drewdroppsmain reblogged
zodiac moodboard: libra sun | pisces moon | sagittarius rising | scorpio rising for @drewdroppsmain
I bow to the daydreams I buried myself in
drewdroppsmain reblogged
extinction of the gods↴
alternatively. three sides of the same coin. alternatively. the war for the country, the war by the country, and the war against the country.
how it all began:
“It is written,” are the whispers. “It was written.” Was it? It doesn’t matter. The gods that have ruled them all for so long are gone. Left to fend for themselves, humanity creates new gods. Androids, are the whispers. Nanites. The blood in their veins isn’t so much blood as it is nanobots and plasma, but all that comes from somewhere. A flareshot. The whispers silence.
the war for the country:
Halynra Yinsun is just a regular immigrant’s daughter. She expected to graduate high school and attend a good college, get a good job, meet a good person and settle down and have a good life. She didn’t expect to be drafted into the Nanites’ latest fight for dominance - the war against her home country, Hongtze.
Halle knows it’s a suicide mission. But it’s her country– her countries at stake here. Hongtze and Extoa both.
This is her best shot. Gods or no gods, Halle will do this or die trying, but this is her best shot. And maybe, she thinks to herself when the sky is bleeding ink
the war by the country:
Aryline Costas is broken, defective, obedient, lost, a good soldier. They are a lot of things.
Six weeks ago, they shot a young girl. Flareshot. She was fourteen, maybe younger. She was not a soldier.
Yesterday, they crawled away from the battle to nurse their wounds and fell asleep in the quiet Hongtze forest, the sounds of battle far away. They woke up to find- nothing. They have been abandoned by their own country.
Aryline Costas is a fighter, determined, powerless, a survivor. They are a lot of things.
“Aryline Costas has been taken by war,” the commanding officer says stiffly to the man who counts the dead. “May his soul rest in peace.”
Ari imagines this scene and sets their jaw. “We’ll see about that.”
the war against the country:
The press call Izrail Lacefey Angelica. She knows she is vilified, but it’s a nice name. And she is just a serial killer. At least she’s not traitor and honglis and devilgirl. At least she’s not ‘girl of sound’ Halynra Yinsun.
While the teens history will remember as the heroes traipse across the world to find the gods, Izrail Lacefey does the dirty work at home. She has rules to follow, sure - just not the government’s. Nanites can’t feel fear, but by the gods, Angelica is going to make them fear her.
three pasts. three stories. one future.
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Mathieu Simoneau — born in 2001 — Canada
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Bridget Hollitt — born in 1996 — Australia
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Larsen Thompson — born in 2000 — United States
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Teagan Cain — born in 1998 — United Kingdom
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the wind coming off the water has traveled so far to greet you
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APPARENTLY THIS IS FROM THE WICKED KING BETWEEN JUDE AND CARDAN I’M NOT SURE BUT IF IT IS OH MY FUCKING GOD JURDANS GONNA BE ENDING ALL OTHER ENEMIES TO LOVERS TROPES
drewdroppsmain reblogged
Anonymous asked:
Do you have any tips for writing enemies to lovers?
Hi, love! Thanks for your question and your patience
Enemies-to-lovers is a popular trope, but it’s often treatedcarelessly by writers – especially TV/movie writers who rush through thetransition to fit a single movie or episode arc. There’s nothing worseyou can do in this situation than to rush your arc. Falling in love isalready a time-consuming plotline – but transitioning from enemies, who arealready shutting each other out, to lovers? The quicker it happens, theless believable it becomes.
I have a lot of notes on how to write enemies to lovers, sobear with me as I list them out.
Writing Enemies to Lovers: The Basic Ingredients
1. Give them some similar traits.
No matter what, two people can’t fall in love if they don’trelate on some level. The first step to creating possible love interestsis to find where they’ll connect. Are they a hero and a villain? Evil and good? Night and day? I bet they both love animals. Maybe they’re both way into politics. Maybe they share a commonenemy. Maybe they’re both neat freaks or a bit sassy or super gay or lovethe same music. It can be a few important things or a bunch of superficialthings – just make sure they have something that can tie themtogether.
2. Put them on the same side of something.
When two people are mortal foes, it can be hard for them tosee each other in any other light. Bringing in a common enemy (ananti-hero, a natural disaster, a person in power), or a common interest (amutual friend, a school play, a moral cause), can land foes on a teamtogether. This forces them to become aware of each other’s strengths, andto consider (and worry about) each other’s weaknesses. This is perfectfodder for an eyebrows-raised, “Hey, they don’t suck at this particularthing,” moment.
