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[writingisbae]

Fantasy Guide: Common battle wounds and how to fix them

Arrow wounds: Now if the lung, heart, kidney, other major organ is hit, there may be little to do. The kidney has a back up, so maybe a skilled surgeon could save him, not exactly sure however. If hit by an arrow and not hit dangerously in an organ or artery, we can help. Firstly, DO NOT REMOVE arrow by yanking. Arrow must be worked from the skin by skilled hands. Once arrow is out, wash would with clean water/alchohol/herbal remedies. To heal slow, sew up wound and wrap in bandages. To speed it up, cauterise the wound with fire. It will hurt and patient pay pass out but now the arrow wound can heal faster. This works for crossbow bolts as well. On the gross side, arrows may be smeared with dirt or shit, so sepsis is a danger. This is how the great Richard the Lionheart died. Sometimes the mighty lion is killed by a shit arrow. But hey, shit happens. Arrow wounds take a couple of weeks to heal.

Sword slashes: if shallow, wash and bind up. May require stitches. If deeper, repeat process with more stitches and more bandages. Even if shallow, the cut must be washed using alcohol or clean water. May take a few days to weeks to heal depending on wound depth and severity.

Stab wound: Again don’t remove knife or object. If already removed, wash would and sew it up. You may need to cauterise. If guts, organs, brain, is falling out, there is nothing to do. This may take a couple of weeks to months to heal depending on wound.

Broken Bones: A break must be splinted with a board of wood and bandages. Slings can support arms and wrists. If your character breaks a leg, it may be worse. Breaks don’t heal great without modern medicine. Your character may have a limp or leg pain. In you’re are living in a hot climate, you’re pretty much fucked because infection sets in fast. These may take months to heal.

For @maslovianwench

[writingisbae]

to you, it's a shitty sentence. to some random bitch 500 miles away, it's a fire line that'll haunt them for the next 17 years.

you don't know how impactful your writing is because it's been in your brain for far too long now. you've stared at it for hours and repeated "this sucks" over and over again to the point that you killed your capacity to feel anything about your work.

but trust me, once you get your shit out there, someone's gonna go over that paragraph you hate and go "jesus fucking christ" and put the book down to have an existential crisis.

[writingisbae]

I love writing. Would love to do it again someday

[writingisbae]

if you want to write many words in one sitting …

stay hydrated!! as soon as that glass is empty, refill it

pause for stretches. stretch your fingers, stretch your wrists, stretch your back, consider doing a lap around the room

if you’re listening to music, make sure it’s music that you won’t have to sort through–pausing to skip songs kills productivity

write down milestones as you go to remind yourself how much you’ve accomplished already

break your milestones into bite-sized pieces, like 100 word sections

set a goal for yourself. if you’re trying to write a lot and you don’t have a goal, it’s easy to get overwhelmed

establish a reward for reaching that goal

remember that you’re only competing with yourself, so no matter what happens, you’re the winner

consider doing sprints with friends or sprints in general

sincerely, someone who regularly does 10,000-word sessions

[writingisbae]

plants 🍃

x - x / x - x / x - x

[writingisbae]

"what advice do you have for new writers?" well i could say the typical (but important!) "practice" "read books" but my PERSONAL advice as someone who's been writing since he was a toddler is as follows: feel every emotion u can & touch every texture u can & search for obscure facts or antiquated words or animal behavior or something you wouldn't normally think about. the most arbitrary things can bring inspiration. branch out! leave your comfort zone and seek things that are new & unknown to you. learn to find wonder and beauty in some aspect of the world, but hopefully many aspects. learn how to be patient tbh. fall in any kind of love with anything. most importantly treat yourself with kindness and care and forgiveness - i get wanting to write about pain, trust me, but also trust me, your writing will evolve as your perception of yourself softens. oh yeah and always have a pen on you

[writingisbae]

Learning about plants has made my biopunk novel much more complicated like damn now I have to think about all the species and stuff

[writingisbae]

do you ever not write for so long that you’re almost afraid to? like what if I’m dumb now

[writingisbae]

Words of Witches

(Note: This little snippet is made up entirely of dialogue. Just a fun little idea I had a while ago. ‘-’ between paragraphs indicates some time has passed.)

