little guy fixing up your dash

Big fan of sun motifs in characters not necessarily being about positivity and happiness and how they're so " bright and warm" but instead being about fucking brutal they are.

Radiant. A FORCE of nature that will turn you to ash. That warmth that burns so hot it feels like ice. Piercing yellow and red and white. A character being a Sun because you cannot challenge a Sun without burning alive or taking everything down with them if victorious.

FREEBIES

Hello hello, it's me!

Before listing all my freebies so far, I want to announce the new image of Souls Collide! After over two years, I've decided to give it a makeover and changed the color palette, the fonts, the logo, and the banner! I hope you like it. Also, I am organizing my posts and trying to make them as easy as possible to be found if you're searching for a specific item or master post. (That's one of the reasons I'm making this post, to list all my freebies so far.)

Pro tip: search for #2scfreebies to find out more about my freebies!

THE WRITER'S WORKBOOK

Grab it here

PLOTDECK - CARD GAME FOR WRITERS

Grab it here

AUTHOR'S CORNER - NOTION TEMPLATE

Grab it here

WRITING GAME - 7 DAYS

Grab it here

MY LIBRARY - READING JOURNAL

Grab it here

Disclaimer: all of these items are digital products! As soon as you grab them, you'll have access to them.

That's everything for now! Feel free to reblog or recommend this post to a friend who'd love to grab one of these freebies (or all of them!).

i think that killing a dragon should have catastrophic nuclear-fallout level environmental consequences tbh. their blood should scorch and wither the earth with fire and poison, the toxic fumes released as they decay should choke the land and all nearby living creatures, and the entire landscape where they fell should be transformed into a blighted wasteland where bleached leviathan bones loom upwards out of the ground as a warning that can be seen from miles away, the boundary markers of an exclusion zone.

i also think that it would be wonderfully ironic if those who sought the fame and glory of the title of 'dragonslayer' only ended up with the bitter, enduring reminder of the devastation they're responsible for. this is not a place of honor. no highly esteemed deed is commemorated here.

🤍 The Warlock : Part 2

A nervous glance. But what is that back there watching?

Good Traits Gone Bad

Exploring good traits gone bad in a novel can add depth and complexity to your characters. Here are a few examples of good traits that can take a negative turn:

1. Empathy turning into manipulation: A character with a strong sense of empathy may use it to manipulate others' emotions and gain an advantage.

2. Confidence becoming arrogance: Excessive confidence can lead to arrogance, where a character belittles others and dismisses their opinions.

3. Ambition turning into obsession: A character's ambition can transform into an unhealthy obsession, causing them to prioritize success at any cost, including sacrificing relationships and moral values.

4. Loyalty becoming blind devotion: Initially loyal, a character may become blindly devoted to a cause or person, disregarding their own well-being and critical thinking.

5. Courage turning into recklessness: A character's courage can morph into reckless behavior, endangering themselves and others due to an overestimation of their abilities.

6. Determination becoming stubbornness: Excessive determination can lead to stubbornness, where a character refuses to consider alternative perspectives or change their course of action, even when it's detrimental.

7. Optimism becoming naivety: Unwavering optimism can transform into naivety, causing a character to overlook dangers or be easily deceived.

8. Protectiveness turning into possessiveness: A character's protective nature can evolve into possessiveness, where they become overly controlling and jealous in relationships.

9. Altruism becoming self-neglect: A character's selflessness may lead to neglecting their own needs and well-being, to the point of self-sacrifice and burnout.

10. Honesty becoming brutal bluntness: A character's commitment to honesty can turn into brutal bluntness, hurting others with harsh and tactless remarks.

These examples demonstrate how even admirable traits can have negative consequences when taken to extremes or used improperly. By exploring the complexities of these traits, you can create compelling and multi-dimensional characters in your novel.

Happy writing!

Pixel Art by NOP

Oh my gosh. I just found this website that walks you though creating a believable society. It breaks each facet down into individual questions and makes it so simple! It seems really helpful for worldbuilding!

