before but i made this!

[the-ellia-west]

HOW TO WRITE ROMANTIC ATTRACTION FOR DUMMIES

For anyone who wants to learn, (especially aro/ACE, aspec, ect.)

Requested by the lovely @darkandstormydolls

Alrighty! Welcome back or welcome to my blog! I'm dipping my toes back into the category of posts that gained me my exposure!

So if you're here, you want to know how to write romantic attraction/romance!

Strap in and let's begin!

(Pls spread this to people you think would benefit from seeing it, or anyone who requested it bc I forgot, ANY ASPECS)

Step one -

Your characters must admire one another at the beginning, Romantic feelings usually do not present themselves as obvious until you really think them through, meaning your characters may not notice they have a crush until it's too late

These are general statistics and light stereotypes. So feel free to not use this tip:

Male characters usually tend to notice physical things first, like body shape, hair, skin, clothing, the way their lover moves, ect

And Female Characters Generally tend to notice more small things and personality-based traits first, like their lover's humor, speaking mannerisms, shifts in expression, ways they fidget, emotion in their voice, ect.

And someone who is in love will generally show more interest in this particular person's movements, actions, words, and anything in general.

Step 2 -

The character will show more interest in sharing their love language with their lover/crush

Physical touch - People with physical touch love languages may want to hold hands, cuddle, hug, or just lean on their crush whenever they are close to them moreso than they want to with others

Gift giving - Gift givers will want to get more gifts more often for their crush, probably thinking of them whenever they see little trinkets or wanting to get them big gifts for special occasions or signs of appreciation

Acts of Service - Acts of service people will offer to do extra favors and a bunch of extra stuff they don't have to do twice as much as normal

Words of Affirmation - Flattery, they will generally flood their crush with kind words and compliments

Quality time - Quality time people will want to spend time with their crush at almost every turn, and when they want company, will turn to their crush first

Step 3 -

After a while, these urges while become very prominent and more noticeable to the person having them

They may find themselves fantasizing about their crush or having them show up in their thoughts more and more, feeling nicer and happier when they're around, or when they're thinking about them

Smiling when they think about them, cutsey little fluff thingies like that

A crush is essentially: I want to date that, I want to be near that always, I want to marry that, I want that to snuggle me (or other love languages)

Or in simpler terms: if that asked me out, I would say yes (or at least want to say yes if your character is in denial)

Step 4 -

The character's urges to be close to this person grows strong enough that they do smth about it, whether prompted by another character. Or they just don't know I how to not anymore (like when you wanna eat candy and you don't want to, but you do anyway bc I JUST NEED THE CHOCOLATE OKAY?)

(Or for Aro/Ace, garlic bread)

People who are in love are generally very prone to be all dreamy and poetic and VERY EXTREMELY BIASED towards their crush

Then Yada Yada they kiss & shit

You're welcome, BYEEEEEEEE 👋

Happy writing!

Love you! Thanks for reading, And Ghost Tumblr Mother says go drink some water and have a snack, you've earned it, and you are beautiful <333

Have a good day! :]

@blue-kyber @thisisntrocket @cosmolumine @i-do-anything-but-write @paeliae-occasionally

@supercimi @the-letterbox-archives @sunglasses-in-the-bentley @vyuntspakhkite-l-darling @artsandstoriesandstuff

@corinneglass @wyked-ao3 @urnumber1star

[frownyalfred]

Okay, another little lesson for fic writers since I see it come up sometimes in fics: wine in restaurants.

When you buy a bottle of wine in a (nicer) restaurant, generally (please note my emphasis there, this is a generalization for most restaurants, but not all restaurants, especially non-US ones) you may see a waiter do a few things when they bring you the bottle.

The waiter presents the bottle to the person who ordered it

The waiter uncorks the bottle in order to serve it

The waiter hands the cork to the person who ordered the bottle

The waiter pours a small portion of the wine (barely a splash) and waits for the person who ordered it to taste it

The waiter then pours glasses for everyone else at the table, and then returns to fill up the initial taster's glass

Now, you might be thinking -- that's all pretty obvious, right? They're bringing you what you ordered, making sure you liked it, and then pouring it for the group. Wrong. It's actually a little bit more complicated than that.

