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maybe To Sing Again would be better as a series

#wip: tsa #I am having thoughts............

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Writing Advice: How to Create Conflict when Your Characters are Competent.

Featuring Leverage, the ultimate in Competency Porn.

Make them so good it gets them in trouble. So you've got a hacker and he's the best, definitively. Okay, well, one of his fake IDs just got called for jury duty. You pretended to be a psychic so well, someone kidnapped you to talk to a dead crime lord.

Make them targets. You're so good, enemies you didn't even know about are trying to kill you just so they won't have to take you on in your element. You're being blackmailed into doing a thing because you're the only one that can.

Limit the scope of competency. Sure, you're competent as a fighter, but your hacker is in jail and now you have to do his job and you are not competent in that. Yeah, you can climb a building, but do you know what you need to do to not end up in a crevasse while climbing a mountain?

Raise the stakes. Can you handle extracting a orphan being used by a washed up actress to fund her extravagant lifestyle? Yes. But can you handle extracting 30 orphans being used by the Slovenian mob to fund gunrunning? Maybe all you wanted was to get enough money to buy back a house, but instead you have to ruin the company so that all houses they illegally obtained are returned to their rightful owners.

Make others competent, too. Your characters are the best, but are they the best of the best? If you take you enemy down, do you go, too? If you win, does it make them win? Does it get out of hand and make other people start noticing when you're trying to keep your head down? Do they know every trick in the book and know the next move before you make it?

Make others painfully incompetent. Your characters are the best, but are they woefully unprepared for people who are not even good? Can your hologram hacker roll with it when the vital information is on a casset tape? Is the old mentor up to date on the recent technology, or is he going to screw you because he assumes the cops are just as corrupt/incompetent as when he was young?

Have some standards. Specifically, morals that make it impossible for your characters to back out or gets them in trouble for doing things "off-script." You can't leave on the train someone just stole for you because you've got to go back and stop the bad guys from bombing the IRS (even if we don't like them). You wish you could just say no to that assassin contract and leave, but someone's getting assassinated and you have to stop it because you're a good guy.

Bring up the past. Do you think that bad guy you brutally scarred a decade ago is going to carry a grudge? Do you have to save your ex-wife from the bad guy, who may also be her boyfriend, and if you suggest that she'll shut you out and you won't be able to save her or get paid? It's Draaamaaaa, babee.

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Why is Immerlias doing that thing with his voice?

hi anon! thank you for the ask!!

I assume you mean him talking in a higher pitch than what's natural for him, in which case, it's sort of a gender presentation thing? When his voice started getting deeper as a kid it really bothered him and so he did a lot of vocal training, both so he could talk at a pitch that felt representative of himself and so he wouldn't end up losing his upper range for singing.

So sometimes when he's shocked or angry, instead of his voice going up in pitch like you'd expect, it actually drops towards where it would be naturally instead!

Also he's a little shit and he thinks its funny when people don't expect him to be able to hit super low notes because they've never heard him speak in a low pitch. he really does pull it out for shock value sometimes and no other reason lmao

also also because of all the vocal training he's scary good at impressions but that's just a short fun fact :)

#asks #anon #oc: immerlias

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*throws eggs at you*

YIPPEEE MORE EGGS

a blessed gift. thank you anon

#anon #asks

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Guide: How to Skip Time in Your Story

Few stories take place during a short, unbroken chunk of time. Most stories take place in small chunks spread out over days, weeks, months, or years, which means there will be whole chunks of time not covered. So, how do you skip the time between those chunks?

Scenes and Chapters

With the exception of some very short fiction, most stories are broken into scenes, each of which encapsulates a particular moment or event. In longer fiction, like novellas and novels, related scenes can be grouped together into chapters, though sometimes a chapter contains only one scene. Either way, because scenes and chapters focus on particular moments or events, or a related group of moments or events, starting a new scene or chapter is a natural way to represent the passage of time in your story. In fact, unless otherwise stated, readers will naturally assume that time has passed between scenes and chapters–which doesn’t mean you don’t still have to make the transition between them.

The key to skipping time between scenes or chapters is to make the transition by doing two things:

1) Set up the time skip at the end of the scene or chapter by hinting at what is to come. For example:

As I gazed out the window at January’s first falling snow, I couldn’t help but wonder what the new year would bring.

2) Clarify time, place and (if necessary) POV at the beginning of the new scene or chapter, playing off of the set up from the previous scene or chapter.

The first week of January was over in a blink, and then I found myself back at school, dealing with all the problems I’d left behind during Christmas Break.

Notice how the set up at the end of the previous scene/chapter flows seamlessly into the scene transition at the beginning of the new scene/chapter?

