#there are RULES to conveying the right emotion

[physalian]

How to make your writing sound less stiff

Just a few suggestions. You shouldn’t have to compromise your writing style and voice with any of these, and some situations and scenes might demand some stiff or jerky writing to better convey emotion and immersion. I am not the first to come up with these, just circulating them again.

1. Vary sentence structure.

This is an example paragraph. You might see this generated from AI. I can’t help but read this in a robotic voice. It’s very flat and undynamic. No matter what the words are, it will be boring. It’s boring because you don’t think in stiff sentences. Comedians don’t tell jokes in stiff sentences. We don’t tell campfire stories in stiff sentences. These often lack flow between points, too.

So funnily enough, I had to sit through 87k words of a “romance” written just like this. It was stiff, janky, and very unpoetic. Which is fine, the author didn’t tell me it was erotica. It just felt like an old lady narrator, like Old Rose from Titanic telling the audience decades after the fact instead of living it right in the moment. It was in first person pov, too, which just made it worse. To be able to write something so explicit and yet so un-titillating was a talent. Like, beginner fanfic smut writers at least do it with enthusiasm.

2. Vary dialogue tag placement

You got three options, pre-, mid-, and post-tags.

Leader said, “this is a pre-dialogue tag.”

“This,” Lancer said, “is a mid-dialogue tag.”

“This is a post-dialogue tag,” Heart said.

Pre and Post have about the same effect but mid-tags do a lot of heavy lifting.

They help break up long paragraphs of dialogue that are jank to look at

They give you pauses for ~dramatic effect~

They prompt you to provide some other action, introspection, or scene descriptor with the tag. *don't forget that if you're continuing the sentence as if the tag wasn't there, not to capitalize the first word after the tag. Capitalize if the tag breaks up two complete sentences, not if it interrupts a single sentence.

It also looks better along the lefthand margin when you don’t start every paragraph with either the same character name, the same pronouns, or the same “ as it reads more natural and organic.

3. When the scene demands, get dynamic

General rule of thumb is that action scenes demand quick exchanges, short paragraphs, and very lean descriptors. Action scenes are where you put your juicy verbs to use and cut as many adverbs as you can. But regardless of if you’re in first person, second person, or third person limited, you can let the mood of the narrator bleed out into their narration.

Like, in horror, you can use a lot of onomatopoeia.

Drip Drip Drip

Or let the narration become jerky and unfocused and less strict in punctuation and maybe even a couple run-on sentences as your character struggles to think or catch their breath and is getting very overwhelmed.

You can toss out some grammar rules, too and get more poetic.

Warm breath tickles the back of her neck. It rattles, a quiet, soggy, rasp. She shivers. If she doesn’t look, it’s not there. If she doesn’t look, it’s not there. Sweat beads at her temple. Her heart thunders in her chest. Ba-bump-ba-bump-ba-bump-ba- It moves on, leaving a void of cold behind. She uncurls her fists, fingers achy and palms stinging from her nails. It’s gone.

4. Remember to balance dialogue, monologue, introspection, action, and descriptors.

The amount of times I have been faced with giant blocks of dialogue with zero tags, zero emotions, just speech on a page like they’re notecards to be read on a stage is higher than I expected. Don’t forget that though you may know exactly how your dialogue sounds in your head, your readers don’t. They need dialogue tags to pick up on things like tone, specifically for sarcasm and sincerity, whether a character is joking or hurt or happy.

If you’ve written a block of text (usually exposition or backstory stuff) that’s longer than 50 words, figure out a way to trim it. No matter what, break it up into multiple sections and fill in those breaks with important narrative that reflects the narrator’s feelings on what they’re saying and whoever they’re speaking to’s reaction to the words being said. Otherwise it’s meaningless.

—

Hope this helps anyone struggling! Now get writing.

[jane-asmo]

Why I think Caitlyn didn’t ask Vi for forgiveness

(Thank 'anons' for your messages. I’ll try to respond to you through this text: )

The importance of Caitlyn’s “I know”

A key moment in Caitlyn’s character narrative is her “I know”—both its content and delivery.

The content: When Caitlyn says, “I know,” it doesn’t just mean “You’re right.” It means, “I’ve taken the time to think about this.” And thinking is what Caitlyn does best. Her “I know” conveys that she has already had this conversation with herself, over and over in her head. She’s thought about it constantly, she’s already told herself these things, and she’s already blamed herself for them.

The delivery: She screams it with violence, and we can see this represented by the boat falling apart. It’s not just that she has thought about it; it’s tormenting her. Her “I know” is incredibly powerful because it’s filled with suffering.

To me, this is as valid as an apology because asking for forgiveness is outward-facing—focused on the other person. "Asking for forgiveness" says, “Whether I’ve forgiven myself or not, whether I feel guilty or not, it’s on you to decide to forgive me.”

But here, Caitlyn’s “I know” is inward-facing. It means, “I’m not asking you to forgive me because I can’t even forgive myself.”

She knows everything you’re saying, and it torments her.

This is followed by:

"I didn’t even have time to think before they hauled her off."

This line is so telling. Everything about Caitlyn is tied to thinking and reflection.

Being a sniper means aiming and shooting. Aiming is the equivalent of thinking, and shooting is the equivalent of speaking. Everything Caitlyn does is deliberate and thought through.

This is why some people dislike her: as I’ve said before, unlike other characters, Caitlyn’s actions can’t be forgiven easily because she doesn’t do anything by accident.

Then we get to:

"We can’t erase our mistakes. None of us."

Caitlyn speak in “we.”

In the prison scene with Jinx:

"No amount of good deeds can undo our crimes."

This scene mirrors the rage she felt when she threw the boat. In this moment, she’s speaking to Jinx, but also to herself.

Caitlyn and Jinx are paralleled so many times throughout the show. Caitlyn quickly realized that, in some ways, she had become like Jinx. And so, in order to forgive Jinx, she would first have to forgive herself.

At this point in the episode, the person Caitlyn hates the most is herself.

But she no longer has the "energy" to hate, neither Jinx nor herself.

Energy comes from fuel. What she perceives as a lack of strength to keep fighting is simply the fact that the fuel that powered her hatred has disappeared. And when you stop feeding a fire, it eventually dies out. She has no energy left; she has no fuel to sustain her hatred.

It's a particular way of saying, I don’t hate you anymore, and I don’t want to hate myself anymore either, because in the end, that hatred corrupts us/everything .

In her own unique way, Jinx also says, I didn’t know your mother was there, even if it wouldn’t have changed anything. And this too is a strange way of taking a step toward the other.

We have two brilliant and intelligent women who express their emotions in unconventional ways. ----------

There’s also a whole analysis that could be done about her concept of justice and rules, "but I don’t have the energy" to dive into that here. Still, it would only lead back to the fact that Caitlyn doesn’t see herself as the right person to free Jinx (and therefore to forgive her) because she believes she herself is beyond forgiveness.

[whispers-whump]

Some writing advice

that I like to use when I write. None of this is meant to be taken as hard and fast rules, they’re just things I like to do/keep in mind when I’m writing and I thought maybe other people would enjoy! <3

Never say what you mean

This is an offshoot of the very common “show don’t tell” advice, which I think can be confusing in application and unhelpful for scenes where telling is actually the right move. Instead, I keep the advice to never say exactly what I mean in stories.

By using a combination of showing and telling to hint at what you really mean, you force your reader to think and figure it out on their own, which makes for a more satisfying reading experience.

You might show a character getting angry and defensive in response to genuine care and concern. You could tell the audience that the character doesn’t see/talk to their parents often. But never outright give the real meaning that the character feels unlovable because of their strained relationship with their parents and as a result they don’t know how to react to being cared for.

Your readers are smart, you don’t need to spoon feed them.

Be sparse with the important things

You know how in a lot of movies there’s that tense scene where a character is hiding from something/someone and you can only just see this person/thing chasing them through a crack in the door? You get a very small glimpse of whatever’s after the character, sometimes only shadows being visible.

