zacala

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saw someone praise someone else for correctly using ; and I got angry because I use that a lot in writing but not in casual conversation. that should've been me I'm so mad

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I can't decide whether to give Zay straight or wavy hair. he's always had straight hair since I first Invented Him but idk wavy/slightly curly hair on men is so good??? I feel like it would suit him. but then Kanara has wavy hair and they both have black hair and I'm afraid I'll accidentally make them look too much like Actual Siblings. they barely share 1 species and Zay is a shapeshifter who stays in human form for Kanara's comfort. but still with the same hair texture they look so much like siblings 😭

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enjoy this bad drawing of Kanara and Zay (I haven't drawn in a long time but was hit with the strongest urge to draw them being cute together. my drawing tablet is broken and my eraser sucks pls don't roast me)

yes Kanara loves Cinnamoroll, he's naturally Kanara's favorite Sanrio character (he's my favorite). no Zay is not watching the movie.

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doing some research rn

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saw someone say you shouldn't attempt to create a whole fictional language unless you're a linguist and personally I take that as a challenge. do not underestimate the power of someone with unmedicated adhd who works from home and has the ability to do a fuck ton of research (aka watching a million youtube videos). also I did really well in english and spanish in school so that's gotta count for something right? idgaf I am making my own fictional language bc it's been my dream since I was a kid. imagine how cool I will be when I'm the only person in existence who can speak zacalan

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I think my goal in life is for zacala to become popular enough that people will see a foggy forest with larger-than-life trees and think "this is so zacala core"

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I may be well aware that irl coughing up blood means something is VERY wrong and you're unlikely to live from that let alone continue fighting however I think it's too vibey to not have at least a few characters dramatically get stabbed in the stomach and have blood spill out from their lips, only to resume fighting because they're so devoted to their cause. they're not human anyway so it doesn't matter <3

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there's something so healing and freeing about accepting that your main character is 100% a self insert and probably a bit of a mary sue but I'm winning the idgaf war today bc I write for myself and do what makes me happy and anyone who likes my works despite its silliness will be drawn to me and I'll be surrounded by people who genuinely like my stuff AND personally be happy about my works instead of trying to appeal to a wider audience but sacrificing my own enjoyment and I think that's wonderful and everyone should write for themselves and not focus on "perfection"

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Hello again!! I know your inbox is no doubt overflowing but if you're able, do you happen to have prompts for soft, kiddy crushes? Like, puppy dog love and innocent fluff? That "childhood friends to lovers" trope? Hope you and your family are having a wonderful day!

Hi again, mein Liebling :)

It's calming down a bit (because it's closed), but yeah, still a lot of asks to go through. But here is your answer:

Childhood friends to lovers Prompts

Growing up together means that so many of their memories and experiences involve the other person, that if they talk with other people who never met their friend, those people still feel like they already know them.

Having had sleepovers together since they were little, it’s not uncommon for them to sleep in the same bed.

They have always known each other better than everyone else, so becoming teenagers and starting to change their behaviours in groups and having different hobbies is putting a strain on their friendship.

Because they have always been best friends, they accompany each other to every event, to family parties, sport events and school activities. When it’s time for their first school dance, they naturally want to go together, but they are at an age now, were this can become a little bit awkward.

Having so many inside jokes that just the two of them know, that other people often don’t understand their humor.

They had been best friends in their childhood, but then one of them moved away and they lost contact. Meeting each other again by accident and seeing someone they once knew everything about, but who is now basically a stranger is a weird feeling.

They have always been close and they are very comfortable with casual affections, hugging each other, laying their head in the other’s lap, even holding hands.

Having pet names for each other, that no one else uses, which confuse some people.

When they were in elementary school, they created a secret language to avoid their teachers reading their notes they passed back and forth in class. Now one of them uses that language to write a love letter.

There was always that one place they would both run off to - to escape parents, annoying siblings and just the world in general. They haven’t had contact in a long time, but when things get rough, they both end up in their safe place again.

I hope you like them, it was so cute to think about these prompts!

- Jana

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Fact of the Week #24

"Nyame"

(pronunciation: nya-may)

noun

meaning: family member or close friend

This is mostly an informal word used by Kinobi to call their loved ones. In most Ki spaces, biological families have few separations from their friends and neighbors. Everyone considers each other like family in a typical Ki-centered village, to the point of some temporarily living with other families or children being taken care of by multiple adults throughout their lives.