Because the passage of time is expected between scenes and chapters, it’s not always necessary to be direct about how much time has passed. Especially if the amount of time passing is unimportant or already implied.

Direct:

Melinda finally dragged herself out of bed, painfully aware that her entire career hinged on her ability to pull this meeting off without a hitch. She hated the uncertainty of what lay ahead, hating even more the only thing she did know for certain: it was going to be one hell of a shitty day.

# # #

Two hours later, Melinda stood in front of the board, coffee in hand, trying to exude confidence she in no way truly felt. The tired, stoic faces of eleven other men and women gazed back at her, plainly ready for whatever it was she was about to unleash upon them. She only wished she felt as ready as they appeared to be.

Less Direct:

Melinda finally dragged herself out of bed, painfully aware that her entire career hinged on her ability to pull this meeting off without a hitch. She hated the uncertainty of what lay ahead, hating even more the only thing she did know for certain: it was going to be one hell of a shitty day.

# # #

All eleven faces of the other board members gazed back at Melinda, stoic and tired as she stood before them, coffee in hand, trying to exude a confidence she in now way truly felt. It was clear they were prepared for whatever she was about to unleash upon them, and she could only wish she was equally prepared.

In the second example, even though you don’t specifically say “two hours later,” it’s clear right away from the context that the time and place have changed. No one is going to read “all eleven faces of the other board members” and assume that they’re waiting for her in her bathroom as she goes in to brush her teeth the next morning. As often as possible, try to reserve the “two hours later” and “when she got back to the office” transitions for when the context would otherwise be unclear, or when those specific details (how much time has passed, a specific location) is immediately important. 

And, if no time is passing between two scenes or two chapters, you can make that clear via context. For example, if one scene ends with Melinda falling asleep and then being woken up by a loud knock at her door, the next scene could continue with something like “Heart pounding from the shock, Melinda jumped out of bed to see who was at her door.” Now it’s clear no time passed in the next scene. But, since a new situation is beginning, it still warrants being its own scene.

Expository Time Skip

Sometimes you need to show a quick glimpse of something that happened but which doesn’t really warrant its own scene or chapter. In this case, you may need to illustrate the time skip using exposition within the scene. It may look something like this:

The first week of January was over in a blink, and then I found myself back at school, dealing with all the problems I’d left behind during Christmas Break. Not the least of which was the newly formed rift between me and Kristina, who was glaring at me from across the hallway as I spun the combination on my locker that first day back. I’d done my best to ignore her, shoveling my million textbooks out of my book bag, doing a quick check of my hair–which somehow managed to be both wet and frizzy with static–before grabbing my biology books and hurrying off under Kristina’s cold glare.

Later that day, at lunch, Michelina and I decided to eat lunch outside, even though it was thirty degrees and still snowing. Despite the wintry chill, it was warmer than the cafeteria with Kristina’s angry gaze constantly searching us out.

Terms such as: later that day, two hours later, the next afternoon, the following day, by the time the bell rang, when it was time to close, etc., allow you to show that time has passed without transitioning to a new scene or chapter. This allows you to cover smaller moments/events that don’t warrant their own space.

Whether you use a scene transition between two scenes or two chapters to show the passing of time, or whether you clarify the time skip through exposition, just pay attention to where you leave your readers before the transition/clarification, and where you take them. Make sure it’s clear, flows well, and wouldn’t leave anyone confused. Do that and you should be in good shape. :)

#writing tips #time skips

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Worldbuilding: Soap, Taxes, Consequences

Way too many writers seem to create dirty, decrepit fantasy or historical settings, without giving much thought as to why things might be grimy. Or why not.

For example, Victorian England, specifically London, is infamous for being dark, with choking smogs and lower classes regarded as filthy. There is a fair amount of truth to this... but historically, we as writers should look deeper. There were a lot of factors involved in this grime, but three of the big ones were heating, the window tax, and the soap tax.

...Yes, there was a tax specifically on soap. I’ll get to that.

All three of these were either directly caused by or exacerbated by the government. Timber was in large part reserved for ships and construction, so unless you had a lot of money to spend on firewood, if you wanted heat, it was usually peat or coal. Peat burns with a lot of smoke. A lot of smoke, to the point that it was doing about as much damage to lungs of the poorer folk who used it as all the tobacco in the surroundings combined. There are reasons it took a long time to get a handle on potential causes of lung cancer.

The better option - and yes, it was actually better - was coal. Only England’s local coal is a high-sulfur type, meaning besides heat and regular smoke you also got sulfur dioxide and its related acid compounds eating people’s lungs and etching everything else in sight. People are pretty sure this was the source of the infamous London fogs. (Though not entirely. Historians are still poking it to see if there were other contributing factors.)

