#a cheery campfire/spit for “us” and a wildfire/controlled blaze for “them”

[witchofthesouls]

I wish the Lost Colonies' cultures and biological quirkw had been delved deeper, especially how they would viciously clash with modern Cybertron, both pre- and post-War.

I mean, I think it's really interesting juxtaposition between the deep scars of Functionism versus the other worlds' sources of prejudice and discrimination. Camien devotion and deification of Solus versus a Cybertron with no femmes with Megatron's and Optimus' cult of personality as well as atheism and agnosticism, especially among their respective inner circles. Cybertron's complete desolation and Eukaris' lush and lively greenery. The meritocracy of racing-obsessed Velocitron. Prion had minicons with multiple alts, and Devisiun yielded split-spark twins. The people of Carcer are those of wardens living in a prison.

Do the Camiens think of their Titan's homeworld as cold and lonely? Would they think of those from Cybertron suffering from disorders from the lack of close, intimate connections and no true community?

Velocritron descended from the scientists of Navitas, and they utilized the scorching heat to derive alternative sources of fuel. Do they scorn the deprived worlds for not searching for solutions?

How do the Eukarians view the others that cyberformed their planets? Do they see Cybertron and the others as sterile and lifeless; their civility is a cheap, hollow mimicry that hides their teeth and claws?

The Carcerians developed an austere culture that prioritized keeping their Titan on complete lockdown to the point sacrificing themselves to achieve that goal. How do they view Caminus' offering to dismantle himself so his own children can thrive in such a harsh environment?

How do diplomacy and common courtesy differ from each planet? The language and food? The behaviors? The relations with nearby neighbors, both mechanical and organic?

#transformers idw #idw #mtmte #transformers #titans #cybertronian culture #cybertronian biology #caminus #carcer #navitus #chela #prion #culture clash #cultural misunderstandings #maccadam #my thoughts #my writing #i think it's really curious that Windblade (the cityspeaker) fell deep into Cybertron whereas Chromia wanted to go #Caminus prides on connections but he still served Solus who was essentially a Warlord Prime #im wondering if camiens nurtured an “us vs them” mentality #a cheery campfire/spit for “us” and a wildfire/controlled blaze for “them” #essentially windblade views Cybertron as a natural extension of Caminus #whereas chromia views them as outsiders and they need to gtfo

[writinggeisha]

Fire, flames, inferno …

Since ancient times, humans have known about fire. We have feared it, welcomed its warmth, and harnessed its power.

John Wesley said that if you catch on fire, people will come for miles to see you burn. He understood the intrinsic attraction flames represent for most people.

The Greek philosopher Plutarch said that the mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled.

One of Ray Bradbury’s characters in Fahrenheit 451 voiced his thoughts about fire: “It’s perpetual motion; the thing man wanted to invent but never did. … If you let it go on, it’d burn our lifetimes out. … It’s a mystery. … Its real beauty is that it destroys responsibility and consequences. … Antibiotic, aesthetic, practical.”

Would your WIP benefit from a few flames?

Adjectives

Careful selection of adjectives reveals opinions.

An arsonist might refer to a structure fire as irresistible, majestic, or resplendent. However, a fire fighter might view it as catastrophic, devastating, or uncontrolled. A couple in love might gaze at the flames in a fireplace and consider them beautiful, cheerful, or romantic. An ancient priest?  Perhaps his fire is ceremonial, holy, or sacred.

Choose descriptors with care, researching the definitions if necessary. For example, pyrotechnic refers to grandiose displays such as fireworks or a rock band’s lightshow, while pyrotechny, although sometimes used interchangeably with pyrotechnic, more correctly refers to the use of fire in alchemy.

Beware flammable and inflammable. Some readers will think the first word means “to catch fire easily,” while the second means “impervious to fire.” But they share the same definition: “easily set on fire.” Better to stick with straightforward words such as combustible and fireproof.

In addition to the words in the following list, many adjectives can be created by adding -ing or -ed to verbs.