As an example, a Kino would introduce someone from their village by saying, "This is my nyame, (name)". It is common for Kinobi to frequently refer to their loved ones as "nyame" as a sign of affection, to remind them that they deeply care for them and consider them family. One also might add "nyame" to the end of someone's name instead.

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While I'm talking about writing I do want to rec two INCREDIBLE writing apps that have helped me immensely as a writer with ADHD

Stimuwrite is a little program that you can customize with all sorts of really rewarding instant tactile feedback, for example sound effects every time you hit a key, emoji notifications and balloons when you hit your custom goal (which can be as low as you want for low energy days), and neat animated backgrounds.

4thewords turns writing into an RPG and you can kill monsters via word count in order to complete quests and progress through what I personally find to be an interesting and fun storyline. It comes with all the RPG trappings like loot, gear, even custom housing (win more stuff for your house by writing).

I cannot stress ENOUGH how amazing both of these have been in terms of my writing productivity as someone with pretty severe executive dysfunction issues. Usually I use Stimuwrite for the instant feedback and then copy and paste those over into 4thewords for the gamification.

Both are small indie projects, Stimuwrite is pay-what-you-can-afford and 4thewords is $4/month but they are very good about helping people who genuinely can't afford it.

and AS THE CHERRY ON TOP, Stimuwrite's programmer is a trans woman, and while I'm not sure about the 4thewords team in specific, the game is FILLED with really great rep, they are literally having a lesbian wedding global event going on right now as I type this. So like. I like giving money to them more than giving money to a lot of other projects lol.

Anyway no neither of these projects have told me to write about them or anything I just want to spread the love. Go check them out!!

Stimuwrite

4thwords

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

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

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

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answering this for Kanara but might go back and do this for other main characters too :)

1. not sure if this counts- Kanara uses the symbol of Zenria on her coat. she may use various coats throughout the series but always wants to rep her village.

2. Kanara has a sweet, kind of soothing voice. she’s an incredible singer and can be a confident speaker when needed.

3. considering the culture of Kinobi it’s rare to find “indoor” people lol but when she lived on Earth she was definitely an outdoor person compared to most humans

4. aside from practicing fighting/healing, she also loves singing, dancing, and some arts and crafts

5. as a Zacalan child her dream was just to be a useful warrior and she has achieved that goal! after having her memories of Zacala taken and being sent to Earth, she didn’t know what career she would’ve wanted but wanted to spend time in nature as much as possible

6. her weakness, or what she views as inability to help enough people. she hates that she’s not always willing to do “what it takes” because she’s hesitant to let anyone get hurt, even when it comes to enemies.

7. her heart. it’s both her biggest strength and greatest weakness that she is highly empathetic and kind.

8. fantasy

9. nonfiction because it can be the most boring

10. she’s not super picky about music, she likes almost everything, but her fav genre is probably whatever porter robinson is

11. yes, and because she lost her memories she gets to fall in love with him all over again :) no spoilers (but you can prob guess who it is)

12. she does ok in school, she’s smart but isn’t always focused and sometimes skips class

13. I gotta create a planet for this question fr but basically, probably somewhere very naturey, with lots of flowers and pretty plants, somewhere peaceful where she can just get away for a while and kinda just vibe and enjoy life

14. she struggles with relearning the Zacalan language and sometimes will pretend to understand something in a conversation to not look dumb but Zay ALWAYS knows because he can read minds

15. Zay <3

16. Kanara has never met her parents but has heard from Shiuto (her caretaker) that her parents are great people. she likes to imagine her parents are out there doing great things in the world

17. she doesn’t have any biological siblings but grew up with Shiuto taking care of many other kids and she’s gotten along with every single one of them, but mainly stuck with Zay

18. a time when she and Zay were kids and when visiting another Kinobi village, the people accused Zay of being an evil Kono and assumed he was the one who had stolen food from them and didn’t listen to Kanara when she tried to tell them he was with her the whole time and couldn’t have stolen anything

19. Zenria being destroyed

20. her and Zay chasing each other up a hill and stumbling upon an extremely tall cliff overlooking the river and the village, which later became their favorite hangout spot

21. feel like I kinda answered this already in question 4 lool

22. lack of confidence in her own abilities

23. her biggest flaw is that she’s too hard on herself, and her biggest strength is her kindness and willingness to help everyone no matter what

24. she grieves a lot, and if their death was unfair (as in not a natural death or dying too young) she overthinks the ways she could’ve helped or saved them but ultimately she knows that moving forward is the best option, no matter how difficult that feels in the moment

25. favorite food: haven’t come up with the Zacalan word for it but her fav childhood food is this herby cold soup with mushrooms and nuts, it’s really light and refreshing, perfect for summer. she loves it because it reminds her of summer and spending a lot of time outside and seeing nature in full bloom. favorite color is green

26. least favorite food is anything slimy. least favorite color is gray.