(Summary: Two best friends who are witches. And there’s an abusive boyfriend.)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Page: “So… I may have turned my boyfriend to stone… again.” Shaaron: “Again!? Seriously?” Page: “Come on! Are you gonna help me or what?” Shaaron: “I honestly just can’t believe that you’re dating this fool. What kind of man isn’t even capable of defending himself from a simple curse?” Page: “Oh, don’t be like that, Shaaron. You know I’m not dating him for his magical capabilities. He’s actually a decent guy.” Shaaron: “Uh-huh.” Page: “Well, at least he’s better than my ex.” Shaaron: “That’s not saying much.” Page: “Hey, what’s a girl gonna do?” Shaaron: “Not just date any loser that comes along, that’s for sure!” Page: “Just help me undo the spell, okay?” Shaaron: “Why can’t you do it yourself?” Page: “Look, I create the mess, you fix it. That’s how it’s always been. If I try, I’m just gonna make it worse. Do you want the poor guy to end up with six eyes and warts all over his body?” Shaaron: “Tempting… but fine, I’ll do it. Just stop looking at me like that.” Page: “Like what?” Shaaron: “Forget it. I’m coming over. Don’t move.”

-

Shaaron: “To be honest, I like him better like this.” Page: “Shut up!” Shaaron: “It’s true! At least now I don’t have to smell his cheap cologne.” Page: “Tsss… at least he wears cologne.” Shaaron: “Oh my! He wears cologne! He showers What a catch! You’re really praising men for doing the bare minimum.” Page: “I’m just trying to stay positive.” Shaaron: “Uh-huh. I just hope he ain’t positive.” Page: “Shaaron!” Shaaron: “What?” Page: “He’s not like that!” Shaaron: “How do you know? You’ve known him for, what, three weeks?” Page: “When did you become such a man-hater?” Shaaron: “I’m not a man-hater. You’re just a danger magnet. Always getting yourself into trouble.” Page: “Which is exactly why we’re here.” Shaaron: “Right. So, what even happened?” Page: “Well… were arguing.” Shaaron: “About?” Page: “...” Shaaron: “Come on, spit it out!” Page: “You.” Shaaron: “Me?” Page: “You. He saw your last text and thought I was cheating on him.” Shaaron: “Oooh, you still have my number saved as ‘soulmeat’?” Page: “Yeah, only he didn’t get the joke.” Shaaron: “Of course he didn’t.” Page: “Well, your message didn’t help either.” Shaaron: “Why? What was wrong with my message?” Page: “It was just a winking emoji followed by a kissing emoji.” Shaaron: “Right. So when you explained it to him…” Page: “He didn’t believe me.” Shaaron: “Paranoid dick. But - wait!” Page: “What?” Shaaron: “...” Page: “Oh spit it out already!” Shaaron: “He didn’t hurt you, did he?” Page: “Of course not…” Shaaron: “Oh he is so dead!” Page: “Shaaron, wait!” Shaaron: “Give me one good reason to let him live.” Page: “Because I don’t want you to go to jail??” Shaaron: “Page… What did he do?” Page: “Nothing.” Shaaron: “You can’t lie to me and you know it.” Page: “Can’t we just forget about this?” Shaaron: “No! This asshole hurt my best friend! How am I supposed to just forget about that?” Page: “Please? For me?” Shaaron: “Page…” Page: “It was nothing. Really!” Shaaron: “You can tell me.” Page: “He just got angry, ok?” Shaaron: “And he hurt you.” Page: “Just - just a little. He didn’t mean to. I’m telling you, he’s not like that!” Shaaron: “Why are you defending him?” Page: “What do you want me to do?” Shaaron: “Here. Let’s start with this.”