3. Get them alone.
With other people watching (especiallyfriends/coworkers/allies), little groundwork can be made for your twohate-lovers. If you get your characters alone together, you’re given abounty of opportunities to bond them, including but not limited to: actualconversations, accidental (or faux-accidental) physical contact, the sneakymoment of checking each other out, etc. etc. etc. People are differentwhen you get them away from their friends – less extreme, less rowdy, lessunreachable. If you have to trap your characters in an elevator theold-fashioned way, damn it, you’re the only one who can do it.
4. Let them fight their feelings.
If these two are truly enemies, there isn’t going to be amoment of, “Oh, I like them. Huh. Neato.” Oh, no. There will be internal backlash – they will beat their emotions back with abroom, and deny them to anyone who asks. There will be extra hatefulglares, more middle fingers, and basically anything they can do to remindthemselves that they don’t like this person. If you show thisinternal conflict, it both (a) makes the feelings seem real, organic, and (b)creates a more realistic transition from hate to love.
5. Love can sound like hate.
There’s a reason people say indifference is the trueopposite of love. When your two enemies start to feel things foreach other, this will probably spark a lot of ranting, arguing, anddoor-slamming. It creates a fixation – you sit there and you stew andyou tell your friends, “Remember when they did thatstupid thing? Yeah. Screw them.” Your friends roll theireyes. When will you stop talking about this person? Just kiss themalready.
6. Sexual tension is a powerful tool.
If your characters experience sexual attraction, this is agreat way to accelerate their relationship against their will. It’s theage-old, “My mind says no but my body says yes,” dilemma. Yourcharacters can’t stand each other, or the image they have of each other, butthey’re attracted like magnets and can’t shake it. This can make for somepretty hot – or pretty hilarious – scenes.
7. Give them a moment of horrified realization.
Eventually, the feelings will grow strong enough that one orboth of them will have to sit there, probably on the bathroom floor a littlebit drunk with one sock on, and realize: “I love that f*cker.” It’llbe a scary moment for them. It’s not that they haven’t known it – theyjust have yet to accept that it’s something to deal with, until now. Thiscan be prompted by a dangerous situation, a shared activity, or a failed attemptat another romance – so when they really sit and think about it, theyknow. Then it becomes a question of either “how do I get rid of this?”or “how do I pursue this?”.
8. Try their hand at flirting.
Whether one or both characters have come to accept theirfeelings, someone’s gotta start flirting. A glancing touch across thearm; a small comment that could kind of be construed as amicable; a lingeringglance; that first peek at their enemy’s smile. Something cute and quickand immediately followed by an existential crisis will do in a pinch. Without this water-testing, readers won’t have any image of what thisrelationship will look like – and if it can succeed.
9. Craft the perfect kiss/hug/confession.
When the time is right, create an undeniable display ofattraction to transition into a new phase of their relationship:the “welp-we-both-like-each-other” phase, which comes right beforethe “we-decided-to-(stay-platonic/start-romancin’)” phase. The BigKiss/Confession is the most iconic climactic love scene, in which the twocharacters take a chance and become vulnerable with each other – and kiss, orsay, “I love you,” or do anything that can’t be construed in any otherway. Want to extend the drama? Interrupt them, or have it beone-sided, or let it turn into a fight until they decide, “Forget it, thiswas stupid.” Readers will swoon.
10. Finish up with an awkward adjustment period.
If and when your characters do enter a relationship, makesure it’s a little tentative at the beginning, to keep it realistic. Yourcharacters have made a huge shift in their dynamic – there will be somelingering arguments and love-hate, and maybe a bit of discomfort going publicwith their romance. Then come the usual growing pains of a new relationshipgetting serious – figuring out how to navigate each other’s flaws, learning tobe open with their feelings, dealing with unresolved fights from before theirrelationship. It won’t be perfect right away. That’s the beauty of it.
I hope this helps you, love! I adore love-haterelationships, and I hope you enjoy crafting your own enemies-to-lovers as muchas we’ll all love reading them :) Good luck!
– Mod Joanna ♥️
drewdroppsmain reblogged
Anonymous asked:
Do you have any tips for writing enemies to lovers?