The waiter presents the bottle to the person who ordered it so that they can inspect the label and vintage and make sure it's the bottle they actually ordered off the menu

The waiter uncorks the bottle so that the table can see it was unopened before this moment (i.e., not another wine they poured into an empty bottle) and well-sealed

The waiter hands the cork to the person who ordered the bottle so that they can inspect the label on the cork and determine if it matches up; they can also smell/feel the cork to see if there is any dergradation or mold that might impact the wine itself

The waiter pours a small portion for the person who ordered to taste NOT to see if they liked it -- that's a common misconception. Yes, sometimes when house wine is served by the glass, waiters will pour a portion for people to taste and agree to. But when you order a bottle, the taste isn't for approval -- you've already bought the bottle at this point! You don't get to refuse it if you don't like it. Rather, the tasting is to determine if the wine is "corked", a term that refers to when a wine is contaminated by TCA, a chemical compound that causes a specific taste/flavor. TCA can be caused by mold in corks, and is one of the only reasons you can (generally) refuse a bottle of wine you have already purchased. Most people can taste or smell TCA if they are trained for it; other people might drink the wine for a few minutes before noticing a damp, basement-like smell on the aftertaste. Once you've tasted it, you'll remember it. That first sip is your opportunity to take one for the table and save them from a possibly corked bottle of wine, which is absolutely no fun.

If you've sipped the wine (I generally smell it, I've found it's easier to smell than taste) and determined that it is safe, you then nod to your waiter. The waiter will then pour glasses for everyone else at the table. If the wine is corked, you would refuse the bottle and ask the waiter for a new bottle. If there is no new bottle, you'll either get a refund or they'll ask you to choose another option on their wine list. A good restaurant will understand that corked bottles happen randomly, and will leap at the opportunity to replace it; a bad restaurant or a restaurant with poor training will sometimes try to argue with you about whether or not it's corked. Again, it can be a subtle, subjective taste, so proceed carefully.

In restaurants, this process can happen very quickly! It's elegant and practiced. The waiter will generally uncork the bottle without setting the bottle down or bracing it against themselves. They will remove the cork without breaking it, and they will pour the wine without dripping it down the label or on the table.

[bluerosefox]

Glowing Green Puppy, Tiny Tots, and Damian 'I am not turning into my Father' Wayne.

I've been seeing a few DPxDC Dad!Damian ideas so I'd like to toss my idea into the void of the internet.

Damian is on a lead about a glowing green puppy, that can apparently change size and go through walls, and finally manages to track it down before even his father hears about it. The puppy seemed to be stealing random things too.

He was fully ready to use all the tricks in the book to get the puppy to trust him... and after a few days/weeks he manages to gain its trust.

He just wasn't expecting the puppy to drag him to abandoned warehouse and drop him in front of a few kids that were hiding out in it.

"Oh! Cujo you finally brought your new person over!" says the only red-haired one in the group, and she was holding a baby, as two almost identical toddlers ran over to the excited pupper that began to run around them.

[aethersea]

if you’re ever in doubt about what pov to write a scene from, a good rule of thumb is to pick the person who knows the least about what’s going on. lots of pros!

you automatically have some level of tension in the scene, as they either struggle to figure out what’s happening or completely fail to notice it

if they know as much or barely more than the reader, the reader is learning things alongside them, which will help make exposition feel more natural

if they know less than the reader you now have dramatic irony! great for humor and/or agonizing tension

helps you keep secrets from the reader longer, since your pov character doesn’t know them either. (I mean you could also just carefully omit major info and pretend you thought it was obvious. see the Queen’s Thief series for several examples that span a whole novel!)

helps add a fun little mystery for the reader as they try to figure out those secrets (fun little mysteries are great attention hooks!)