-

Page: “What kind of spell was that?” Shaaron: “A conditional curse-breaker. He will return to normal in about two hours. And he will know to keep his distance from you after that if he knows what’s good for him.” Page: “Where are you going? Shaaron: “Home of course. And you are coming with me.” Page: “...” Shaaron: “You are not staying here, Page. You deserve so much better. Come on, let’s have a movie marathon together.” Page: “... I’d like that.” Shaaron: “See? There’s your beautiful smile. Let’s go, soulmeat. We’ve got a bunch of horror flicks waiting for us.”

- Page: “Shaaron?” Shaaron: “Hmm?” Page: “Thanks.” Shaaron: “You’re welcome, cutie. Now quit hogging the popcorn.” Page: “Love you too.”

[writingisbae]

Too busy with school work to write. Maybe a week from now I’ll get back to it.

In the meantime I want to come up with some beautiful fantasy landscapes. The story I’m currently working on (the one about fairies) is set inside a forest in the beginning. I’d like to have a lake or a waterfall in this forest as well. Then later on there is a small town. I need to decide what time period I actually want this story to be in, in order to know what the town will look like. I’m leaning towards historic, and like european-ish. Maybe taking inspiration from the Blackforest. I know that there are definitely different zones/landscapes in this world, but my plot so far only takes place in the forest and the town. If my main characters visit any other places, I will have to figure that out as it happens. I’m going to try to find some pictures to get more inspiration.

[writingisbae]

my wip has so much potential to be amazing. I just need to… you know… actually write it.

[writingisbae]

You know what I'm a slut for? When a character visibly drops a ruse. Like, the way their face changes the moment they give up a facade and reveal themselves.

This applies to revealing love, apathy, anger, evil intent. I mcfuckin love it.

[writingisbae]

motherfuckers actually did it

ok poll time! I have 2 story ideas

Angst version: gothic horror story, 2nd person pov of a restless water spirit haunting the container shi

Humor version: ancient egyptian, grecian & mesopotamian water gods having a huge argument over whose job it is to Unstick The Ship. Everyone is incredibly unhelpful, especially Poseidon and various Nile River Gods.

I’ve already started on the Angst one, but would like to gauge interest in the Humor version

[writingisbae]

Chapter Zero

→ an In The Woods Somewhere excerpt

This is from my zero draft of ITWS that won't be in the new draft I'm starting for Camp NaNo. I still thought it would be fun to share since it gives a little insight into Jackie (park ranger main) and a side character named Benny who works under her. NOTE: there is a lot of info in this that's changed as I've outlined so some of the locations will be inaccurate.

Warnings: brief mention of recreational drug use (mushrooms)

Length: 2.3k words

[ WIP Intro ]

Breath burned aching lungs. Boots stomped in slick, dark mud. The icy mist clung to every hair on bare skin and the drumming of heartbeat became the rhythm in which Jackie fell in time with. She jerked, ducking beneath a low hanging branch. Her hair whipped as she cast a worried glance over her shoulder. It wasn’t following her anymore.

A disgruntled skunk and her litter of kits watched her sprint from the home they made in a thicket of bushes. If she had stuck around for just a second longer, Jackie would have paid dearly for her grave mistake. Up on [the mountain], there wasn’t a proper shower to be had at the lookout. In fact, there was almost no running water to be had at all. That’s exactly how she preferred it - being one with nature in every sense of the word.

“Fuck-” A patch of thick mud sent her sliding into the wooden Trail 46 sign that pointed southeast. Jackie held on to it, leaning over with her chest heaving while she caught her breath. A spring of curled hair fell over her forehead from under the brim of her uniform hat. Taking one last deep breath, she swept it back under and ran her hands along her two thick braids to make sure her rubber bands were still attached to the ends.

Static crackled from the radio on her hip. A voice snickered at her from the other end.

“I didn’t know you could run that fast,” the voice teased her, his laughter turning into crackles. Jackie lifted her head and dragged her eyes along the ridge behind her. Ancient trees and wild brush lined the rocky ledge. She squinted, trying to make sense of the map of greens and browns. Despite her year of working in Wyoming, she struggled making out shapes in the woods that weren’t blocky signs. “Surprised you didn’t lose your hat.”