Do that in your writing. Obscure the important things in scenes by overdescribing the unimportant and underdescribing the important.

You might describe the smell of a space, the type of wood the floor is made of, the sound of work boots moving slowly across the room, a flashlight in the character’s hand. And there’s a dead body, laying in a pool of blood in the far corner of the room, red soaking into the rug. Then move on, what kind of rug is it? What is the color, patterns, and type of fabric of the rug?

Don’t linger on the details of the body, give your reader’s imagination some room to work while they digest the mundane you give them.

Dialogue is there to tell your story too

There’s a lot of advice out there about how to make dialogue more realistic, which is absolutely great: read aloud to yourself, put breaks where you feel yourself take a breath, reword if you’re stuttering over your written dialogue. But sometimes, in trying to make dialogue sound more realistic, a little bit of its function is lost.

Dialogue is more than just what your characters say, dialogue should serve a purpose. It’s a part of storytelling, and it can even be a bridging part of your narration.

If you have a scene with a lot of internal conflict that is very narration-heavy, breaking it up with some spoken dialogue can be a way to give some variety to those paragraphs without moving onto a new idea yet; people talk to themselves out loud all of the time.

Dialogue is also about what your characters don’t say. This can mean the character literally doesn’t say anything, they give half-truths, give an expected answer rather than the truth (“I’m fine”), omit important information, or outright lie.

Play with syntax and sentence structure

You’ve heard this advice before probably. Short, choppy sentences and a little onomatopoeia work great for fast-paced action scenes, and longer sentences with more description help slow your pacing back down.

That’s solid advice, but what else can you play with? Syntax and sentence structure are more than just the length of a sentence.

Think about things like: repetition of words or ideas, sentence fragments, stream of consciousness writing, breaking syntax conventions, and the like. Done well, breaking some of those rules we were taught about language can be a more compelling way to deliver an emotion, theme, or idea that words just can’t convey.

Would love to hear any other tips and tricks other people like to use, so feel free to share!!!

[runningwithscizzorz]

(1)Learn the rules before you break them + Gather proper references

(2) Understand what you want to break and how

(3) Can't do it? Find someone who can

(4) It's going to look really bad for a while

(5) Have fun with it!

(1) -Yes, I am that kind of artist. Yet, not in the conventional way. I encourage people to go in guns blazing when it comes to drawing something new, then coming out analyzing what they know, and what they need to learn more of right away.

-Here, I broke down the anatomical pieces of Nour and Narinder's face with the same labels so you guys can understand this weird invisible pattern that I follow in my work. Doing this with any animal you're attempting to draw greatly improves your line confidence when drawing different face shapes. Also understanding the biological function for why animals look a certain way helps you keep consistency.

(3) Time to throw any artistic guilt you have for heavily referencing people's art OUT THE WINDOW and start ANALYZING PEOPLE'S WORK YOU WANT TO BE LIKE✨ I've always done this, having a reference of someone else's amazing work right next to my own drawing so I can try and understand how they make their magic work! No shame, no embarrassment, nada. Pure, unadulterated will and spite that I would be just as good as the artist who made me so motivated and happy with their work! I couldn't figure out how to make Nour's face both sheep-like, and humanly expressive, so I looked at a LOT of Zootopia and old Disney art for help!

(2) With how I draw narilamb, I'm still working on it (as you can see) but I wanted to break Narinder's face to be fluffier and slimmer, while Nour's face would be shorter and flatter. If you look at it for too long, it's absolutely going to look weird, in the way that if you look at Anna from Frozen for too long she starts looking really weird. The anatomy isn't meant to be correct or consistent, it's meant to convey the emotion and energy I want out of the characters in that moment. If you're able to properly get that across, then you don't need to think about how broken something looks, as long as your eye is happy enough to trick your brain into thinking what you're seeing is canny.

(4) Yeah, I hate this part too. It's going to look like shit at first. I can't even look at my art from a few months ago when I was figuring out their designs... God, so fucking ugly. If it weren't for the shittiness of those drawings, I would have never gotten here! Wading through the "trust the process" stage always really sucks, but it's absolutely worth the relief of when you finally get something to look right.

(5) Art is work, yes. It's stressful, it's long, it's straining, its draining, it's exclaiming, blah blah blah. But, I try to keep my art FUN. If I find my artwork becoming slow as I depressingly drag my pen over my tablet, I'm failing. You MUST keep spirit and life in your work. The spirit of emptiness or the life of sadness can have a very meaningful place in art, but those can only exist with keeping work light, easy, and fun! If you're stressing how a specific thing looks or how you can't get something to look right no matter what, FUCK IT. Draw something to bring the flavor back in your work! I'm kind of rambling, but just, HAVE FUN!✨️ Be messy, scream, laugh, slash canvases, throw paint, smash sculptures, tear apart books, GO CRAZY

[neil-gaiman]

In 2012 the University of the Arts awarded you an honorary doctorate. And you gave a beautiful commencement address. May 31st UArts abruptly announced it was ceasing all operations and closing for good on June 7th. There was no warning, no sign. It was a shock to everyone. Over 600 faculty and staff have lost their jobs. I am one of them. Over 1,300 students have two months to find new schools who will accept them and the incoming freshman class of 400 has been left high and dry. The media has been saying “heartbreaking” and “devastating” a lot, but there are no words that truly convey the emotions.

In the midst of all this, our library staff sent out its last monthly email. They ended with a quote from your 2012 commencement speech, thanking you for providing us with such wise words. You said, "And now go and make interesting mistakes, make amazing mistakes, make glorious and fantastic mistakes. Break rules. Leave the world more interesting for your being here. Make good art."

Thank you Neil, for having the right words for a difficult time. My colleagues and I read that quote, smiled, lifted our heads a little higher, and determined to find a new path for making good art.

I was heartbroken when I heard about the University of the Arts. I'm glad I was able to give something back to all of you.

[crheativity]

SUMMARY: Something goes wrong, and you’re in tears. How do the Overblot boys help you?

WARNINGS: Tried to keep things vague but sorry if it’s a lil too specific sometimes. Reader is Prefect. Written under a romantic presumption but could possibly be read platonic. The Hell Word pops up in Leona’s and Idia’s. Book 3, Book 4 and Book 6 spoilers in Leona’s, Jamil’s and Idia’s respectively. I wrote all of these late at night also, so fair warning

NOTES: sorry it’s been a while, life go brr. This is heavily self indulgent, and sorry if it’s OOC. Might do the others (First, Second & Third years) if enough people want it. 

Also, if you like this, please feel free to check out my Valentine’s Day Event!

He hesitates for a moment, hands hovering beside you as he thinks carefully about what to say. As he speaks, his voice begins to shake. 

“Thank you for trusting me of all people with your feelings and circumstances. I… I am so, so sorry, Prefect. I’m-- I wish I was good at this - there are no rules for comforting someone you care about - but I’ll do my best. I— I can’t imagine what it’s like, going through what you’re going through. What you’re about to be going through. But— of course, all of Heartslabyul and I are at your disposal. Anything, anything at all that would bring you a moment’s comfort or peace, please come to us. I— all of us care about you deeply. Please tell us what to do to assist.”

If you want it (and are willing to excuse a slightly flustered Riddle), he’ll give you a tight hug, trying to convey how much he cares about you. He hates that he struggles to talk about things like this. For you, he’ll do anything. Anything to bring your rosy smile back. And if anyone dares oppose him? Heads will roll. 

He’s been strangely quiet during your explanation, venting, tears - all of it. He waits until you’re finished - and then a moment longer, to consider his words. He reaches up to dry your tears. With his spare hand, he takes yours and pulls you a little closer, speaking in a low, gentle voice. 