“what’s going on” can mean anything btw, it could be the plot or the worldbuilding or another character’s motivation or the location of the buried treasure.

for best results, think about what each character in the scene wants to get out of this scene, and then pick the pov of the person who has least control over/knowledge of whether they get what they want. failing that, figure out which character has the most important secret that’s affecting the course of the scene, and write from the pov of someone who doesn’t know the secret. (the secret can be stuff like “I’m in love with you,” “I’m a spy for the spider queen,” “I’m the one who stole the muffins,” just whatever’s adding an undercurrent of tension to the conversation.)

this rule won’t be right for every occasion and you should trust your gut, but it’s served me well for years, so I encourage all you writers to consider it when figuring out how to approach a scene :)

[plxtypusbearr73]

༘⋆ things characters can do when they’re flustered or nervous instead of blushing and stuttering ᡣ𐭩ྀིྀི₊ ⊹

drop eye contact

cough/clear their throat

walk or run away

laugh or giggle anxiously

talk very fast/very slowly

fidget with their hands

play with their hair

grin widely

randomly blurt out something unhinged

change their posture suddenly

bite their nails

touch their neck

change the topic of conversation quickly

talk way too loud or quiet

clenching their fist or jaw

breathing faster then normal

break up sentences with phrases like “yknow” “i mean” “maybe” “like”

tap their feet quickly

blink rapidly

sweat

make a cringy joke

chug a ton of their drink

hide their face

hope this helped! ⋆˚ ౨ৎ ˙˖°

[getvalentined]

I mentioned this elsewhere but I can get into more detail about it here: one of my favorite things to do when writing fic for a series that isn't placed on some AU version of Earth is to use legitimate but archaic or obsolete terms for things: "dioxidane" instead of hydrogen peroxide, "bhanga" instead of marijuana, "shellshock" instead of PTSD, and so on. I think it gives the work a more realistic air while also solidifying the setting as being somewhere else, and still being something that a reader can look up if necessary.

Also a huge fan of repurposing common idioms for the fictional setting in question. I play in FF7, and these are a few of my favorites:

In for a penny, in for a pound → In for a gil, in for a grand

Rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic → Washing windows in Midgar at Meteorfall

A bull in a china shop → A grandhorn in a glass boutique

Don't look a gift horse in the mouth → Don't look a gift bird in the beak

Boss makes a dollar, I make a dime, that's why I [verb] on company time → Boss makes a fortune, I make a gil, that's why I [verb] while I'm paying the bills

Cold as a witch's tit → Chilly as Shiva's armpit

Hung like a horse → Built like a behemoth

If wishes were horses beggars would ride → If wishes were chocobos beggars would fly

Idioms catch on because there's a particular flow and rhythm to them, so you can't always just swap out a word and expect it to work—you can't just plug in "chocobo" everywhere common turns of phrase use "horse," for instance, because the extra syllables throw off the flow and make the phrase awkward to say. You gotta figure out the pattern in the idiom, where the emphasis hits, etc., and then rework that to work in-universe.

Stuff like this is very silly, but it really makes a difference to me with regard to readability and suspension of disbelief, so I really enjoy doing it in my own work, and it's always fun to see it in someone else's!

[green-static]

Writing Sam and Max’s dialogue, some tips!

Yeah, so I just wanted to get on here and try to talk about how I write Sam and Max. No one asked me to I just kind of felt like sharing.

So the biggest thing that I noticed when reading fanfiction is that a lot of people tend to make Sam more mellow. Essentially they try to make him seem sane compared to Max which yes you can do, but you need to make sure that you keep Sam not seeming mentally stable all the time.

I mean, he literally killed a fast food employee because they didn’t make his food right. Sure he let Max do the torturing to death thing, but he did pull his gun out on him. And he told Max to do it. He also murdered like a hundred people at one time and only said “man I kind of feel bad about this” did we forget that he and Max kept a man locked in their closet until he died? What I’m trying to get at is Sam is not the sane member of the freelance police. He just has some semblance of self-control is well spoken and relatively soft mannered.