So. That’s the smog. The window tax is Exactly What It Says On The Tin. Which made it very dark inside buildings, especially of the poor, because they couldn’t afford a yearly tax on taking advantage of natural light.

And here we come to the soap tax, the most rage-choking one of them in my mind. It was apparently high enough that good money could be made smuggling soap from Ireland (where there was no tax on it) to England to sell. Smuggling soap.

...Talk about your clean getaways.

But here you see the problem. If you’re already poor and you have to choose between enough food to survive on and enough soap to be clean... taxed soap makes your life much, much harder. Staying clean harder. Staying healthy harder.

And it has nothing to do with “oh, it’s the past, of course it’s more primitive”, and everything to do with a government deciding the best way to squeeze out more taxes is to tax something everyone has to use. A fantasy or alternate historical setting where there was no soap tax would be entirely different. And was, in Ireland just across the water - where there were the same problems with peat and coal, but even the poorest people tended to be clean.

Consider your world’s governments. What have they done well, and what have they (ahem) royally screwed up? And are your heroes just trying to stay out of the way of the worst insanity - or are they actively doing something about it?

It’d be a heck of a thing, to get arrested for smuggling soap....

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Whump Reference Digest/FAQ

Q: My character was shot/stabbed/impaled in the abdomen, how can I treat them if I don't have a hospital available in my story? A: They're probably going to die, but you can buy time by packing the wound and not letting them eat or drink anything until they get to a place with surgery.

Q: My character is shot/stabbed/impaled in the chest, how can I treat them if I don't have a hospital available in my story? A: They're probably going to die, but you can buy time by quickly putting your hand over the wound to prevent air going into the chest cavity before they can get to a place with surgery.

Q: My character was shot/stabbed/impailed in the shoulder, how can I treat them if I don't have a hospital available in my story? A: They're probably not going to die, but they will probably have lasting difficulties using that arm. Packing the wound and getting to surgery as soon as possible might minimize this.

Q: How long does it take for someone's wound to get infected? A: Signs of infection can start within about 12 hours for really dirty wounds, but normally it takes a few days. Cleaning and caring properly for wounds can decrease chances of infection.

Q: Can I clean a wound with vodka/whisky/wine? A: No. One, you shouldn't be using any kind of alcohol/hydrogen peroxide/iodine to clean wounds (just water or saline), and two, there's not enough alcohol in any of those things to disinfect anything.

Q: Can a person pass an infection to someone else without knowing they have it? A: Yes. Someone can be very infectious before they show symptoms of many infectious diseases, or may have an asymptomatic infection but still be able to spread disease.

Q: How do you know if someone has appendicitis? A: You basically try to find out if the sac holding the abdominal organs is inflamed near where we'd expect the appendix to be. You can do this by jiggling the person's abdomen and seeing if it hurts in the lower right corner.

Q: Can you kill someone by injecting them with air? A: Only if you're really dedicated. It takes about 20mL of air to kill someone when injected into a vein. And that's a lot of air when you consider most of the syringes we use in a hospital setting for IV injections are like 3mL. Injecting air into muscle is very painful but will not cause death (though if it's a lot it might cause damage to a limb).

Q: How fast do injections work? A: Most injections into the muscle or fat work in about 20-30 mins. Most injections into a vein work in about 2-5 minutes. Nothing works immediately.

Q: Can you drug someone by stabbing them in the neck with a needle? A: I mean, the drug will probably get into them that way, but you're very unlikely to hit a vein and very likely to hit something you could hurt, like a nerve or the windpipe. Best case you're probably going to hit a muscle (see above for onset times).

Q: What's a drug with an easy antidote? A: Insulin or an opioid. With insulin the antidote is sugar, with an opioid the antidote is naloxone which you can get without a prescription in many places.

Q: I need a general anesthetic that a lay person can administer.... In an apocalypse. A: It's Ether. You can make it with everclear and a car battery.

Q: Are people always monitored in a hospital? A: No. What monitoring they get is completely dependent on why they're in the hospital. Most people in a hospital are not monitored at all beyond vitals every 12 hours.

Q: Are people always shirtless in the hospital? A: No. Usually they wear hospital gowns.

Q: What does TV get wrong about hospitals? A: How pretty people are. Normally people are all bruised up, haven't bathed in days and are covered with tape.

Q: What antibiotics should I stockpile? A: Ideally, none. Unless you are a literal doctor and know how to use them.

Q: When do you restrain someone in a hospital? A: Only when they are a danger to themselves and the staff and nothing else is working to decrease that danger.