“Oi, Herbivore, c’mere. It’ll be alright, you hear? You’re strong, shameless and crafty. Hell, you give that Octotwerp a run for his money. If you gotta fight tooth and claw to get through this, then I’ll fight with you, okay? Just— no more waterworks for now. Yeah, it sucks. But you’ve cried about things, so now you should have the strength to get up and stick through them. If that’s all you can manage, I’ll get Ruggie to take care of the rest. Just don’t push yourself right now, ‘kay? Good, now rest. You’ll need it after a sob-fest like that.“

He pulls you into a surprisingly gentle hug, rubbing circles on your arms. After a while, he’ll ask if you want to nap with him. Once you fall asleep, he’s calling Ruggie and making plans. No way in hell are you dealing with more than you have to. He’ll fight for you himself if he has to. 

Hearing the pain, the anguish and the tears in your voice, he has to fight back tears himself. He hesitantly reaches out for you. Pausing for a moment, he begins to speak, voice filled with emotion. 

“This is— I’m very, very sorry, Prefect. You do not deserve to go through this— any of this. Should you request anything at all, the Mostro Lounge will provide, free of charge, of course. If there is anything we— I— can do to ease your burdens, please do not hesitate to ask. The world can sometimes be a deeply flawed, unfair place. I wish that I had the power to better shield you from this side. I’m truly, very sorry, Prefect. Please know that I— we care about you. This world is a far better place for your presence in it. Please, let us return the favour for you.”

He (with permission) gently pulls you into a hug, holding you as though you were glass. He was going to find who- or whatever caused you to hurt like this and make their pitiful existence miserable. Those poor, unfortunate souls. 

As you confide in him, Jamil seems to turn strangely quieter than usual. His solution oriented mind begins to whir, thinking about what he can do to help, the logistics of it, etc. Your sniffling snaps him back into reality. Putting solutions aside for now, he reaches for your hands and squeezes them gently, offering you a small, sad smile.

“Hey, everything will work out. It sucks right now, obviously, but in a while, it’ll all be okay. That’s just the way life goes, for some reason. World shattering events can happen, but time marches on anyway. It’ll always drag you with it, too. What I mean is that because you’ll be okay eventually, it can help you be okay now. I guess. And we at Scarabia are always here for you, okay? Kalim’s… Kalim, and I’m always here for you if you need to vent or complain or if you need help. I’m never too busy if it’s you, alright? Just don’t bottle it up… that works out well.”

He smiles a little ruefully at that last comment, then takes off his hoodie and drapes it over you. He tells you to keep it - that way he’s always there with you if you need it. He squeezes your hands and rests his forehead against yours, comfortingly. Jamil wasn’t used to being quite so… hopeful. But you had helped him become better, and he wanted to return the favour.

Vil may be a good actor, but his thoughts were shockingly readable as you vented to him. He seemed to react correctly in all the right places, asking questions but never pressing for answers. When you finish, he gently reaches out and starts stroking your hair. He pulls you a little closer for comfort. He pauses for a moment, then begins to speak.

“I’m so sorry, Prefect. You do not deserve this - any of this. Pomefiore’s students and I are always here for you, no matter the need. Anything you need, it would be our honour and privilege to provide. In times such as these, I find taking care of oneself is extremely important. Not to the extent of perfectionism necessarily, but enough to bring you joy. So please, if it’s not too much trouble, please find one indulgent thing each day. Not something so unhealthy it’d ruin you, but something gentle and sweet. Like a bubble bath, or watching that movie you’ve mentioned wanting to see. It’s important to keep yourself as happy as you can, when life is attempting to do the opposite. And if you can’t think of anything, then please, come to me. Let me take care of you.”

He then, with permission, sweeps you into the biggest, comfiest, warmest hug you’ve ever experienced (Ghibli-style), and stays that way until you move. He wants to do so much more for you. He knows where you’re at, and, being the kind of person you are, he trusts you’ll know what’s best for yourself. He only hopes you let him take care of you, too.

Bro was low key in panic mode. What the hell is he supposed to say/do??? He really, really can’t afford to screw this up. He’s pretty sure he’d get a -1000 debuff to his Charisma stats if he doesn’t say the right thing. Usually, he wouldn’t particularly care if it was just some NPC he had to comfort - but this is the protagonist we’re talking about! And Ortho’s not here, just his luck! He sighs and his mind races back through every Otome/VN game he’s played and every shoujo romcom to figure out what in Twisted Wonderland he’s supposed to say.

“Uhh, that’s not very… plus ultra? Shoot, I mean-... That sounds really tough. I’m sorry, Prefect… Stuff like that is rough… I’m, uh, not the best person to go to for advice. Not particularly known for my ability to… handle stuff. mentally. But uh, I’m always here for a distraction if you need. That’s what I typically do. Distract until you don’t feel anymore haha… but uh, that’s probably not a good thing. Still, though. I’m always happy to play games or watch anime with you.. Or something. Those are my favourite things, not necessarily yours. We don’t have to. It’s honestly enough just to hang out with you… ugh, that was cringe, wasn’t it?”

Once you assure him that it was very much not cringe, he sighs in relief and gives you a small, soft smile - not an expression you’ve seen often on him. He reaches over and pulls out two controllers, throwing one to you. He boots up a game, commenting how he’s not gonna go easy on you just because you’re sad. You wouldn’t have it any other way.

You cautiously ignore the thunderstorm brewing outside as you vent to Malleus about your problems. You carefully construct your words and phrases, to protect Sage Island from month-long hurricanes. After you finish, Malleus asks if you are comfortable with physical affection. With consent, he pulls you into a hug. 

“Apologies, Child of Man, I am not familiar with methods of comfort. I will do my best - I only ask for your leniency if I say something wrong, and for you to understand that all I say is with the best intentions. I want you to know that I care about you. I believe it is important for those going through difficult periods of time to know where they have true friends. No matter what, Child of Man, I wish to be counted among those. If I am, and with your permission, I will enact all I can to assist you through and out of these situations. I only ask your patience. I promise, I will do whatever you require during this time. Only speak my name, and I will be there.”

Malleus continues to hold you gently, unsure about what to do or say from here, other than gently repeating he’s here for you. He stays there with you until you are ready to move on, then takes you for a walk around campus. And this time, he’ll only go on two tangents about gargoyles you pass.

♥Thank you for reading!! I hope you enjoyed it!!♥

[dragon-ascent]

Zhongli is normally a calm man...but his affection for you introduces him to an unfamiliar emotion.

Embarrassment was never in Zhongli's expansive dictionary. Not in the past thousands of years when he's asked humans some silly questions while ruling over them, and certainly not in the present when putting things on Wangsheng's tab when his own wallet is absent.

But now, you've joined the funeral parlor as an employee, and Zhongli had expressed the appropriate amount of curiosity about you; curiosity which soon turned into caring, and caring which gradually turned into attachment. Zhongli now likes you very much, something he hopes to convey to you when the time is right.

So now, whenever he does something strange that makes him look silly in front of you, he finds his cheeks burning hot with mortification.

Like the time he asks Xinyan to perform her rock music...at a funeral. When the debacle occurs, the rockstar raising a hue and cry at the preposterous request of the consultant, Zhongli catches you stifling a giggle out of the corner of his eye. Oh no, you find him silly..? He finds himself rather upset at the notion, a first for the nonchalant god.

"Aww, are you pouting, mister Zhongli?" you tease afterward, which makes his face burn even more as he hurriedly excuses himself. (He tries to discern in the mirror, later, whether his pout could have been seen as attractive.)

You and him are out on the way to see a client when you're accosted by a gang of Fatui. Zhongli disposes of them with ease, proudly returning to your side and glowing at your praise of his skill. "Oh, you've got a bit of dirt here..." You dust off the sleeve of his outfit, and Zhongli, normally unconcerned about the inevitable evidences of battle, finds himself blushing. How much cooler would he have looked to you if he'd beat them all up without a single mark on himself? Now he's just flustered.

He goes over conversation topics in his head, attempting to figure out what would best keep you engaged. He wants to share fun bits of knowledge with you, but how can he do that when 'fun' is subjective? Zhongli sincerely hopes you'll find Blackcliff Forge trivia interesting, for he might just crumble if you don't.