Examples of Sam being generally violent

For example, let’s say they’re going to commit murder. Sam might say, “I think I’ll shoot this guy to make him stop talking.” But Max might say “ if I rip out your vocal cords and tie your small intestines around your throat will that keep your trap shut?” The point is Max is more unhinged with what he says but Sam still says the same thing just in a way that makes it come off as more normal. (Compared to max anyway.) they are both violent, but Max comes across as more violent due to the way he says it.

You also have when Max says something batshit insane and Sam just adds on to it.

“Sam, what do you think would happen if I threw Harry Moleman into an industrial frier? His face makes me seethe with anger.”

“Just make sure to throw away oil after, I don’t wanna eat anything that had his body anywhere near it”

My biggest piece of advice when it comes to writing them is just don’t be normal. Sam and Max deeply care about each other. They may show aggression towards each other, but most of the times it’s still in an affectionate manner and neither one of them gets seriously hurt. Sam and Max are unconventional characters so your writing needs to be unconventional as well.

When I write them, the first thing that I do is I read the dialogue and I think to myself “would a well adjusted member of society say this?” if the answer is no, then I’m on the right track. 

And make sure that you’re engaging with a canon media and not just fanon media. It can be really easy to have your perception of a character changed based off of the fanfiction or fan works that you’re reading/engaging with. So making sure that you’re regularly going back to the source material is important . 

OK, I guess that’s all for now. If y’all have any specific questions you want asked about how I write them go ahead. I run an ask blog so if you wanna read what I do to see how I write them then yeah you can do that.

Ask blog -> @freelancepolicedotcom

And just to clarify, you don’t have to write them this way. this is just how I write them and I’m just sharing in case any aspiring writers out there need help with these funny guys. If this helped you write anything, please send them to me I love to read fanfiction. 

[verynichewritingadvice]

how to write from the perspective of a hivemind

Writing a hivemind is the same as writing literally any other character, except you have a few different questions to consider.

What is the attitude of your hivemind towards it's individual bodies?

How autonomous are the entities your hive mind is composed of?

Is it's cousiness singular, with the bodies acting as it's "limbs" or is it a "governing" cousiness that controls those underneath it, like a computer program's trainer algorithm?

How does it function?

Is there a "hierarchy" among the hive like bees/ants?

And, of course, general character questions

What is your hivemind?

What is your hivemind's goals?

What is it's unifying personality?

Please shoot me an ask if you want more niche writing advice! 

[luckyreds]

Doc Roe could’ve been rocking this haircut in Bastogne and it would be historically accurate😂

@executethyself35 Thank you for reminding me this pic exists😘

[daisywrites-stuff]

useless details

i love adding useless details into my book

did i have a character call two background characters that have literally nothing to do with the story by their nicknames? yes. why? because he thinks they're below him.

does this have anything to do with the storyline? no. is it a completely useless detail that i added for my own enjoyment? yes.

do i read it over and over because i love that detail so much? yes.

[shirajellyfish]

Character flaws

Just gonna go on a tangent about this for a second, because like

Part 1: Why they don't work and never have

The number one piece of advice people get about writing is to give their characters flaws. Your characters can't be too perfect. Flaws will make them interesting, dynamic, compelling, more real! Flawed characters make for a perfect story! But then someone will ask how to give their characters flaws, and the response is almost invariably something along the lines of

"Just don't make them perfect. Give them a scar or a disability or something."

This is some of the worst writing advice I've ever heard, right up there with "NEVER use adjectives ever" and "Nahh, you don't need to make backups of your work, it'll totally be fine and nothing bad will happen." It's also the single most common piece of writing advice I've come across. This is bad advice.

Because like… Scars aren't a personality flaw. Disabilities especially are not a personality flaw. Both these things have their uses in writing characters, but they aren't flaws. Honestly it's a little shocking that people think it's okay to outright say they think a disability is a character flaw to begin with, because like. Excuse me?

The next problem with this is that, even if these were somehow character flaws, most people don't want to make literally all their characters scarred and disabled. That's like saying that good characters are required to have blonde hair and bushy eyebrows. A character or two with those traits isn't an issue, but telling someone all their characters need one or both of these two traits? That's incredibly limiting.