Hi, love! Thanks for your question and your patience
Enemies-to-lovers is a popular trope, but it’s often treatedcarelessly by writers – especially TV/movie writers who rush through thetransition to fit a single movie or episode arc. There’s nothing worseyou can do in this situation than to rush your arc. Falling in love isalready a time-consuming plotline – but transitioning from enemies, who arealready shutting each other out, to lovers? The quicker it happens, theless believable it becomes.
I have a lot of notes on how to write enemies to lovers, sobear with me as I list them out.
Writing Enemies to Lovers: The Basic Ingredients
1. Give them some similar traits.
No matter what, two people can’t fall in love if they don’trelate on some level. The first step to creating possible love interestsis to find where they’ll connect. Are they a hero and a villain? Evil and good? Night and day? I bet they both love animals. Maybe they’re both way into politics. Maybe they share a commonenemy. Maybe they’re both neat freaks or a bit sassy or super gay or lovethe same music. It can be a few important things or a bunch of superficialthings – just make sure they have something that can tie themtogether.
2. Put them on the same side of something.
When two people are mortal foes, it can be hard for them tosee each other in any other light. Bringing in a common enemy (ananti-hero, a natural disaster, a person in power), or a common interest (amutual friend, a school play, a moral cause), can land foes on a teamtogether. This forces them to become aware of each other’s strengths, andto consider (and worry about) each other’s weaknesses. This is perfectfodder for an eyebrows-raised, “Hey, they don’t suck at this particularthing,” moment.
3. Get them alone.
With other people watching (especiallyfriends/coworkers/allies), little groundwork can be made for your twohate-lovers. If you get your characters alone together, you’re given abounty of opportunities to bond them, including but not limited to: actualconversations, accidental (or faux-accidental) physical contact, the sneakymoment of checking each other out, etc. etc. etc. People are differentwhen you get them away from their friends – less extreme, less rowdy, lessunreachable. If you have to trap your characters in an elevator theold-fashioned way, damn it, you’re the only one who can do it.
4. Let them fight their feelings.
If these two are truly enemies, there isn’t going to be amoment of, “Oh, I like them. Huh. Neato.” Oh, no. There will be internal backlash – they will beat their emotions back with abroom, and deny them to anyone who asks. There will be extra hatefulglares, more middle fingers, and basically anything they can do to remindthemselves that they don’t like this person. If you show thisinternal conflict, it both (a) makes the feelings seem real, organic, and (b)creates a more realistic transition from hate to love.
5. Love can sound like hate.
There’s a reason people say indifference is the trueopposite of love. When your two enemies start to feel things foreach other, this will probably spark a lot of ranting, arguing, anddoor-slamming. It creates a fixation – you sit there and you stew andyou tell your friends, “Remember when they did thatstupid thing? Yeah. Screw them.” Your friends roll theireyes. When will you stop talking about this person? Just kiss themalready.
6. Sexual tension is a powerful tool.
If your characters experience sexual attraction, this is agreat way to accelerate their relationship against their will. It’s theage-old, “My mind says no but my body says yes,” dilemma. Yourcharacters can’t stand each other, or the image they have of each other, butthey’re attracted like magnets and can’t shake it. This can make for somepretty hot – or pretty hilarious – scenes.
7. Give them a moment of horrified realization.
Eventually, the feelings will grow strong enough that one orboth of them will have to sit there, probably on the bathroom floor a littlebit drunk with one sock on, and realize: “I love that f*cker.” It’llbe a scary moment for them. It’s not that they haven’t known it – theyjust have yet to accept that it’s something to deal with, until now. Thiscan be prompted by a dangerous situation, a shared activity, or a failed attemptat another romance – so when they really sit and think about it, theyknow. Then it becomes a question of either “how do I get rid of this?”or “how do I pursue this?”.
8. Try their hand at flirting.
Whether one or both characters have come to accept theirfeelings, someone’s gotta start flirting. A glancing touch across thearm; a small comment that could kind of be construed as amicable; a lingeringglance; that first peek at their enemy’s smile. Something cute and quickand immediately followed by an existential crisis will do in a pinch. Without this water-testing, readers won’t have any image of what thisrelationship will look like – and if it can succeed.