[ethtyn]

LET'S GO OUT WITH A BANG 🚦

taglist:

@ashiyn @single-malt-scotch @goodtimeswithetho @pebbltree @crabbunch @catmaidetho @amethyst-allium @stitchthesewords

sooooo ermm i guess i get to talk about this piece now YIPPEE

i am one of those people who's constantly trying to figure out what their own art style looks like LMFAO. i take frequent breaks from art due to mental health shit so it feels like every time i come back i'm trying to find my footing again.

that being said, i had a lot of caffeine yesterday and started this on a whim and it ended up being something i'm incredibly proud of. i think it helps that i've been redrawing old emotes for a friend's twitch channel, so figuring out which brushes i like right now was really helpful, and i ended up using my personal emote palette like...a lot. that pink in Etho's eye, the purple used for shading, most of the browns are all used in my own emotes. it's wild how much having colours already picked out streamlines things!

Etho is the one i started with, of course, and ended up being one that i went back to re-draw after i'd done...three? or four? more, because the sizing wasn't right and i wasn't happy with the posing. i still wish i could have conveyed him dipping his chin into his coat fluff a little better, but oh well. i thought of the little detail of him looking at Martyn's drawing at the last second (#ethtyn4life) and it made me laugh so i did it. points to you if you caught that!

Joel was the second - life!Joel has always been fey in my head, especially after that season when he just went batshit insane the second he turned red. can't explain it, that's just how it be. i tried to give him an air of subtle menace about him but i think he just looks sleepy 💀 i'd like to do these as individual, larger pieces at some point, so maybe i can work on that more then.

Grian was the third - he reminds me of a Lost Boy here and that wasn't intentional but the Lost Boys always kind of freaked me out and life!Grian's kinda freaky so i think it fits. his little smirk is so creepy and i love him.

i don't remember who i did next after this so we'll just go in order pfft

Bdubs is SO CUTE look at him. one of the few where i couldn't make a menacing expression work, and honestly with how good his profile turned out i barely mind. i did that side profile with no reference, y'all, idk what kind of crack i was on last night. what the hell. this was about the point where i started wanting to do little lore doodles for everybody so i added the clock face - i think it clashes with the red background but what can you do.

CLEOOOOOO CLEO CLEO. i LOVED drawing them, i think their design is one of my favourites of the bunch. her hair has always been snakes in my head and AGAIN i drew those with no reference, can you fucking believe that. i loved the little detail of some of the snakes poking at the people next to her, they're so cute hehe. also Cleo has freckles now, i'm so sorry but i don't make the rules. someone complimented the teeth in the reblogs and THANK YOU!! they're not quite anatomically correct but fuck it we ball and they look cool as hell anyway.

Martyn is so smug, i love him. points if you caught that he's looking at Cleo bc Double Life, i wanted to do something a lil different with him than just another straight up symmetry tool drawing and i think it fits. he is so eye-searing tho sir please tone it down.

Lizzie is fey just like her husband, and also she is smol. i don't think it's conveyed as well as i'd like here but i also didn't want her to look like a straight-up child so i did what i could. she is So Scary with those vacant blue eyes oh my god. and drawing her hair was sooooo fun i love long hair ahh

with Gem i basically smoothed out a rough design sketch i posted awhile back and i'm so proud of the little head cock she's got going on, she looks so cool. also her hair?? idk how i did that. i love her swoopy bangs so much.

Pearl is moth. Pearl will always be Moth. so she got lil antennae and big buggy eyes. drawing that hood was so satisfying, i used to try and draw Raven Teen Titans in high school and could never get the hood to look right so seeing this one come out perfectly was sooooo good. and of course had to include a teensy moon.

that's all i've got, i think - i feel myself crashing LMFAO. maybe at some point i'll come back and say more but here's this for now!

[gay-dorito-dust]

Hiii, could you write about reader being a support system for Caracalla and Geta? Mainly Geta? Cause Caracalla has his brother and Geta carried the burden of the empire and his brother's illness but who Geta had? 😭

Thanks

Words weren’t needed when you could clearly see the heaviness and exhaustion with Geta’s eyes and how lifeless he seemed as he gazed out to nowhere in particular. It was a sight you saw multiple times whenever you were called upon this late in the night, nights where you could tell the day had taken everything out of Geta in ways you wouldn’t truly understand, yet you could feel deep within your heart that the laurels upon his head weighed so heavily he might as well have the entirety of Rome slowly crushing him.

You knew how much pressure he was under and how tied his hands were with ruling Rome while also caring for Caracalla and his illness, you only knew this because besides from Geta himself you were Caracalla’s secondary support, only for times when he acts against himself if Geta himself was occupied elsewhere. You subconsciously rubbed the now healed scar upon your wrist that seemed to burn with remembrance of Caracalla’s last outburst where Geta was meeting with the senate, if only you had gotten the knife out of his reach in them to prevent your injury, however such an injury didn’t stop you from keeping a strong hold on the emperor as he continued to scream until his lungs gave out and he inevitably collapsed from exhaustion.

Tonight you knew was a heavier one as the air felt thick, felt stifling and borderline suffocating, almost as though with each breath you took you were unable to get back to your lungs like it didn’t belong to you anymore for it was someone else’s. ‘My emperor your eyes weigh heavier tonight than the last.’ You speak softly as you awaited for him to gesture for you to sit by him as per routine, wanting him to have a choice in something for once and to give him the freedom of choice in whether he wanted your company or not.

Geta maybe the emperor but something tells you that most of the time he didn’t feel as though he had any power to wield, for there will always be hushed words in the shadows behind his back praying upon a moment to dethrone him; only to replace him with a better fit as gradual trickles of paranoia and fears of betrayal bleeds into his mind. He was torn between Rome and his brother, yet he was lost and not willing to seek guidance from the very same people who ultimately lead him down the path they needed to be rid of him. Geta couldn’t make clear of his thoughts as they all seem to blur into one incomprehensible mess of chaos and doubt.

His deep brown eyes looked at you from between fingers as they conveyed every ounce of emotion he was feeling as tears silently streamed from them. Yet despite how pathetic he might feel, to you he looked ethereal when he was deep within his emotions and looked like the many sculptures and statues you seen, carefully crafted by gifted hands to be able to be seen as art even when rampant with conflicting emotions. Geta was a young man and right now he wasn’t ruthless or sadistic, he was alone and he was lost amidst all the chaos that happened under his reign, and was silently crying out for someone - maybe the gods- to hear his plea for help and aid.

So the gods sent you as his aid, his support and most trusted confidant that it scared Geta to no end how deep his faith in you was. Everyone else could betray him and yet he’d knew you stood firmly by him and Caracalla, you knew on a level which many didn’t and he couldn’t help that whenever he felt lost or hurt you were the one he’d always call upon, for he’d knew that you didn’t care whether it was day or night you would always be there should he ever need you; and right now he needed you more then ever before for the burden was far to heavy for him to carry alone anymore.

‘My eyes have always been heavy.’ Geta replied. ‘That much we’re both aware.’ he then extended his hand towards you, palm upwards in a silent gesture for you to take into you own, which you did as gently as you could by trailing your fingers across his open palm gingerly -and feeling him slightly stiffen beneath your grazes- before intertwining them between his own as you sat beside him.

‘Your eyes are burdened with so much, yet as much as your souls wishes to yield, you do not and instead push forward.’ You tell him as you squeezed his hand in soft reassurance. ‘My emperor you are human with limitations and that is not something to be ashamed of, it is not something you should consider a fault on your character for being human. Power tends to make people forget often that the person with the most power within their fingertips was just as human, if not more than the rest.’ You added as you watched Geta as his jaw and feel his hand tightly grip your own in response.

‘You are too kind towards a soul like mine, far too kind to have to be scarred as you have.’ Geta says in a low voice as his thumb rubbed over the scar on your wrist, his dark eyes softened and filled with a semblance of guilt but also relief in knowing that despite seeing the worst in his brother, you still stayed by them regardless like a pillar of support for them both. It was something that he had admired in you for a while but wasn’t given the chance to voice how grateful he was for your undivided support and open mindedness when it came to dealing with himself, Caracalla, his illness and having to deal with being the only person that the brothers could rely on.