Lastly, it encourages people to think up a character and then tack on the 'flaws' after. It's why we ended up with an era of perfectly smart perfectly beautiful perfectly skilled characters that had a disproportionate amount of angst about some tiny barely noticeable scar on their back. It's how we get characters that are 'clumsy' (in no way that actually matters to the story), or who have the sole flaw of being too perfect.

People made characters they liked, and they liked them exactly that way. Then afterwards, they had to tack on some 'flaw' they didn't actually want to be part of the character. So they of course make that 'flaw' as small and unimportant as possible. To go back to the "all characters must be blonde with bushy eyebrows" comparison, it's the writer trying to work around this unwanted restriction by giving everyone rainbow hair dye and eyebrow trimmers.

So, how do we fix that?

Part 2: How to fix that

… Or one way, anyway. There are infinite ways to solve this problem, most of which start by completely throwing out the standard scar/disability advice. Everyone has their own way to write characters. But just saying "idk, everyone is different, there are lots of ways" is ridiculously unhelpful. So, here's one way to do it that I really like to use personally. You can use it too, if you want.

instead of a flaw, I like to give my characters an Unshakeable Trait.

What is an unshakeable trait? It's the term I like to use for something that will always be true about a character. Something core to them, something that will never leave them for as long as they live. It is, most importantly, not a flaw.

Let's come up with a quick character as an example. Meet Alaric, who always keeps his word. Anything Alaric says he will do, he will do it.

This is Alaric's greatest strength.

Alaric says he will save all the orphans from the burning orphanage. People doubt him, but he does it. He said he was going to do it, so there was nothing that could stop him from doing it.

Alaric says he will catch the thieves hiding in the mountains. Many have tried and failed to do this, but Alaric says he can do it. And thus, Alaric does it.

Alaric says he will move a mountain? He wouldn't say it unless he could and would make it true. We've seen him do amazing things before. We don't know how yet, but we know that mountain is about to move.

One day, Alaric says he will slay the dragon. We know, for certain, that nothing will stop him from slaying that dragon.

… Not even if it turns out the dragon wasn't really bothering anyone.

… Not even if something goes wrong and Alaric ends up without the important tools he'd prepared for this task.

… Not even if the battle is likely to kill his entire party. Not even if killing the dragon will only make way for more dangerous monsters to move in. Not even if his friends beg and plead with him, Alaric you must stop, this is a death sentence to us all!

Alaric said he would do this, and he will.

Because this isn't just Alaric's greatest strength. It's also his greatest weakness.

The hearts of the readers are heavy as they realize what is about to unfold, but they are not surprised. By now they know Alaric and they know who he is. They know the dragon will die, no matter the consequences.

In the battle, the entire town and all the people who once lived in it is burned to the ground. Every last one of Alaric's friends die in battle. When the dragon falls, only Alaric is left alive.

… And that makes for a really interesting story! Gosh darn! That's way more fun than a story where some cool guy just always solves everyone's problems all the time! And now that we've seen the terrible consequences of Alaric's actions, we can take it even further! How exactly does Alaric react to what he's done?

Is he unable to cope with his terrible mistake, and twists himself into something awful trying to justify his actions?

Does he plead with the ashes, begging the charred town for forgiveness he cannot have?

Does he vow to take back what he's done? Drive himself to madness in pursuit of an unobtainable goal, every action an even greater mistake than the last?

Does he grow, and change his ways? Because he absolutely can do that. An unshakeable trait is always there deep down inside a character, but it is possible for them to learn to overcome it. It will be a battle they'll fight every day for the rest of their lives, and it is a battle they will not always win, but it is possible. Filled with regret, there may be a day where Alaric says he will do something… and then consciously makes an incredible effort to avoid doing it, because he realized it would be a mistake. Today, he was able to overcome his weakness. That trait isn't going anywhere though, and tomorrow is still unsure.

That is my favorite way to write a flawed character.