9. Craft the perfect kiss/hug/confession.
When the time is right, create an undeniable display ofattraction to transition into a new phase of their relationship:the “welp-we-both-like-each-other” phase, which comes right beforethe “we-decided-to-(stay-platonic/start-romancin’)” phase. The BigKiss/Confession is the most iconic climactic love scene, in which the twocharacters take a chance and become vulnerable with each other – and kiss, orsay, “I love you,” or do anything that can’t be construed in any otherway. Want to extend the drama? Interrupt them, or have it beone-sided, or let it turn into a fight until they decide, “Forget it, thiswas stupid.” Readers will swoon.
10. Finish up with an awkward adjustment period.
If and when your characters do enter a relationship, makesure it’s a little tentative at the beginning, to keep it realistic. Yourcharacters have made a huge shift in their dynamic – there will be somelingering arguments and love-hate, and maybe a bit of discomfort going publicwith their romance. Then come the usual growing pains of a new relationshipgetting serious – figuring out how to navigate each other’s flaws, learning tobe open with their feelings, dealing with unresolved fights from before theirrelationship. It won’t be perfect right away. That’s the beauty of it.
I hope this helps you, love! I adore love-haterelationships, and I hope you enjoy crafting your own enemies-to-lovers as muchas we’ll all love reading them :) Good luck!
– Mod Joanna ♥️
drewdroppsmain reblogged
moodboard for the name Christine featuring violins and lesbian themes
- bee
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Name mood board for Robyn -Pastel
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aesthetic mb: for valeria @vallessa
what’s meant to be will always find a way
Writblr: @drewdropps
drewdroppsmain reblogged
The worse the explanation, the better.
You’re maybe being held prisoner in a house full of werewolves but mostly they just want love and acceptance
Local girl should have probably just stayed home.
nicholewrites
Philosophy professor is unbothered by discovery of vampires but worried about everything else.
Alcoholic demon thinks dying his hair will solve all his problems and it kinda does.
Local children compete to not kill each other
avi-burton-writing
Local girl tries very hard not to solve a murder
elliewritesstories
Gaggle of lesbians must somehow survive off of sand and alien blood
alejandroistyping
Mentally diseased gay boy goes to hell with his friends.
Local atheist get possessed by God, much to her dismay
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Its camp
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“Show, Don’t Tell!”: Using the Five Senses in Writing
This is an extended piece to my ‘Show, Don’t tell’ post. When writing the senses, I like to imagine the scene as if I were watching a movie. It’s the simplest way for me to picture and write when it comes to descriptions. You don’t want to overload the reader, but you do want to paint the picture instead of telling them. Staying aware of the five senses in your writing will dramatically improve your skill. It not only helps the reader be a part of the story but helps the writer set important scenes, without having to outright state what is happening. In this post, I will explain how I use the five senses in my writing. As always, my advice is subjective and only to show what I personally do. Whether you keep the senses in mind as you write, or you edit them in later, making sure you pay attention to keywords will help eliminate the stress of going back later to figure out what (maybe!) went wrong.
- SEE: On Sight
One of the easiest ways to go about elaborating sight is to eliminate words related to vision (look, saw, gazed, peek, etc). It also helps to stay aware of items, colors, sizes, etc. Do the same thing you’d do with words related to sight, eliminate them. Of course, don’t erase every word or phrase, but being proactive, keeping them in mind, and avoiding them will help you avoid overloading your reader with too much purple prose. (Granted, I would die for purple prose, but I understand that’s not everyone’s thing).
Examples:
- Jill saw Jack running. He carried a silver pail. He tripped and fell down the hill.
There are a lot of sight-words in this example. As the writer, it is your decision to choose what you want to elaborate on, whether it is one thing, or all of them. How much of the story you want to paint is up to you—
- Jack’s feet blurred against the green grass as his toe caught his ankle. He rolled on his side, his silver pail flying into the air and reaching Jill first.
- Jill craned her neck to find Jack staggering down the hill. Water sloshed from the sides of the bucket, swinging and glistening in the sunlight. He stumbled and grabbed for the handle with his second hand as the pail threatened to leave his grasp, and then he slipped, toppling down the hill.
In both of these scenarios, the reader can “see” that Jack is running and tripped without specifically stating that Jill saw it. They also “see” he had a silver pail and dropped it.
Being more visually descriptive is also very important for facial expressions. It takes a simple mood and elevates it. Describing the expression also gives the reader the chance to “feel” that way too, almost like a mimic, which helps them visualize and empathize with the character.