‘And I wouldn’t change it for anything.’ You reassured him as your other hand rested against his face, stroking away his tears and feeling your heart ache upon seeing the way Geta was quick to burrow his face into your hand, his face relaxing into your touch as the worry lines fade from view; showing you the handsome man beneath the emperor. ‘I will gladly be your pillar to rest upon, a shoulder to wail your ails into should it take the pain off of your soul, as I only wish for you to share the burden with me however you feel for no man should carry a weight heavier then himself alone. Not even yourself my emperor.’

‘Geta, I told you once before to refer me as my name when it is just us, you are more then deserving of such for all you’ve done for me and my brother both, but me in particular for you are a gift given to me by the gods.’ Geta then opens his eyes to look at you in a way that felt admirable and almost worship like that it was enough to leave a wave of warmth overcome you. It was odd to have Geta view you in such a way that you never noticed before, after all you were just someone he and his brother could lean on for emotional support and attention that they both lacked, yet you felt reminded as to why you did what you did in the first place; you wanted to be the respite Geta couldn’t give himself.

‘Apologise Geta I must’ve forgotten in due to proper formalities required when addressing you and your brother.’ You told him but he only weakly waved his hand dismissively.

‘I have no need for your apology when you’ve already proven yourself a trustful person to be allowed the privilege to address me as such. Yet I feee it’s the least I could provide you that could amount to the help you’ve been.’ Geta nuzzles himself back into your hand, eyes tired and body desperate for sleep from everything that had plagued him deeply. His brother was fast asleep from his early outburst in thanks to you and everything with the senate was settled, all the young emperor wanted now was to just live on this moment with you for as long as he could, but your warm presence and kind touches were enough to have him drifting in and out of consciousness.

‘Then if I can be bold and implore that you rest for the night.’ You then say as you could see the fight within him on whether he should stay awake with you or fall into a slumber with the rest of Rome.

‘Then if I may be so bold and suggest that you rest here beside me.’ Geta responded as he gently tugged at your hands, pulling you into his arms with effortless ease before bringing himself to rest against his aching back against the plush bed with the expensive sheets. Normally you would be against such a thing, but with the events that had played out prior only left you tired and equally as desperate to fall into a state of slumber with the rest of Rome.

‘Only for tonight.’ You said in barely above a whisper as you rest your head on his bare chest that peaked through his robe, hearing his heart beat against your ear as his hands rested against your back, rubbing up and down it soothingly and softly.

‘Only for tonight.’ Geta echoed.

This wasn’t the only night you spend sleeping in the same bed as the emperor himself, at least as two separate individuals at least.

[invenusworld]

rohini

rohini's presiding deity is brahma, who is said not to be concerned with morals, with 'right or wrong,' but rather simply with the act of bringing to fruition every impluse of the imagination. fantasy, desire and sexuality are deeply entwined with the symbolism and cosmic function of rohini — the red woman — the one easily aroused, and rohini is ultimately in the pursuit of pleasure, in all its various guises.

rohini seeks to uncover, unearth and experience all which causes the loins to stir, regardless of its perceived morality. It may seem that there are no limits to the sexual proclivities of Rohini, and in some instances there aren't — as in the extreme case of rohini sun native Marquis de Sade.

to quote The Hidden Octave,

"[The Marquis'] Rohini influence comes in strongly in his total disregard for laws and morality, a total abandon into all things sensually gratifying as this is not a nakshatra of discrimination, rules or any of the programming that holds man back from giving himself over to his lust. Fundamentally, Rohini is the pursuit of pleasure for its own sake.

Have a crush? Who cares if he’s a convict felon or your middle school teacher or married? Go after it."

Egon Schiele, Self-Portrait with Physalis, 1912

Egon Schiele is an artist whose mercury is in Rohini. Mercury represents the area of life that we have a practical, tangible understanding of. The placement of mercury also reflects our creations and manipulations of matter.

"Egon Leo Adolf Ludwig Schiele (12 June 1890 – 31 October 1918) was an Austrian Expressionist painter. His work is noted for its intensity and its raw sexuality, and for the many self-portraits the artist produced, including nude self-portraits. The twisted body shapes and the expressive line that characterize Schiele's paintings and drawings mark the artist as an early exponent of Expressionism. Gustav Klimt, a figurative painter of the early 20th century, was a mentor to Schiele."

Schiele's mentor, Gustav Klimt, has his venus in Rohini.

Gustav Klimt, Daphne, 1903

I will now share an excerpt of an article by Dominic Witek regarding the polarizing and deeply controversial artworks of Egon Schiele

"Created in the era of Freud, Schiele’s work can be seen as a metaphor for the psychoanalyst method of the talking cure where drawing is synonymous with speaking, revealing and releasing hopes and fears lodged in the unconscious."

Here, the author likens the work of Schiele to that of Rohini moon native Sigmund Freud.

"The broad spectrum of emotion depicted is expressed by Schiele’s various presentation of women. The different articulations of their bodies seems to convey a host of the artist’s attitudes, ranging from fear and distanced superiority, to admiration and desire for women. Indeed the artist’s relationships with women reflected these hopes and fears. He married Edith Harms, a respectable woman with whom he established a marriage based solely on friendship, continued an intimate relationship with Wally Neuzil despite attempting to end it before his marriage, and had an unusual relationship with his sister Gertrude.

[...] characterisations of the artist’s sister invite questioning on the nature of their relationship, which at least hints at the incestuous."

Brahma was condemned for incestuosly desiring his own daughter (creation) Rohini, which prompted her to adopt the form of a deer in Mrigashira to escape from her father.

"Egon was arrested in 1912 for suspected sexual harassment of underage girls. Despite this traumatic event (which he lamented extensively in his writings), he continued to depict very young women until his death.

His aesthetic mirrors Freudian attitudes in which sex is intimately related to death, the connection between the pleasure principle and the death drive, Eros and Thanatos. Freud articulated this tension in relation to women, defining the ‘castration complex’ as experiencing the fear of being castrated, while caught by an irrepressible sexual desire. Woman with Black Stockings, 1913, articulates this tension as a reclining woman lifts her skirt to reveal her sex"

It seems as though the threads of the unbridled pursuit of pleasure weave together the works, philosophies & artworks of rohini natives through the ages

To quote Jason Farago, "True morality, for Sade, entailed following your darkest and most destructive passions to their farthest possible ends, even at the expense of other human life.

To kill a man in passion was one thing, but to rationalise killing by law was barbarous.

“We rail against the passions,” [Sade] wrote, “but never think that it is from their flame that philosophy lights its torch.”

[nowheredreamer]

healing soul

Ridoc x reader

Warnings: mild spoilers of Iron Flame

A/N: Hey everyone this is my first fanfic in a loooooong time, like in probably ten years, so I am a little rusty, so be patience. Also english is not my first language so you may find some incohernet things, but I think I did the best to convey what I wanted. So if you find any error please feel free to tell me, and I would also apreciate any feedback because like I said it's been more than 10 years, so any critiscism, feedback, comments are welcome. Thank you, and I hope you enjoy xoxo

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Ridoc didn’t have  many rules regarding his loving life, the man likes to explore the small and big pleasures that life has to offer. But that was a certain primary standard on his life, especially his rider life, that wouldn't trespass his love life. 

One of them was that he didn’t sleep with cadets, not now that he was in his second year. 

The second one was not sleeping with his squad's flings, they were a family after all and Ridoc did NOT like family feuds. 

And his third and last one was he didn't sleep with infantry, scribes or healers. 

It isn't like Ridoc didn't find some of them attractive, he did. But as a rider he just found them  inferior or boring. It was a standard for him, even though in the last months getting with some of the riders wasn't too appealing for him, now that the first year was over most of the riders felt like his family, it was weird being attracted to someone of your family.

And that would have stayed true if it weren't for a certain girl. Ridoc hadn’t thought much of her, but his second year was a little bit rougher sending him a few times to the infirmary. That is where he met the  apprentice healer for the first time.