The most fun part is, this unshakeable trait can be anything. It can be that they always finish things very quickly. It can be that they love their friends more than anything else in the universe. It can be that they're always multitasking. It can be their child-like wonder, or their scientific mind, or even something as silly as their love of sweet potatoes. When made central to their character and taken to extremes, absolutely anything can function as this dual greatest strength and greatest weakness.

That being said, this is again just one way to do it. To say this is the only way to write a flawed character brings us back to "but they must all be blonde and have bushy eyebrows." And sometimes? Sometimes you don't even want to write a flawed character. Sometimes you want an invincible Superman, and if that's what you want then go for it!

This is one place you could start if you're feeling lost or unsure, but at the end of the day it's just a tool in your pocket. It's up to you to choose your favorite tools for the job.

Writing should be fun! Write what you love. Write what interests you, most of all.

[eiraeths]

list of assorted verbs to use in writings

they’re sorted a-z at least

Abjure - to renounce, repudiate under oath; to avoid, shun

Abnegate - to deny oneself things; to reject; to renounce

Abrogate - cancel; deny; repeal

Accrue - to accumulate; gradually increase over time

Acost - to approach and speak to first; to confront in a challenging or aggressive way

Adulterate - render something poorer in quality by adding another substance

Adumbrate - to sketch out in a vague way

Aggrandize - increase power, status, or wealth of

Allotted - give or apportion (something) to someone as a share or task

Alludes - hint or refer to

Amalgamate - combine or unite

Amble - walk at a slow, relaxed pace

Anneal - allow metal or glass to cool before working with so it won’t be brittle

Assailed - make a concerted or violent attack on

Attenuate - reduce the force, effect, or value of; reduce in thickness; make thin

Augment - increase

Augur - (of an event or circumstance) portend a good or bad outcome

Badger - pester

Balk - hesitate or refuse to accept an idea or undertaking

Bedizen - to ornament or dress in a showy or gaudy manner

Begets - to give rise to; bring about

Belabor - argue or elaborate a subject in extensive detail; attack or assault someone physically or verbally

Beleaguer - to cause constant or repeated trouble

Belie - fail to justify; contradict; conceal

Besmirch - damage of the reputation of someone or something in the opinion of others; to make dirty

Blather - talk long-windedly without making much sense

Bloviate - talk at length, especially in an inflated or empty way

Bode - be an omen of a particular outcome

Burgeon - to grow or develop quickly; flourish

Cajole - persuade someone to do something by persistent coaxing or flattery

Careen - to lurch or swerve while in motion, especially with minimal control

Carouse - engage in boisterous, drunken merrymaking; to party

Chasten - to correct by punishment or reproof; to restrain or subdue

Chivvying - tell someone repeatedly to do someone, nag

Cicatrize - (with reference to a wound) heal by scar formation

Coarsen - to become rough or less polite

Codify - arrange into a systematic code; classify

Concatenate - link together

Connive - secretly allow something immoral to occur; conspire

Construe - interpret a word or action in a particular way

Coruscate - to give off bright flashes of light

Curtail - reduce in extent or quantity; restrict on

Defalcate - embezzle (funds with which one has been entrusted)

Dehisce - gape or burst open; in relation to fruit, seed, or open wound

Delve - reach inside a receptacle and search for something

Demarcate - set, mark, or draw the boundaries of something

Deride - to ridicule, laugh at with contempt

Descry - to catch sight of something distant

Desecrate - ruin something holy

Dissent - to disagree

Dither - to be indecisive; hesitant

Divine - discover something by guesswork or intuition

Dredges - clean out dirt from edges of a body of water

Drub - to defeat decisively

Educe – bring out or develop (something latent or potential).