Example:
- Maxine made a disgusted face.
Think of what a disgusted reaction looks like; usually, it involves frowning, pinching your nose, sticking out your tongue, etc. Sometimes, it can help to look in a mirror and write what you’re seeing, too.
- Maxine flared her nostrils and stuck out her tongue.
In the latter example, the reader is able to infer that Maxine is disgusted by how the writer described her reaction.
- HEAR: On Sound
Describing sound can be tricky. It’s also hard to remember when to use it. We tend to think of sound in terms of music or voices—okay, okay, sometimes we sprinkle in animals howling or the wind blowing, too!—but sound can be incredibly important in setting a scene and is often under-utilized. Sounds let the reader know their surroundings without pulling from what is going on and adds intensity!
Examples:
- Manuel sat nervously at the coffee table.
Again, as the writer, you can decide where to incorporate the use of sound. Here are a couple of suggestions, based on the above example:
- Manuel’s fingers drummed against the table and drowned out the low whistle escaping from between his teeth as he exhaled. All around him, there was cheerful chatter, through which the barista’s loud voice occasionally sliced.
- Manuel’s thoughts whirred and hummed, a dull grinding and the clinking of glass broke through the constant thump of his knee against the underside of the table.
In both of these examples, the reader was able to gather that Manuel was nervous (tapping knee, drumming fingers, low whistle). They are also able to gather he is in a coffee shop (or a restaurant of sorts) without explicitly saying so.
- TOUCH: On Sensation
The best way to handle touch is by imagining whatever it is you are describing and what it feels like. If you don’t know how something feels, google it. Don’t describe a snake as slimy just because its scales are shiny and gives it a slime-like effect. That said, touch doesn’t just deal with what your character is physically touching. It can also deal with emotions and help to express them without saying outright how your character feels.
Example:
- Opal touched the silk blanket. She felt sleepy and closed her eyes.
Here we can elaborate on what the blanket feels like when Opal touches it and how she feels to indicate she is tired:
- The supple fabric slid between Opal’s fingers like water. Her tired muscles sagged and sharp, tiny pinpricks pressed against her heavy eyelids as she lay back.
The reader knows the blanket was very soft and also that she is tired without specifically stating she was sleepy.
- TASTE: On Flavor
Taste is a fun sense to mess with. It can show the reader so much more than how delicious the bread is (or how gross dirt is). I like to play around with taste in the weather/air, the taste of fear, the taste of cat hair in your mouth because there is always cat hair in your mouth… all right, maybe that’s a personal thing.
Example:
- The sun rose over the city.
What do you use for taste here? A city can’t taste, the sun doesn’t taste, but your character does!
- Yellow light spilled over the streets, soaking the grit from the rainbow puddles into the air. The bitter grease lingered and settled in his mouth, strengthening every time he scraped his teeth against his tongue.
Experiment with taste in your writing. Describe things you wouldn’t normally think to taste, like crude oil*. The internet is a good resource when it’s something you don’t want to try yourself, like crude oil**. Chances are, someone out there has already tried it and explained what it tastes like online.
- SCENT: On Smell
Ahhh, smell. Smell lets the reader know so much: they can figure out where a character is, what they’re doing, where they are, etc., just from a few scent-related descriptors thrown around. Smell is also useful in triggering memories or past events.
- Danny walked through the forest.
You can use so many of the five senses here! But since we’re focusing on scent, let’s zero in on that:
- A crisp hint of pine lingered in the air and blended with the pungent decay of the brown needles underfoot.
Without stating anything about a forest, the reader has an idea of where Danny is. You can also use smell to show emotion!
- Danny was in love.
How do you smell love, K? Well, you’ve got me there: you can’t. But as a writer, you can think of what love means to you and of things you associate with love, and work from there. Personally, I imagine it would have a sweet smell, maybe too sweet.
- A rush of flowery sweetness filled his nostrils as the handsome young man walked by.
There you have it. Of course, there’s a lot more to writing the five senses, as there is with anything, but this is to give you a basic idea of what I do when I’m writing. Being proactive and keeping the senses in mind while writing can be tough and exhausting, but the more you do it, the easier it becomes. And you don’t leave it all for editing! Remember: the most important thing is to keep practicing.
Happy writing!
* Please do not taste crude oil. I can’t believe I have to type this, but some people want to eat Tide Pods, so here I am.
** Do not taste crude oil. You will die.