Jackie unhooked her radio and held it up to her mouth. It trilled and went quiet. “Where are you? I swear to god, Benny, if you scare me again you owe me a cone at Marie Bettie’s on Monday.”

She stood there, a hand on her hip and her radio up by her ear. A crease formed between her brows. Birds flit from tree to tree down Trail 42, drawing her eye. Frowning, she didn’t see Benny there. Nor did he respond on the radio. She hesitantly clicked it again. “Benny I’m not playing. Where the hell are you?” She couldn’t hear herself on the other end. Wherever he was hiding, he had turned off his radio so she couldn’t gauge where he was.

Stepping out into the middle of the trail, Jackie circled around like an uneasy horse, feet pressed firmly into the packed dirt. A small creature of amber red and white darted out from a nearby thicket of prickly bushes and skittered across the trail. She gasped, nearly jumping out of her skin. While distracted, a pair of hands touched down on her shoulders, fingers curling over her uniform.

Jackie screeched, launching herself forwards out of the grip of the intruder. The ranger hat on her head tipped off, rolling and bouncing off the gravel. Her arms barely caught her in time to save her face from getting superficial scratches. Squirming, she rolled onto her back and scrambled into a squat. Benny stood there, cackling loud enough to send a few birds flying from their nests in the trees. His smile took up most of his face. Smile lines deepend and the prominent gap between his teeth was on full display.

“I got you good, didn’t I?” He leaned in, holding a hand out for her. Despite the adrenaline soaring through her veins and the annoyance that tumbled within her, Jackie sighed and grasped at it for help off the ground. Freckles splattered his sun-kissed skin, his cheekbones turning to apples with his grin.

“Yeah, yeah. You owe me two cones, now, Wonderbird. Double scoops.”

“Hey, that’s not fair! You know volunteers don’t make squat here-” Benny stooped down to pick up her hat, dusting it off for her. It was true. When he first joined the park just six months ago, Jackie had been assigned as his mentor. The junior program was offered to any college students pursuing their line of work. To get a taste of life as a ranger. They didn’t make a salary, but their summers spent in action were funded by park leadership in the form of bunks and food. A far better deal than what was offered to her in Tennessee. She took up her hat and repositioned it proudly on top of her head. “But I guess it’s the least I could do for doing that.” He pointed down at her green trousers.

A small tear cut across her knee, thankfully protecting her skin from being lacerated by her fall. Sighing, Jackie lifted her leg and inspected the hole. “Luckily I brought my sewing kit with me to the tower. C’mon, let’s finish our rounds. Think the captain has extra radios for tonight? Last thing I want is to not be able to contact anyone - especially this weekend.”

The end of summer break brought in the most guests outside of the spring season. Mostly college students looking to get out of town, but not willing to commit to the cost of going to the Bahamas or Miami all the way down south. Jackie couldn’t remember most of the breaks from her college days. She crunched to get through with her degree as fast as possible. Any break she got was filled with studying or working wherever she could. She would have liked to go somewhere tropical and warm for her breaks, but she preferred the serenity that usually came with visiting state parks instead.

“How many people usually camp here during breaks?” Benny kicked a pale gray pebble into the grass alongside the pack dirt walking trail.

“Could be hundreds. Maybe even close to a thousand or more. Really depends.” Earlier that day, they had already received an influx of campers eager to stake their claim on the best spots in the park before the hoards arrived. Easily several dozen of them, all scattered between RV hookups, the rentable cabins and clearings for tents. “Just be glad you’re not working at any of the offices this weekend. I’d take firewatch over disgruntled campers any day.”

“I can’t thank you enough, you know.” An elbow bumped Jackie’s arm and she glanced at the grinning young man. “If it weren’t for you, Richards probably would’ve never let me take over tower 24. He told me you put in a good word for me.”