A Ablaze, accidental, aflame, alight, angry

B Benign, beautiful, blinding, bright, brilliant, brisk, brutal

C Capricious, catastrophic, celestial, ceremonial, cheerful, cheery, chemical, clean-burning, cleansing, close, coal, cold, concentrated, constant, contained, cozy, cruel

D Dangerous, dead, deadly, deliberate, deliberately set, dense, destructive, devastating, disastrous, distant, divine, dormant

E Effulgent, electrical, elemental, empyreal, endless, enraged, erratic, ethereal, everlasting, evil, expansive, explosive

F Feeble, fiendish, fierce, forked, furious

G Gas, ghostly, glorious, greedy

H Harmless, hazardous, heavenly, hellish, historic, holy, huge, hungry

I Impure, incandescent, incessant, indefatigable, ineffectual, inefficient, infernal, infinite, innocuous, insatiable, intense, invincible, invisible, irresistible

L Latent, life-threatening, liquid, live, luminous

M Magical, majestic, malevolent, malignant, massive, memorable, merciless, molten, monstrous, murderous, mystical

N Noiseless, noisy

O Open, out-of-control

P Pentecostal, perpetual, persistent, phantom, phosphorous, pitiless, pleasant, portentous, potent, purgatorial, purposeless, pyrotechnic

Q Quenchless

R Radiant, radioactive, random, rapid, ravenous, raw, red-hot, relentless, resplendent, righteous, rolling, romantic, ruthless

S Sacred, sacrificial, savage, silent, sinister, slow, sluggish, small, smokeless, sporadic, subterranean, sulfurous, suspicious, swift

T Terrible, thermonuclear, thick, torrid

U Unceasing, uncontrollable, uncontrolled, unending, unexpected, unholy, unquenchable, unremitting, untamed, useful, useless

V Vehement, vicious, vigorous, volatile, volcanic

W Wanton, warm, wasteful, wayward, welcome, white-hot, widespread, wild, wondrous, wood-burning, wrathful

Similes and Metaphors

Many similes and metaphors border on cliché. Try to replace them with more direct terms (except in dialogue). For example:

Hot as fire: blistering, boiling, broiling, searing, sizzling, torrid

Like a house on fire: fast, speedy; dynamic, robust, vigorous

Spread like wildfire: disseminate or circulate rapidly

Fire of passion: ardor, fervor, fever, hunger, lust

Fiery anger: fury, outrage, rage, wrath

Colors

Many fuels produce colorful flames. Pyrotechnics displays take advantage of this fact.

Blue: butane, copper chloride (cuprous chloride)

Green: borax, (laundry additive, ant traps), boric acid, copper sulfate (cupric sulfate)

Orange: calcium chloride, sodium chloride (table salt)

Pink: potassium chloride

Red: lithium chloride, strontium chloride, strontium nitrate

Yellow: barium chloride

Carbon monoxide burns orange or yellow, whereas a properly functioning gas stove will burn blue. Hot candle flames are light blue, cooling to yellow, then orange, and finally, red.

Verbs (1)

Characters might:

Add paper, coal, or wood to a fire

Blow on a fire

Build a fire

Bury a fire, embers, or coals

Cast fireballs

Cloak a fire

Conceal a fire

Cook over a fire

Cuddle next to a fire

Discharge tendrils of fire

Douse a fire with water, dirt, or sand

Dry hair, body, or clothing in front of a fire

Escape a fire

Extinguish a fire with water, dry chemicals, or sand

Fan a fire

Feed a fire

Fight a fire

Find a fire (perhaps by monitoring thermal images from an aircraft)

Fireproof an object

Fling fireballs

Fling tendrils of fire

Gaze into a fire

Hurl fireballs

Ignite a fire

Kindle a fire

Light a fire

Nestle next to a fire

Put out a fire

Quench a fire

Set fire to something

Set something ablaze, aflame, or afire

Shoot fiery arrows

Snuff out a fire

Snuggle in front of a fireplace

Spit-roast meat over an open fire or hot coals

Squat next to a fire

Stare into a fire

Stir a fire

Stoke a fire

Tend to a fire

Throw wet sacks over a fire

Torture someone with fire

Toss something into a fire

Warm oneself by a fire

Watch a fire

Worship fire

Verbs (2)

Fire or flames might:

A Advance, ascend, assault, attack

B Bake, belch, besiege, blacken, blanket, blast, blaze, blister, blossom, blow out, boil, burn (down, out), burst (out, through)

C Carbonize, cascade, cast a glow, catch, cavort, char, chase, cleanse, combust, confuse, consume, cook, coruscate, cover, crackle, creep, cremate

D Damage, dance, decimate, deflagrate, deluge, destroy, devour, die

E Eat, embrace, engulf, enkindle, explode

F Fizzle (out), flame (out, up), flare (up), flash, flicker, fly, follow, frighten, fulgurate