Efface - erase from a surface, make oneself appear insignificant or inconspicuous

Emaciate - to make thin or feeble

Embroil - involve deeply in argument, conflict, or different situation

Emulate - match or surpass a person, typically by imitation

Ensconce - establish or settle someone or something in a safe comfortable place

Entreat - ask someone earnestly or anxiously to do something

Err - to be mistaken or incorrect; make a mistake; misbehave

Espoused - to take up and support as a cause; become attached to

Espy - to catch sight of

Estivate - spend a hot or dry period in a stage of prolonged torpor or dormancy

Etherize - anesthetize a person or animal with ether

Evince - to show or demonstrate clearly; manifest; reveal the presence of (a quality or feeling)

Expiate - to make amends; make up for; to avert

Exude - give off/ooze; of a person display an emotion or quality openly and strongly

Feint - to make deceptive movement; to make a pretense of

Foment - instigate or stir up an undesirable or violent sentiment or course of action or rebellion; to apply warm liquids to, to warm

Forfend - relating to some kind of real or pretended danger or other unpleasantness; ward off; (heaven forbid/forfend)

Galvanize - to startle into sudden activity

Garnered - gather or collect, especially information or approval

Glean - to collect bit by bit; to gather with patient labor

Hegemonize - subject a population, region, process, etc, to a dominant political or social power

Imbibe - to drink; to take in, absorb

Impel - drive, urge, or force someone to do something

Impinge - having effect or impact, typically negative

Impugn - dispute to truth, validity, or honesty of a statement

Inculcate - instill an idea or habit by persistent instruction

Indemnify - compensate for damage or loss

Indite - to write; to compose

Ingratiate - to make oneself agreeable and thus gain favor or acceptance by others (can be critical or derogatory)

Inundate - overwhelm (someone) with things or people to deal with; flood

Inveigh - to make a violent attack in words, express strong disapproval

Jettison - to cast overboard, to get rid of as unnecessary or burdensome

Jip - cheat or swindle someone

Kowtow - act in an excessively subservient manner

Lambaste - criticize harshly; to assault

Languish - lose or lack vitality; grow weak

Lionize - give public attention and praise to; celebrate someone as if they’re a celebrity

Mar - impair the appearance of; disfigure; spoil

Masquerade - pretend to be someone one is not

Mollify - appease the anger or anxiety of someone

Muddle - bring into a disordered or confusing state

Natter - talk casually, especially about unimportant matters

Occlude - to close, shut, or block

Opine - hold and state one’s opinion

Oust - drive out or expel someone or something from a position of power

Palpate - to examine through touch

Patter - make a repeated light tapping sound

Percolate - filter gradually

Perforate - pierce and make a hole or holes in

Pernoctate - stay up or out all night; pass the night somewhere

Peruse - to read thoroughly and carefully

Plod - walk doggedly and slowly with heavy steps

Prattle - talk at length in a foolish or inconsequential way

Prevaricate - to lie or deviate from the truth

Proffer - hold out something to someone for acceptance; offer

Prognosticate - to predict or foretell a future event

Promulgate - to make an idea, belief, etc, known to many people by open declaration; proclaim

Purloin - to steal (typically used in a humorous way to show the theft was not serious)

Purport - appear or claim to be something, especially falsely

Rankle - get under someone’s skin

Reck - heed to something

Recogitate - to think over again

Reify - make something abstract more tangible and real

Rend - tear (something) into two or more pieces

Renege - to fail to carry out a promise or commitment; to renounce, disown

Repress - subdue someone or something by force

Revile - to attack with abusive language; to call insulting names

Roister - to enjoy oneself or celebrate in a noisy way

Romp - to move in a lively manner

Roust - to get up and start moving; treat roughly

Rue - to regret, be sorry for

Satiate - to satisfy completely; to fill to excess

Satisfice - to pursue the minimum satisfactory condition or outcome

Skirl - (of bagpipes) to make a shrill, wailing sound

Spurn - reject with contempt

Stipulate - to arrange specifically; to require as a condition of agreement

Supersede - take the place of a person previously in authority

Supplant - replace

Surmise - to think or believe without certain supporting evidence

Tantalize - torment or tease, usually with something unobtainable

Tessellate - decorate or cover a surface with a pattern of repeated shapes, especially polygons, that fit together without gaps or overlapping

Traipse - walk or move warily or reluctantly

Trounce - defeat heavily in a contest

Uluate - howl or wail with emotion, typically grief

Usurp - to seize and hold a position by force or without right

Vacillate - to swing indecisively from one course of action to another; to waver weakly in mind or will