Heads up that this is a very extensive questionnaire and might be daunting to a lot of writers (myself included). That being said, it is also an amazing questionnaire and I will definitely be using it (or at the very least, some of it).

Bookmarking this…

Robot characters who are given names like SL-308-62 but instead of their human friend going Well let's call you Sally for short, they instead ask the other if they Like their current name.

"Do you like your serial number?" they ask. "Yes, quite. It reminds me of who I am" the robot replies. "I have heard others like me go by different names after some time, and maybe one day I'll choose one for myself, too. But right now that is my full name, yes" they continue.

Because it's not your decision to make whether or not the robot will receive a new name. It should be theirs only. What's the difference? One is more complex and the other is simplified. They were both given by strangers instead of themselves.

"62 will do," they conclude. "It's my model number - there will be no other 62 after me."

Robots who instead start assigning numbers to their human friends

“Not that I mind,” I tell SL-308-62 one afternoon as we enjoy our shared lunch break (I have my packed lunch, and 62 has connected themself to their portable power bank) “but why do your call me ‘four’?”

The LEDs along 62’s appendages twinkle- a tell that they’re mulling over an answer.

“It’s a nickname,” they explain, “you are my fourth acquaintance aboard the station, and I’ve assigned you a serial number. Your full designation is F-001-04.”

“What does the ‘F’ stand for?” I ask, curious and charmed.

“Friend,” SL-308-62 says, their tone fond. “It stands for friend.”

Dunno how to put it properly into words but lately I find myself thinking more about that particular innocence of fairy tales, for lack of better word. Where a traveller in the middle of a field comes across an old woman with a scythe who is very clearly Death, but he treats her as any other auntie from the village. Or meeting a strange green-skinned man by the lake and sharing your loaf of bread with him when he asks because even though he's clearly not human, your mother's last words before you left home were to be kind to everyone. Where the old man in the forest rewards you for your help with nothing but a dove feather, and when you accept even such a seemingly useless reward with gratitude, on your way home you learn that it's turned to solid gold. Where supernatural beings never harm a person directly and every action against humans is a test of character, and every supernatural punishment is the result of a person bringing on their own demise through their own actions they could have avoided had they changed their ways. Where the hero wins for no other reason than that they were a good person. I don't have the braincells to describe this better right now but I wish modern fairy tales did this more instead of trying to be fantasy action movies.

I love the post-apocalyptic genre as much as the next horror fan, but there is something to be unpacked in how they often reinforce very reactionary political ideas. Not just in the more bluntly conservative ways of thematically rewarding ideas like

But also in the less easily recognizable reactionary beliefs like

I think this becomes an issue when people—who have not studied, for example, the way that communities engage in mutual aid during natural disasters even if disconnected beforehand—will assume that collapse will inevitably lead to evil cannibal hoards as the biggest threat to survival and therefore the most important thing to prepare for, instead of understanding that collapse is much more likely to lead to an absolute need for community interdependence and cooperation to survive in the face of environmental disaster. I think it’s an issue if you can’t picture disabled people during collapse because you watched a hundred depictions of post apocalyptic shows where disabled people are eerily absent or die immediately, instead of internalizing the much more likely reality that if you survive disaster even if you were able-bodied previously, you and everyone you know will likely be surviving as disabled people.

like the media is fun as a form of storytelling, but if you are approaching your imagination of the future with increasing climate crisis with images you got from zombie shows, you do need to take a break from the fiction and learn from communities that have actually experienced natural disasters in real life.

A Bechdel-Style test for Disabled Characters (you know we all want one)

So – a couple of years ago, I added the book Disability Rhetoric, by Jay Thomas Dolmage (2014, Syracuse University Press) to my library. And this last week, I’ve been sitting down and rereading it more carefully. 

Anyway, between Chapters One and Two, he offers a couple of options for a “Disability Test’ for media. His first suggestion is that a movie (or whatever) would pass if it manages to depict disability without relying on any of a dozen or so common myths/stereotypes about disability. But that requires the viewers and the writers to be familiar with the stereotypes, and why they’re wrong.