27. to get her actual zodiac sign I would have to do lots of math to calculate what her Zacalan birthdate is translated to in Earth time and I am Not doing that rn so instead I’ll just say she’s a pisces because I like pisces and that prob fits her personality the most

28. dog definitely, but she loves cats too

29. her first kiss was in 9th grade in high school because someone asked her out and she wanted to give him a chance instead of just saying no but realized later on that it would’ve been better to just reject him in the first place instead of leading him on </3

30. marriage isn’t really a thing on Zacala but yes she does want to have a lifelong partner who she loves with all her heart someday (but really she just wants 1 person and is fully willing to stay single forever if she can’t be with him romantically tbh bc she knows she’ll never love anyone else as much as she loves him)

OC Ask Game

Thought I’d take a crack and make one you guys can reblog and enjoy and play amongst your mutuals.

does your oc have any motifs?

describe your character's voice. do they have a voice claim?

is your character an indoor or outdoor person?

what's your character's favorite recreational activity?

what was your character's dream job as a kid? is it different than what their career ended up being?

what is the thing your oc likes the least about themselves?

what is the thing your oc likes the most about themselves?

what book genre is their favorite?

what book genre is their least favorite?

what kind of music do they enjoy?

has your OC ever fallen in love and with whom?

how well does your OC do in school?

where would your OC like to go on a honeymoon?

An embarrassing secret about your OC?

who is your OC’s best friend?

how does your OC feel about their parents?

how does your OC feel about their siblings?

a memory that still makes your OC angry?

a memory that still makes your OC sad?

a nostalgic memory from your OC’s childhood?

hobbies your OC enjoys?

what is holding your OC back to achieve their goals?

what are your OC’s biggest flaws and biggest strengths?

how does your OC handle death of someone they know?

favorite food and color for your OC?

least favorite food and color?

your OC’s zodiac sign?

is your OC a dog or cat person?

when was their first kiss?

does your OC wish to be married someday?

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Elemental Writer Asks

🔥💧🌪️⛰️🔥💧🌪️⛰️

Water: How did you start writing?

Earth: What do you think is the foundation of your WIP?

Fire: What’s a scene that you are dying to write?

Air: What’s the easiest part of writing for you?

Shadows: What’s the darkest theme you’ve ever written about?

Lightning: What’s the most shocking plot twist you’ve ever come up with?

Rain: Have you ever made yourself cry with your own writing?  If so, what was it?

Grass: What’s the biggest change you’ve made in your WIP since you started it?

Ice: What do you always get stuck on when writing?

Sand: What’s the softest scene you’ve ever written?

Rock: How do you deal with writer’s block?

Clouds: How clearly do you picture a scene before you start writing it down?

Metal: What’s the hardest part of writing for you?

Space: Where’s your favorite place to write?

Spirit: What’s the best compliment you’ve ever received on your writing?

Psionics: How do you get into the heads of your characters?

Summer: How do you know when you need a break from writing?

Winter: Have you ever written a story based on a holiday?  If yes, which holiday was it for and what was it like?

Spring: Have you ever scrapped (a huge chunk of) a story to start over?  Why did the change come about?

Fall: Have you ever completely abandoned a WIP?  What led to that decision.

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Encouragment for writers that I know seems discouraging at first but I promise it’s motivational-

• Those emotioal scenes you’ve planned will never be as good on page as they are in your head. To YOU. Your audience, however, is eating it up. Just because you can’t articulate the emotion of a scene to your satisfaction doesn’t mean it’s not impacting the reader. 

• Sometimes a sentence, a paragraph, or even a whole scene will not be salvagable. Either it wasn’t necessary to the story to begin with, or you can put it to the side and re-write it later, but for now it’s gotta go. It doesn’t make you a bad writer to have to trim, it makes you a good writer to know to trim.

• There are several stories just like yours. And that’s okay, there’s no story in existence of completely original concepts. What makes your story “original” is that it’s yours. No one else can write your story the way you can.

• You have writing weaknesses. Everyone does. But don’t accept your writing weaknesses as unchanging facts about yourself. Don’t be content with being crap at description, dialogue, world building, etc. Writers that are comfortable being crap at things won’t improve, and that’s not you. It’s going to burn, but work that muscle. I promise you’ll like the outcome.

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deery me it's cold,,

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When one arrow isn't enough...