Vegetate - live or spend a period in a dull, inactive, unchallenging way

Venerate - to regard with reverence, look up to with great respect

Vie - compete for

Winnow - removing what is not wanted

Wreak - cause a large amount of damage or harm, inflict (vengeance)

Wrest - obtain by seizing forcibly or violently, also metaphorically

[aconfusedkitten]

do people on ao3 really not know that their bookmarks aren't private, because??

this was a ten thousand word fic, with two pieces of art embedded at the time this was bookmarked. fuck, one of the pieces is still there even if the other one got messed up by a change in how ao3 does image attachments, but that's not the point.

fic writers absolutely do not create things because they want to see bookmarks and comments like this. ignoring the fact that it makes me want to apologize for the length of a three or four year old one-shot, it's dismissive of the time me and my artist put into it.

it was my first fic collaborating with anyone, and at the time, it may have only been my second or third fic to reach 10k words. if i had seen this then, it might have actually crushed me. now, it just pisses me off.

please, dear readers, do not do this.

people are not machines that crank out content for you to enjoy. we aren't endless streams of motivation and ideas and time, so please.

don't treat people like this, especially in places where they can see it.

[deityoftherain]

tips on how to title your ao3 fic

my tips for trying to figure out a title using some titles I've used before as examples

a short phrase that someone says that is repeated, verbally or in their head (ex. only friends)

something like a phrase or word(s) that encompasses the vibe (ex. phases of the moon, chord crush, or even my favorite color is triangle)

something said or used that is heavy hitting or notable in the story (ex. save a spot for me, let me take care of you, or honeybees, i'm home)

a metaphor slash commonly used phrase (altered or otherwise) (ex. moth to a flame or blood is thicker than blood)

the struggle and/or an object close to the plot (ex. (not) just a costume, fireworks, needles)

blank & blank (alt. blank and blank) (ex. helixes & abalone shells, festivals and ferris wheels, or fidgets & flower shops)

puns, silly things and/or references (ex. zombabe or canary wings and pronouns)

lines from lyrics or poems you like (ex. know that all my love will be your breath, all is fair in love and war, or when danger greets you with a smile)

A title can be any combination of these or more! If you have more ideas on how to name something, feel free to reblog this and add to it :D

If you want to learn tips on how to tag, click on this!

[morallysuperiorlips]

I don't know who needs to hear this, but...

"SAID" IS KING.

I don't care what you were taught in school. I don't care if Stephen King himself walked up to you and told you that you needed to avoid using the dialogue tag "said" at any given moment. I don't fucking care. There is usually nothing better than a simple "said."

I, probably along with many writers, grew up learning English and writing skills in schooling environments where they preached on and on that you needed to avoid using "said" at all costs. If there was another available dialogue tag to use, you needed to use that. Anything but "said."

Well, I'm here to tell you: FUCK THAT.

When in doubt, use "said." Always use "said."

You might still be compelled to reach for a bigger word, and once in a while, they're fine. I'm a sucker for the classic "replied," or "asked," or even the ever taboo "chuckled." For variety sake, there is nothing wrong with venturing to other tags. But you should always come back to "said."

"Said" slips under the radar. It's unassuming. It's demure. It's mindful. Readers will skim over the word "said." It keeps the flow going. It's the puzzle piece that fits almost anywhere.

When you start trying to go against this grain, and keep trying for bigger tags, like "articulated," or "expressed," or the blood-curdling, cringe-inducing "orated," you risk interrupting your rhythm. You risk stopping a reader in their tracks to question your constant need to avoid using "said," when "said" was all that was needed to get the point across.

Again, there is nothing wrong with branching out once in a while. Sometimes, "said" is NOT king. Sometimes you need something stronger. More visceral. More indicative of the emotion being shown. And that's okay. But you do not need to go out of your way to make sure every dialogue tag you use is anything but "said." In fact, doing so might wreck the flow of your writing.

I will say it again: SAID IS KING.