Q: What drugs are used to restrain someone? A: Usually haloperidol, diphenhydramine, and lorazepam.

Q: How does someone get a keraunographic marking? A: By being near a lightning strike. They only last a few days, though.

Q: Can you breathe with no heartbeat? A: No

Q: What does defibrillation do? A: It briefly stops the heart in the hope that it will restart in a normal rhythm.

Q: Do I have to break ribs if I'm doing CPR? A: Depends on your patient. A kid is less likely to have broken ribs after CPR, but an older adult is probably going to have broken ribs. It just kind of depends on the patient.

Q: What blood types can give/receive from each other? A: A-  can give to  A-, A+, AB-, AB+ A+ can give to  A+, AB+ B- can give to B-, B+, AB-, AB+ B+ can give to B+, AB+ AB- can give to AB-, AB+ AB+ can give to AB+ O- can give to A-, A+, B-, B+, AB-, AB+, O-, O+ (generally, O- can give to any recipient) O+ can give to A+, B+, AB+, O+

A- can receive from A-, O- A+ can receive from A-, A+, O-, O+ B- can receive from B-, O- B+ can receive from B-, B+, O-, O+ AB- can receive from A-, B-, AB-, O- AB+ can receive from A-, A+, B-, B+, AB-, AB+, O-, O+ (generally, AB+ can receive from any donor) O- can receive from O- O+ can receive from O-, O+

Q: How do I make someone unconscious without hurting them? A: Unconciousness is difficult to achieve without running the serious risk of killing or disabling them for a long time. We're talking weeks or months of disability after a head injury that knocked someone out. Probably the best way is to try to drug someone to the point where they wouldn't remember what happened/would sleep really readily, but they could still maintain their airway.

Q: What does trauma mean in a hospital context? A: Any injury is considered trauma, while an illness is not.

Q: What does the path through the hospital/recovery look like for a trauma victim? Emergency department > Surgery > ICU if bad enough > Med Surg floor > rehab if unable to safely return home yet > home. They might bounce back and forth between these a few times depending on needs.

Q: How does amnesia work? A: The most common types of amnesia are amnesia of events just before or just after an injury, as well as difficulty forming memories after an injury. Amnesia of one's entire life while retaining skills and language, though a good story element, is not a thing that happens physically. A guy named Ansel Bourne just forgot who he was one time psychogenically and we've been making that happen in fiction ever since.

Q: Can I make IV fluids myself at home? How can I administer them? A: With the right equipment, maybe. But rectoclysis is safer.

#writing reference #whump

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woo yeah woo yeah a blurb for Sunshine All the Time exists now

its under the cut yippeeeeeeeeee

Twins Aryaea and Immerlias have spent the first 50 years of their life mostly confined to their hometown and nation, Hafalia. Ready to see the world, the two have planned a trip for themselves that will take them on travels far and wide, much to the chagrin of their parents, who would rather see them safe. When this minor disagreement explodes into a huge argument, both sides worry they may have torn a rift in their family that will never fully heal, and yet refuse to budge.

Meanwhile, forgotten gods walk the earth once more, alongside some that never left at all. Old debts must be repaid, and a dark threat looms over the world, soon to rise again. Ancient magic and artifacts of legend will be needed to fend off the potential end of the world—and this family's drama is at the center of it all. The task at hand is easier said than done: face the past and mend the pain it has caused, or let this argument tear their family and the world apart.

#my writing #wip: satt

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I love Eshowi so so much like I absolutely adore her she spontaneously combusts and she's got that doomed by the narrative rizz

#SHE HAS NOT LEFT MY MIND FOR DAYS #if anyone wants to send asks about her I'd be happy to answer em btw #head full of scrambled eggs #oc: eshowi

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If you're anything like me and really struggle to say or even let yourself think that your writing is "good" or [insert positive descriptor here] I really recommend doing a "Positivity Pass".

The idea is simple: read your work, and type answers to the questions: What do I like about this scene? What made me laugh? What evoked an emotion? Which part is my favourite?

Sometimes I answer the first question and sometimes I answer all of them, because over time its becoming easier to just let myself be happy and acknowledge that I've created a thing that I like. And of course, you can make up your own questions.

I think the important thing is to actually type out my answers. It feels more concrete and convincing to my brain that way, especially because I can go back and re-read my answers and think "yeah! that bit was funny, actually!"