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Havoc. Wildness. Despair. Chaos. Those were the words that Y/N would refer to at this moment.  Cadets and riders were entering the infirmary left and right, the smell of smoke and burned meat infiltrared her nose. Madness. She had not figured out yet what had happened, and she couldn't definitely understand what would have happened to leave so many students burned, burned by flames of a dragon. 

But she couldn’t focus on that right now, not when another cadet, with his body so burned that she could see the bone of his cheek, was put in the infirmary bed before her. 

“Holy shit.” Her friend gulped. Gods, even though this was their second year, she and her classmates have not seen such damage like that before.They have dealt with burns before, I mean learning to deal with burning degrees from dragon flames were a basic thing on their learning, but they haven’t ever dealt with this kind of level.

Both girls pushed their emotions aside so they could start attending to the poor boy, who was now crying of pain.

“You're gonna be okay, we are going to treat you then your body can heal and take the pain away, and it will heal, you will be fine.” She reassured the poor boy.

“ I wanna go home, please.” His voice came with nothing but a small begging whisper, both learners looked at each other. She had a lot of respect for what the riders did once they graduated, but She could never understand or accept the brutal ways they did to get to graduation point. 

She took his hand on hers while attending a small burn on his elbow and promised that everything would be okay. She  didn’t want to lie to him, but the only things she could do right now was trying to offer a little comfort. 

“You shouldn’t lie to him.”  A graved tone came from her back, she turned around to see a man, standing on the bed beside the one was attending. - “He’s gonna learn that this place is not for the weak sooner or later.” - The brown hair man said, his tone was serious and he looked at you like riders normally looked at anyone who wasn’t a rider. She shrug at his ignorant words and kept working on the boy laid in front of her until one of  her professor came to continue since the boy's burns degree was way more grave than students could secure.

Then she turned to face the bed beside where the rider, from the fourth wing as his (emblema) showed , was still waiting. 

“Do you need help too or are you just here to supervise our work?”  She said with sarcasm and accusation. Before he could answer, Jonah, her friend and classmate, who was attending to the boy on the bed chimed in.

“His friend has some second degree burns but I’m already taking care of it, but I can see a slight burn on his back.”  Jonah said while putting some leaves on the boy's arm and pointing with his chin to the annoying man on my side indicating that he also had been injured. 

“I’m okay, I don’t need help.” The rider said before I could say anything. She gave him an annoyed look while appointing a chair nearby.

“If you’re here we can’t let you leave without doing a check up first. Let me do my job and this will be over so you can go back to mounting dragons.” He let out an annoyed sound but followed her  to the chair. “Can you please take your shirt?” Her question left as soon as he sat on the chair wanting to get rid of him as quickly as she could.

“Wow there, people usually go on a date first, although healers are not really my type.” His tone was full of mischief but also tardiness, like the joke came automatically to him.  

“Oh my poor heart, how am I going to live after this?”  Her voice was so flat at this point that the man just slightly flinched and took his shirt off. She went behind him, and he really had a burn on his back, but it was a first degree, probably just needing disinfection and then some medication to calm the skin. She grabbed the cloth putting one hand on his back to stabilize him and he instantly gave a slight flinch.

“Gods, your hands are freezing.”  He said rapidly between teeth.

“Good thing for someone who has a burn on his skin.”  She put my hand on his back again while gentlying using the cloth to clean his injury. A shiver ran down his spine, not even the largest, biggest rider was immune to pain.

His strong back tensed with each contact, pulling his muscles together on his beautiful tanned skin. Gods, riders and their fucking beautiful bodies. It was rather annoying actually, but they definitely made up with their personality, especially this one. So annoying.

“Are you trying to kill me or something, woman?” He hissed again, pushing his back away from me. 

“Crybaby” she whispered to herself while grabbing him by his shoulder and continuing to work on his back, but she Guessed her whisper wasn't as silent as she expected because he whipped his head around to look at her. She stared back with a pointing look, and he just smirked and turned around. And a small smile threatened to appear on the girl’s lips.

After finishing up on his back, she started checking for any more injuries on his backside, finding a small one on his neck right on the line where his thick brown wavy hair started. She asked for him to look down and gently touch his stiff nape, and he immediately reacted.

“Sorry.” She apologized knowing from experience that most people were very sensitive around their necks. 

“It 's okay.” He assured me gently, unlike his interaction with her before. He settled his body back to her again and started cleaning the burn with the most delicacy that she could. She still could see the shivers that went on his body, and for a minute it felt like there were just she and him on the infirmary, she was so focus on his responsive body and trying to be gentle with him that her brain fogged the cries, the whimpers, the pain shouts. It was just her and the nameless beautiful rider. She shook my head finishing up and turned around to see if there were any injuries on his front. And she thanked the gods that her cheeks had not heated.

“I'm just gonna do a final check up before we are done.”  His face lifted to the sound of her voice and when his eyes met hers, she could see something sad then, but quickly his facial features turned on the playful side again. She rolled her eyes and quickly moved to do her job, checking pupils. Checking for concussion, and lastly checking his abdomen to see if it had any injuries, and she swore she would try her hardest to not linger too much on his strong body. 

“Do you need more time to check up on me up?” He asked so smudged that she could hear the smirk on his lips. She rolled my eyes again. 

“You are done. I would recommend not wearing anything too tight and sleeping without a shirt and on the front side to avoid inflammation, giving access for your skin to heal and breathe.” She recited the recommendations almost automatically since it wasn't the first or last time she would be saying that tonight. Before he could answer, Noah stepped beside me.

“Sorry to interrupt but Leith it’s looking green again and I think he's going to… “ He hesitated looking at the rider seated in front of them paying close attention to them. But she didnt need for Jonah to complete, she knew, Leith was a really great student, if not one of the bests in class, but when came down to the practical part of it, especially on this case when wasn’t not a premeditated test, he would let his emotions ruled him, and she personally believe that he had an aversion for certain lacerations.

“ I’m finished here, I’m going to check on him, how severe is the situation?” And his face changed the minute the question left her lips, he also didn't need the words, she could see on his face. She gave him a small nod, and he left. She counted to ten to steady her breath, this was going to be a long night. When she turned to the man still seated, his eyes were already searching hers, eyes that once again show that tiredness that she saw before, his eyebrows were lower and slightly closer. And in that instant the man who had looked at her with disdain, sarcasm and playfulness, now had what she accessed as a worried look, and sincere one. She fidget her hands on her coat, not used to the kind of expression, not towards me at least.

“Remember to follow my instructions and unless if you have a family member or someone real close to you, please go to your courts, this place it's already too packed up tonight.” His expression changed to neutral and he lifted from the chair, with that done she turned to go find Leith, when his voice reached me in a low tone.

“Thanks, I am Ridoc, by the way.”

She was surprised and studied his face, his brown light eyes and the soft strands of his hair sticking on his sweaty forehead. 

“Y/N. And I hope I don't see you here again.” she turned before he could answer and went to take care of the poor young life they were about to lose.

❃❃❃❃❃❃❃❃❃❃❃❃❃❃❃❃❃❃❃❃❃❃❃❃❃❃❃❃❃❃❃❃

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Some Poetry Writing Tips

Rules for Writing Good Poetry

There are no officially sanctioned rules of poetry.

However, as with all creative writing, having some degree of structure can help you reign in your ideas and work productively.

Some guidelines for those looking to take their poetry writing to the next level.

Or, if you literally haven’t written a single poem since high school, you can think of this as a beginner's guide on the basics and have you writing poetry in no time:

Read a lot of poetry. If you want to write poetry, start by reading poetry. You can do this in a casual way by letting the words of your favorite poems wash over you without necessarily digging for deeper meaning. Or you can delve into analysis. Dissect an allegory in a Robert Frost verse. Ponder the underlying meaning of an Edward Hirsch poem. Retrieving the symbolism in Emily Dickinson’s work. Do a line-by-line analysis of a William Shakespeare sonnet. Simply let the individual words of a Walt Whitman elegy flow with emotion.