Smiling down at the ground, Jackie shrugged and reached out to give him a gentle pat on the shoulder. “It wasn’t all me. You’ve got the passion for this. The drive. Can’t say the same for some of the other volunteers-”

A trill of squealing laughter caught her attention. The two of them paused right at the fork. One path remained wide open with wooden signs encouraging guests to stay on the correct path. The other had overgrowth and a dirt path so narrow, one could hardly call it a trail at all. The usual rope gate meant to block it off had been cut. Both ends laid useless on the ground with frayed edges. Another bark of laughter came from the end it shouldn’t have.

“Damn…” Jackie muttered bitterly under her breath. Just when she thought they could wrap up for the afternoon. Benny puffed out his chest and stood up taller.

“C’mon, ranger,” he chirped, marching towards the rocky side path. “No dilly dallying!”

“You just want to write up a citation.” She snorted and followed alongside him. “You’re starting to sound like the captain.”

Snaking down the path, the trees overhead grew thicker and wider. Branches from lowly pines scraped against their arms. Creatures that remained unseen skittered into their hiding places. The closer they got to the three or four voices chattering away up ahead, the more signs they saw. Brand new, the signs were nailed into the untouched bark of the trees along the path or plastered on wooden signs hammered into the thick dirt.

WARNING: do not proceed! This area has been sanctioned for investigation by the State of Wyoming and local police. Any violations will result in a $500 fine.

“Have these signs always been here?” Benny’s voice lowered to a faint whisper. Jackie stepped carefully around a pile of stones gathered around the base of a thick oak. Her boots slid against their jagged surfaces. “I don’t remember them putting these up.

“I don’t either. I remember some feds were here on Wednesday, but they weren’t up for much small talk.” They stood proudly in their dark suits and shade, holding boxes of flyers and paperwork and speaking in hushed tones to her higher ups. The single chance she had to greet one of them was met with silence. Very rude. “I don’t think this was a missing person’s case, otherwise we would have been informed about it.”

Like something out of a sci-fi movie, bright yellow caution signs littered a shady grove at the end of the short path. The sound of water trickling from a nearby stream joined the quiet voices. The blocky lettering on the big yellow signs yelled at them.

DO NOT DRINK THE WATER! Do not disturb local flora as issued by the governor of Wyoming.

“Dude! You’re going to get us in trouble!” A nervous voice murmured beyond the trees. There, by the creek, four college aged kids stood around a mossy puddle. Two girls and two boys, all wearing their UW school colors. Most likely freshmen given their wide eyes and round faces. One of them stood with his jeans rolled up to his knees in the shallow water, a fist full of curling brown mushrooms that looked like kelp. They went silent at the sight of the two rangers.

“This path is restricted.” Benny took the initiative, his voice wavering just a bit at the end of his statement. Jackie let him take the reins. If he really wanted to do this for a living, he would have to get used to this. As he went over what rules they broke being there, she made her way over to a damp patch of tall grass between two moss covered trees.

Squatting, she spied even more kelp-like mushrooms. They stuck out of the grass like limp, decaying fingers out of a grave. Jackie narrowed her eyes and used a pen from her breast pocket to jab at it with as gentle of a touch as she could manage. It released a pussy substance and a musky scent that reminded her of the single frat party she attended her last year in school. Similar to weed, but different. From looks alone, she couldn’t nail down from which family this fungus derived from. In fact, she couldn’t recall anything remotely similar in all her years of study.

“You can’t do that.” The kid in the water whined, trudging out of the water. He tossed the picked mushrooms. “C’mon, man, we’re just trying to have a little fun! I gotta pay for books next week!”

Jackie looked over her shoulder in time to see Benny’s head fall like a disappointed teacher’s. He sighed and shifted his weight from foot to foot, unable to reply. Tucking her pen back into its spot, she dusted her hands off and stood.

“Here’s what we’re going to do-” She put her hands on her hips and took over for him. She spoke with authority and a rigid stance. “I’ll let you off with a warning, as long as you four keep to the official trails and stay out of trouble. If me or any of my associates catch you out of bounds again, it’ll be a $700 ticket. Got it?”