Anyway I'm sure something like this has been recommended and spoken about before, but I honestly just kind of stumbled into doing this before I begin revising my novel (I am reverse outlining, heyooo), and it's made me feel so much better and more excited to dig into edits 😊

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can't wait for the campaign I'm playing the Spuneras in to start so I can be even sillier about them!!! god they're just so excellent and I wanna talk more about their past

#oc: valrynn #oc: lumarin

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10 and 19 for Creed for OC asks! :)

thank you for the ask!!!!

10. What's your oc's greatest weakness?

probably the self-destructive tendencies! and ruthlessness in that when he has a goal he will Pursue It relentlessly at any cost to himself or others

19. Does your oc have any defining skills? How did they acquire/learn these skills?

well for the most part its sailor stuff, because that was his career, but also, he is familiar with brewing various forms of alcohol, because he grew up in a tavern and that was also his career for a while

ty again for the ask!!

#asks #ask game #oc: creed #aauauugh I cannot remember if you had a moot tag #yourlocal-lichen

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1, 4, 5, 17

YAYYYY THANK YOU BAT FOR THE ASK

1. What is your ocs full name? Does this name have any special meaning/history?

their full names are Valrynn and Lumarin Spunera, and I cannot share the special meaning/history there because other players in the campaign follow me and I don't wanna spoil anything lol

4. Does your oc have a defining physical trait? What makes this feature unique?

yes!! they have a giant dark birthmark on their face from one twin absorbing the other in utero. since this is dnd fantasy land where elves are reincarnated this resulted in two elves sharing a body :)

5. Does your oc have a defining personality trait? Why does this trait define them?

I don't wanna label anything as "defining" too hard yet but:

Val's really big-hearted and emotional, and she goes out of her way to do things for people. this also means she's a bit of a pushover/people-pleaser tho

and Lumarin is honestly pretty headstrong I suppose? not only in a way opposite to Val (as in, he won't take the same shit as her) but he's very set in his view of the world and rejects challenges to it

17. What’s your oc’s biggest aspiration in life? Why?

their biggest aspiration is a goal they've already achieved: become part of the Krynn Dynasty's military. I could go on, but again, other players follow me lol

THANK YOU again for the ask cause I am so silly about these guys rn!!!!

#asks #ask game #bat permanent tag #oc: valrynn #oc: lumarin

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19 FOR THE SILLY SPUNERA SYSTEM !!!!

YIPPEEEE THANK YOU FOR THE ASK

so there's the obvious of murderizing people that comes with being a barbarian but there's more than that also!!

Lumarin is really good at games and gambling because he's a cool and social little guy who tries hard to make friends. he's also picked up woodcarving/whittling, mostly because it keeps him occupied in his spare time and ze likes to make things with his hands

Valrynn can play the viol! or maybe some other stringed instrument if I backtrack. I think it would be vibey if xe could play the cello for example but the rulebooks are kind of specific on what instruments you can pick up so I do have to ask about that. plus cellos aren't exactly portable so idk how much chance she'd have to play one. but anyway she's also very skilled with calligraphy. definitely has the better handwriting of the two but she likes the fancy lettering

Lumarin mostly taught himself to play the games, but the other skills were taught to them by their master :)

#master in the sense of like. a mentor to be clear #oc: valrynn #oc: lumarin #asks #ask game #leo <3

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Oc Ask Game - The Basics

Learn about each others writings, ocs, and so much more!

For this ask game, choose an original character and a number, and send an ask to the writer who reblogged this. Remember, be polite!

1. What is your ocs full name? Does this name have any special meaning/history?

2. Does your oc have any nicknames? How did they get these nicknames?

3. How old is your oc?

4. Does your oc have a defining physical trait? What makes this feature unique?

5. Does your oc have a defining personality trait? Why does this trait define them?

6. What’s your oc’s current job and what’s their dream job? Do these jobs differ?

7. How would you describe your oc’s style? How would they describe their style?

8. What is your oc’s relationship status? Are they content with this?

9. How would you describe your oc’s personality? How would they describe their personality?

10. What’s your oc’s greatest weakness?

11. What’s your oc’s greatest strength?

12. What is your oc’s biggest fear? Why?

13. What is your oc’s most prized possession? What’s the importance/meaning behind this item?

14. Does your oc have any hobbies? How did they get involved in these?

15. What’s your oc’s favorite color? Does this color have any special meaning/symbolism?

16. What’s your oc’s favorite food? Why is this their favorite food?

17. What’s your oc’s biggest aspiration in life? Why?

18. What’s your oc’s relationship like with their family?

19. Does your oc have any defining skills? How did they acquire/learn these skills?

20. What does your oc’s bedroom/house look like? How does this reflect their personality?

#ask game #answering these for the spunera system

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why are so many ask games in that awful small text.

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need to find a good ask game for my new ocs