Listen to live poetry recitations. The experience of consuming poetry does not have to be an academic exercise in cataloging poetic devices like alliteration and metonymy. It can be musical—such as when you attend a poetry slam for the first time and hear the snappy consonants of a poem out loud. Many bookstores and coffeehouses have poetry readings, and these can be both fun and instructive for aspiring poets. By listening to the sounds of good poetry, you discover the beauty of its construction—the mix of stressed syllables and unstressed syllables, alliteration and assonance, a well placed internal rhyme, clever line breaks, and more. You’ll never think of the artform the same way once you hear good poems read aloud. (And if you ever get the chance to hear your own poem read aloud by someone else, seize the opportunity.)

Start small. A short poem like a haiku or a simple rhyming poem might be more attainable than diving into a narrative epic. A simple rhyming poem can be a non-intimidating entryway to poetry writing. Don’t mistake quantity for quality; a pristine seven-line free verse poem is more impressive than a sloppy, rambling epic of blank verse iambic pentameter, even though it probably took far less time to compose.

Don’t obsess over your first line. If you don’t feel you have exactly the right words to open your poem, don’t give up there. Keep writing and come back to the first line when you’re ready. The opening line is just one component of an overall piece of art. Don’t give it more outsized importance than it needs (which is a common mistake among first time poets).

Embrace tools. If a thesaurus or a rhyming dictionary will help you complete a poem, use it. You’d be surprised how many professional writers also make use of these tools. Just be sure you understand the true meaning of the words you insert into your poem. Some synonyms listed in a thesaurus will deviate from the meaning you wish to convey.

Enhance the poetic form with literary devices. Like any form of writing, poetry is enhanced by literary devices. Develop your poetry writing skills by inserting metaphor, allegory, synecdoche, metonymy, imagery, and other literary devices into your poems. This can be relatively easy in an unrhymed form like free verse and more challenging in poetic forms that have strict rules about meter and rhyme scheme.

Try telling a story with your poem. Many of the ideas you might express in a novel, a short story, or an essay can come out in a poem. A narrative poem like “The Waste Land” by T.S. Eliot can be as long as a novella. “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe expresses just as much dread and menace as some horror movies. As with all forms of English language writing, communication is the name of the game in poetry, so if you want to tell short stories in your poems, embrace that instinct.

Express big ideas. A lyric poem like “Banish Air from Air” by Emily Dickinson can express some of the same philosophical and political concepts you might articulate in an essay. Because good poetry is about precision of language, you can express a whole philosophy in very few words if you choose them carefully. Even seemingly light poetic forms like nursery rhymes or a silly rhyming limerick can communicate big, bold ideas. You just have to choose the right words.

Paint with words. When a poet paints with words, they use word choice to figuratively “paint” concrete images in a reader’s mind. In the field of visual art, painting pictures of course refers to the act of representing people, objects, and scenery for viewers to behold with their own eyes. In creative writing, painting pictures also refers to producing a vivid picture of people, objects, and scenes, but the artist’s medium is the written word.

Familiarize yourself with myriad forms of poetry. Each different form of poetry has its own requirements—rhyme scheme, number of lines, meter, subject matter, and more—that make them unique from other types of poems. Think of these structures as the poetic equivalent of the grammar rules that govern prose writing. Whether you’re writing a villanelle (a nineteen-line poem consisting of five tercets and a quatrain, with a highly specified internal rhyme scheme) or free verse poetry (which has no rules regarding length, meter, or rhyme scheme), it’s important to thrive within the boundaries of the type of poetry you’ve chosen. Even if you eventually compose all your work as one particular type of poem, versatility is still a valuable skill.

Connect with other poets. Poets connect with one another via poetry readings and perhaps poetry writing classes. Poets in an artistic community often read each other’s work, recite their own poems aloud, and provide feedback on first drafts. Good poetry can take many forms, and through a community, you may encounter different forms that vary from the type of poem you typically write—but are just as artistically inspiring. Seek out a poetry group where you can hear different types of poetry, discuss the artform, jot down new ideas, and learn from the work of your peers. A supportive community can help you brainstorm ideas, influence your state of mind as an artist, and share poetry exercises that may have helped other members of the group produce great poetry.

Source ⚜ More: Notes ⚜ References for Poets ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

[patchouii]

Some Hannibal & Will headcanons I have, just for fun:

. Hannibal has a sweet tooth. Usually he doesn’t allow himself to indulge in it, but every so often he’ll have a designated “cheat day” and make pastries and sweets. All of which somehow manage to utilize the versatility of his favorite secret ingredient, just for the wickedly ironic juxtaposition of it.

. Part of the reason Will likes fishing is because it’s an activity in a quiet, meditative environment that makes it easier for him to use his empathy to visualize the world around him as he wishes, sort of how he does with crime scenes. He started doing it while fishing with his dad, and he’d joke that Will would “go all glassy-eyed like the fish”.

. Will can use the excess of mirror neurons that give him his unique “empathy” abilities to mimic bird calls and even people’s voices really well, and he enjoys doing so. Sometimes he’ll say something stupid with Hannibal’s voice just to annoy him. Usually it’s something with a bad cannibal pun in it.

. Despite his criticisms of Will’s old aftershave, the reminder of their beginnings and how far they’ve come is too strong for Hannibal to resist. A bottle of it appears in the bathroom of wherever they’re staying for Will to use— it’s nostalgic, and it also lets him know where Will is if they’re separated in a crowd.

. Hannibal has an old scar where the back of his neck joins his shoulders. It has a faint chain-link pattern to it from abraded skin freezing to a metal chain and being pulled off thanks to the horrors of one fateful winter. Will never asks about flaying it off like he did with the Verger brand�� he knows the answer.

. Will develops a phobia of deep water after the fall, his decision to take them over due to Dolarhyde’s camera still running for Jack to find and the adrenaline-and-euphoria l’appel du vide of the moment haunting him with nightmares. He refuses to let it rule him, swimming laps in their pool at night. Hannibal often joins him.

. Sometimes, instead of going right to sleep, reading, or having some fun before bed, they’ll lay on their backs side-by-side with their hands laced and delve into their minds together. Hannibal will close his eyes and enter his memory palace, Will often keeps his eyes open and unseeing and visualizes with his empathy.

. The actual first time Will kisses Hannibal is when he’s on Chiyoh’s boat on the Atlantic. He’s high on pain meds and roiling with emotion over Hannibal’s unconscious form beside him. It’s just a soft, weak brush of lips. In his feverish state, he hopes that Hannibal’s infection will spread to him so that he can’t leave him behind if he dies of it.

. The first kiss they really count happens when they’re both settled in Cuba, sitting on the porch of the little beach house Hannibal secured for them and watching the sunset, drinking iced hibiscus tea. Will only confesses much later that the red droplets on Hannibal’s lips reminded him of blood and he just leaned right in unconsciously.

. Even though they have to be careful with their kills post-fall, Hannibal makes sure to allow for one special kill every year. He sets up a tableau of a skinned man in the shape of a heart with flowers stabbed through the skin in a remote location and lets Will figure out how to find it by Valentine’s Day.

. Will lets Hannibal teach him how to do serial killing. It ends up sating his curiosity about the theories he’d had on the Ripper as well as further sating his dark urges, growing those appetites. The fact that Hannibal has his victims awake on the table sometimes is a point of contention, Will feels bad that the only part of him that feels bad is the part that mirrors the victims if he isn’t careful.

. Between Will’s empathy picking up on all the little details and emotional indicators and being able to copy them back and Hannibal’s analytical skills and expertise with conveying the image he wants through tone and body language alone, they can communicate wordlessly. They sometimes default to this, whether intentionally or not. It’s a little unnerving to watch.

. Will has a not-so-slight caffeine addiction after many years of drinking coffee to get out the door early from college to his cop years to Jack calling at ungodly hours. He won’t drink anything but instant microwave Folgers. Hannibal has tried to replace the coffee in the container but Will catches it every time.