G Glare, gleam, glow, gorge, grope (for), gush (up)

H Harden, heat, hiss, hurdle, hurtle

I Ignite, illuminate, immolate, incinerate, inundate, invite

K Kill, kindle

L Lap, lash, leap (into life), lick, light (up), linger, loom

M Mesmerize, move

O Overtake, overwhelm

P Play, pop, purify

R Race, radiate, rage, rampage, reach (for), retreat, rip through, roar, roast

S Scintillate, scorch, sear, shoot, simmer, singe, sizzle, smoke, smolder, snake through, snap, spark, speed, spill, splutter, spread, sputter, start, surge, swallow, sweep (over, through), swelter, swirl

T Tear through, threaten, twinkle

W Wander, whip, whisper

Many water words can also be applied to fire.

Nouns

There is a huge difference between a campfire and a wildfire, a fireball and a firestorm. A few nouns that could replace fire include:

Avalanche of flames, ball of fire, blaze, bonfire, brushfire, bushfire, campfire, conflagration, curtain of flames, fireball, firestorm, flames, forest fire, grassfire, inferno, sea of flames, sheet of flames, tsunami of flames, wall of flames, wildfire

Props

Props, whether objects, events, or people, add to a storyline:

A Accelerant, alarm, alert, ambulance, arson, arsonist, ash, ax

B Backdraft, barbecue, barricade, bellows, blister, blowtorch, boiler, bomb, bottle bomb, brazier, broiler, bucket brigade, burns, bush, butane

C C-4, candle, chain reaction, charcoal, chemicals, chimney, cigarette butt, cinders, clinkers, coal, combustibles, combustion, cookstove, cremation

D Dynamite

E Embers, EMT, explosives

F Fire brigade, fire department, fire eater, fire escape, fire extinguisher, fire hose, fire insurance, fire pumps, fire ring, fire screen, fire striker, fire trench, fire triangle, fire warden, fire watch, firebrand, firebreak, firebug, firecrackers, firedamp, firefighter, fireplace, firestop, fire-suppression system, fireworks, flame-keeper, flamethrower, flammability, flash, flashover, flashpoint, flint, foam, fuel, fumes, furnace

G Gas, gas lamp, gas leak, gas stove, gases, glare, glow, grill

H Halon, hearth, heat, heat sensor, heat signature, heater, heat-resistant clothing or uniform, hellfire, hoops of fire, hose, hose nozzle, hydrant, hydrazine

I IED, ignition, illusionist, incandescence, incendiary device, infrared energy, insurance, intensity, investigation

J Jet, jet fuel

K Kerosene, kerosene heater, kiln, kindling

L Laser, lava, lighter, lighter fluid, lightning, logs, luminosity

M Magician, magnesium, matches, meth lab, Molotov cocktail

N Napalm, natural gas, necromancer, nitroglycerine

O Oast, odor, oil, oil drum, oil tanker, origin, oven

P Paramedic, petrol, petrol bomb, petroleum, plasma, police, potassium, prevention, propane, propane tank, pyre, pyromania, pyrophobia, pyrotechny

R Rescue vehicle, retardant, risk, rocket, Roman candle

S Sacrifice, shovel, siren, smell, smoke, smoke detector, smoke signals, soot, sorcerer, sparks, sparkler, speed, spontaneous combustion, sprinkler system, sprinklers, suppressant, swath

T Thermal camera, thermal imager, thermal images, thermal radiation, tinder, TNT, toaster, toaster oven, torch, trees, trench

V Victims, volcano, volunteers

W Warlock, water main, welder’s mask, wick, witch, wizard, wood, woodpile

Z Zip fuel

Clichés and Idioms

Too many repetitions of fire in your WIP? Locate phrases such as the following and replace them with shorter alternatives.

Fight fire with fire: counter, fight back, get even, retaliate

Fire in one’s blood: ardor, fervor, passion, zeal

Fire of life: elan, enthusiasm, gusto, vigor, vivacity

Go up in flames: be destroyed, burn, combust, disappear, explode

Light a fire under: coerce, impel, induce, prod, push, urge

Pass through the fire: desensitize, harden, inure, test, toughen

Play with fire: endanger, gamble, jeopardize, risk

Too many irons in the fire: inundated, overwhelmed, swamped

Trial by fire: gauntlet, ordeal, stress, test

#links #tools #advice #word lists