“Yes, ma’am.” The kid slipped his wet feet into his Nike sandals and hung his head. Blonde hair stuck to his pink face and despite his towering height over her, he still looked like a boy. It only made her feel older than she was. The other three murmured in agreement, following behind him. She watched them shuffle up the path until they disappeared behind a thicket of pines.

“I thought I could do it,” Benny sighed, his head swiveling side to side, checking for litter or anything else the rowdy guests may have left behind. Jackie moved to stand beside him and ruffled his mess of red hair. The way his nose scrunched and his shoulders relaxed from the playful exchange reminded her so much of Andre back at home.

“You did better than I did the first time I tried writing a citation - I cried.” Her sidekick blinked, surprised, and chuckled.

“But you’re so good at it. You’ve got a mom voice - in a good way, I mean.”

“Geez, I’m not that old, Wonderbird. First them, and now you? I’m aging by the second. You’ll have to explain to Richards why my knees are bad and my hair is graying when summer’s over, you dingus.”

Benny all but collapsed forward with laughter, holding his stomach and slapping his knee like a cheery grandfather. Jackie smiled so wide her cheeks ached. She had to avert her gaze to not let the homesickness creep in. She would miss him when he had to go back to school. Just like she missed Andre.

The mushrooms among the grass piqued her curiosity again. She stooped down beside them and inspected them without touching. Who knew what they did and who knew why the government and college kids were so interested in them.

“What are they? They were grabbing a lot of them.” Benny squatted next to her, reaching out to touch one. Jackie gently smacked the back of his hand and shook her head.

“I don’t know, but I wouldn’t touch them. Let’s get to the office, the captain’s waiting for us by now.”

-

ITWS Taglist (let me know if you'd like to be added!): @lordkingsmith @celestialbunnistories @aeslin-writes @writinginslowmotion @chayscribbles @theramwrites @tiredlittleoldme @sapphcon-ic @hazard-writes @lookingmuchimproved @themidnxghtwriter @draculinawrites @aetherwrites @svpphicwrites @maxgraybooks @writeherewaiting @sjjsalamanders @thelittlestspider @ashen-crest @writtendevastation @ravesthewriter @adie-dee @christine-thinks @cream-and-tea @reeseweston

[writingisbae]

btw, if any writers out there would like me to check out their wips/ interact/ reblog/ give feedback/ talk about whatever, just send me a message or like this post because I’m a bit out of the loop and would like to see what y’all are working on.

[writingisbae]

So the fairytale I’m writing for my English 101 class is basically Hansel and Gretel, but their mom goes after them to save them. Really would have rather gone with an original fairy tale instead of twisting a traditional one, but it’s college, what can ya do.

Still wanting to write my fairy story though. I’m just going to drop the synopsis for that one here in case anyone is interested:

Golden: A Tale of Two Fairies:

Aelli, a fairy who lives deep in the woods with her tribe, learns that she has a twin sister who was taken by humans when she was a baby. So she decides to go looking for her. She soon gets captured by a human tribe and reaches out to the forest spirit to help her. Nola, the forest spirit, decides to aid her, but only if Aelli puts herself in her service - for eternity. Aelli agrees, knowing that the humans are about to kill her, and Nola helps Aelli escape to the nearest town. There, Nola and Aelli try to blend in with the humans and discover a tournament, orchestrated by the humans, in which they force their captive fairies to battle against each other. Hoping to find her sister there, Aelli enters into the tournament as Nola’s fairy. But the more she sees about the horrific treatment the captive fairies have to endure, the more Aelli’s plan shifts from just wanting to find her sister to wanting to save all the fairies and end this barbaric tournament. But how will the two of them end this old and beloved tradition without getting themselves killed in the process?

[writingisbae]

So I haven’t been on tumblr for a while, but I’m back now. College is still rough, but I’m working on a fairy tale for my English 101 class, so technically I’m writing, and maybe I’ll stick around for a while.