[taffywabbit]

idk if i'm way off the mark on this, but the way some people are responding to that Guillermo del Toro interview about the decline of studio animation is a bit frustrating to me. specifically the bit where he talks about "emoji animation" and how everything is over-animated and pushed too far and things are rarely allowed to not be ultra-cartoony (y'know, because animation always needs to be marketable to children who are never trusted to have attention spans, right?). like, i think he's generally correct about it! but some folks are taking the wrong message away from that.

i've seen people going off about how "soulless" and "corporate" various recent examples are, and talking about these pieces of media as though they're the result of some kind of personal failing or lack of skill/range on the part of the animators, and it's just like. do people realize that's the only animation you're usually allowed to DO in the industry, unless you get incredibly lucky and land yourself on a project/studio that's unusually cool?

when i was in college for animation it was literally drilled into us nonstop that everything had to be pushed more, that exaggeration was not a guideline or a sometimes-treat but a hard rule that always had to be applied regardless of what was going on, because the viewer couldn't be trusted to pick up on subtlety and we sure as hell couldn't be trusted to convey it. you ever wonder why there's such a specific vibe to a lot of self-directed student films, particularly ones that are focused on character acting/interaction or deep emotions and introspection (especially when there's minimal/no dialogue)? it's because for a lot of young animators, they haven't had the freedom to experiment with realism and subtlety up to that point and they're likely not going to have it again for a while (or at all, unless their career path leads to higher positions where they might have more creative direction over the things they work on. which also becomes a lot less likely if they're anything other than a cishet white dude, for what it's worth).

i would LOVE to see more nuanced, realistic, understated motion and acting in animation. i WANT more characters to be able to express what they're feeling through natural body language and facial cues and for scenes to allow me to breathe instead of spelling everything out in giant bold flashing text all the time. what del Toro wants to see changed in the animation industry sounds great, and i hope others join him in seeking to revamp what modern animation is allowed to be.

but as things currently stand, and as they've stood for a long while now, most artists doing the grunt work on the shows and movies you see are completely at the mercy of corporations and networks who have a vested interest in producing a very specific kind of marketable and cost-efficient media all the time. (and by extension that style is ALSO what's taught in most animation schools, because their job more than anything is to grind you down into a perfect little sweatshop worker who will bend over backwards to meet quotas and get your work approved and not question the higher-ups, even if you have little to no personal investment in the projects you're working on, so that the studios who employ you can maintain their good reputations or whatever)

anyways idk what my point was here, this really just sorta became a rant and my views have undoubtedly been coloured by my own personal experiences (this kinda shit is largely why i dropped out before my last year of animation school, for the record).

i guess just be kind to folks in the animation industry? they've had it fucking rough nonstop for well over a century (the majority of them are still not unionized and there's HUGE pushback against doing so in many places). i assure you they are doing their best to infuse the latest uninspired illumination flick or weird spinoff kids' show with literally any amount of soul they can. you don't have to like the stuff that gets produced by any means! be a hater! i'm certainly not gonna stop you. just remember where these creative decisions come from and why these conditions exist, and consider that when YOU watched something and thought "hmm that could've been done better", you can bet your ass someone actually working on it probably thought the same thing but couldn't do anything about it. these things WILL change as the industry itself improves, but in the meantime folks have to pay their rent, and that usually means doing what they're told and working in a way that will minimize revisions and meet quotas so they can keep their jobs. it sucks, but it is what it is.

[hallowpen]

I'm going to try my best to get through this without making myself emotional... even though, I know, I will fail miserably.

I really want to focus on the symbolism and language used in this episode, which means pointing out some differences between the Thai language vs. the English subtitles... otherwise the cultural meanings don't really come through as obviously.

It's important that we go into this episode with a Thai lens... specifically one that is influenced by the time period and its royal customs. Please keep that in mind as I discuss certain scenes and characters.

The word that Princess Patt uses for 'engagement ring' is แหวนแทนใจ (pronounced 'waen taen jai'). While it absolutely could be used interchangeably, I would personally translate it to mean what we would call a 'promise ring' in English... which is considered in Thai culture to be a pre-engagement ring.

I've spoken before about how Prik helping to facilitate the relationship between Anil and Pin could have severe consequence. Princess Patt is clever in the way she gathers information from Prik, but Prik cannot lie once she is found out... and her status as a servant to those ranked above her has never been more clear.

The language used in these two scenes, in particular, is super important!!!

Both Princess Patt and Lady Pin speak very formally toward one another to indicate the seriousness of their conversation. You will have heard Patt address Pin as "Khun Ying" (คุณหญิง) and Pin address Patt as "Than Ah" (ท่านอา).*

The word ปล่อยตัว (pronounced 'ploi tuua'), which Princess Patt uses to describe Pin's actions... In this context, means 'unrestrained' with the implication of being promiscuous. Pin calls herself ชั่วช้า (pronounced 'chua-chaa') which means 'immoral/sinful' as pertaining to going against the precepts of Buddhism... in this case, exhibiting sexual misconduct.

The actual Thai translation of Princess Patt's third line is "I wished for you to grow up elegantly as a lady should be."

A lot of Patt's dialogue can be read as telling Pin to 'know her place' and to 'know better'. But it's also significant to note her emotional reaction and her tone... because what she is telling Pin could, very well, come from a place of having lived through her own 'karmic punishment' for the feelings she held for Princess Im. We can see how Patt would be led to believe that coveting and loving another woman who does not rightfully belong to you is 'immoral' and would, therefore, end in karmic tragedy.

This leads right into:

Again the English translation is a little off here. Princess Patt says

"Is the person you love someone you'll ever be able to hold onto? Have you forgotten who she is? Most importantly, she is a woman, no different from you."

Another mistranslation: When Pin is forbidden from seeing Anil, she pleads with Princess Patt to "Please, have mercy on me." Pin has always been agreeable to the rules and discipline set out for her. She has never once asked for special favor... until now. Pin prostrating at Princess Patt's feet is sooo significant; that Pin would rather beg to never be separated from Anil than to simply accept her aunt's order speaks volumes. Because while it may seem as an act of submission, it's Pin's way of conveying how much Anil truly means to her.

This scene 😭😭😭 Prik addresses Pin as คุณหญิงเจ้าคะ (pronounced 'khun ying jao ka').* It is the first time we see Prik use entirely formal language with Pin... to add to the sincerity behind her apology.

It's also key to note that Pin takes the brunt of the blame for being 'reckless', because we are going to talk about that...

...in Part Two! So much happened in this episode, so I had to split it up.

*If you need to brush up on royal language terminology, you can go back to my post about episode one

[pmamtraveller]

JAN MATEJKO - STAŃCZYK, 1862

The scene is set in a dark, secluded part of Wawel Castle in Kraków during a masquerade ball on the night of October 8, 1533. Focusing on Stańczyk, the court jester of Polish kings in the 16th century, who is shown sitting alone in contemplation. A letter and other papers sit to his right on a desk, opened and assumably read whilst the party continues outside the chamber.

The letter Stańczyk read announces the fall of Smolensk to Muscovite forces in 1514. This was a significant military defeat for Poland, marking the beginning of a long of conflict over the region. The loss of Smolensk was a blow to Polish national pride and security. The letter isolates Stańczyk both physically and emotionally from the festivities around him.

In this painting, Matejko used the likeness of his friend and fellow artist, the sculptor Walery Gadomski, to depict Stańczyk. Matejko often used friends, family members, and contemporaries as models for his historical figures, which was part of his method to bring authenticity and to convey specific emotional qualities he wanted in his characters.

The most immediate role of the ball in the background is to create a stark contrast between Stańczyk's somber, reflective mood and the lighthearted, carefree atmosphere of the celebration. While Stańczyk is consumed with worry over the fate of Poland after receiving news of the loss of Smolensk, the nobles and courtiers are oblivious, indulging in revelry. This juxtaposition highlights the disconnect between the ruling class's enjoyment and the serious state of the nation, critiquing the nobility's lack of awareness or concern for the country's well-being.