But the strength of the Bechdel Test is its simplicity. It makes a powerful statement about pop media, because it offers such a low bar to get over – like cavaletti:

[image: animated gif of a rider trotting her horse over caveletti (wooden rails on, or very low to, the ground – below the horse’s knees). description ends].

I much prefer his second suggestion: does disability show up in the story without turning into a “Dis(ability) ex machna”?

Quote(s):

Source: Jay Timothy Dolmage. Disability Rhetoric (Critical Perspectives on Disability) . Syracuse University Press. Kindle Edition.

I could see how that works as a “test” – a one question test:

Is Disability used as an simple explanation for the story?

Yes? Fail. No? Pass. 

That reminded me of a media test that I came up with a few years ago (but I haven’t come up with a snappy name for it):

1) There’s a Disabled character

2) Who  wants something

3) Besides Revenge, Cure, or Death,

4) And tries to get it.

After reading that passage from Dolmage, it occurred to me that my #3 on that list fits in with his dis ex machina idea – because if the only thing a disabled character is ever shown to want is “revenge, cure, or death,” then their entire motivation and story arc can be explained away with: “Because of their Disability..”

So, with Dis ex machina in mind, here’s a freshly reworked version of the test above:

1) There’s Disabled Character

2) Who strives for their own goal

3) Not motivated by the ‘tragedy of their disability’

4) And they’re still alive and disabled at the end.

Reblogging this, because a) it popped up in my activity notifications after I’d forgotten about it, and I’m taking that as A. Sign, b) I like the .gif of the pretty, happy, horse, and c) I wonder if I can tighten the criteria for my test even more – make it less clunky:

1) There’s Disabled Character

2) Who’s an active participant in resolving their own conflict*

3) That conflict revolves around something other than “Their Disability.”

4) They’re still alive and disabled at the end.

That’s an even closer parallel to the Bechdel Test, no?

*In contrast to the Tiny Tim Trope, where the Disabled Character is an *~*Inspiration*~* to a normate protagonist, or is in the story only to be rescued by the normate protagonist.

Eh… I just thought of a tighter way to phrase Criteria 3:

The conflict is not their Disability.

Oh, hey! how’s this for a name for this test:

The Agency Test?

Maybe?

I Think I’m zeroing in on an Actual Name for this test!

(I tried to start a second post / thread on just that question, but this is the only one that has gotten any traction, so, yeah)

The 1,001 Problems Test.

or

The 1,001 Desires Test

(or some other large, catchy, number)

Inspired by the rap song from Jay Z: “99 Problems.” but since that focuses on racial prejudice and police corruption, I don’t want to appropriate that.

And I’ve thought of an alternate way to phrase this:

Not quite as snappy as The Sexy Lamp Test (warning for the F-bomb), which is one line, but I think it’s important to single out Revenge, Cure, and Death as particularly bad in Disability Rep:

Revenge:

In Revenge Narratives, Disability is always someone’s fault, and that someone should be punished. Also, it frames Disability as something that transforms a ‘normal’ person into someone dangerous.

Very popular in police procedurals, especially in the mid-2000s, when vets were first coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan. See also: Shakespeare’s Richard III

Cure:

While it is true that many Disabled people in real life want (and deserve) cures for their conditions, if they were ever to be found, when a fictional story’s ending (whether happy or sad) rests entirely on whether a cure is achieved, then that’s implying to the Disabled people in the audience that if only their marginalized identity were erased can they be happy.

(One twist on this trope that I’d love to see is a character being cured of their disability, mid-story, and it still turning out to be a tragedy for some other, unrelated, reason. Like: Hooray! They can walk again! Huzzah. It’s a miracle! But then, there’s a lightning strike, and their house burns down and their dog dies, or something – not that I want to see anyone lose their home and their dog – but just to illustrate, in the grand scale of life itself, disability is just one trouble in a world of myriad joys).

Death:

I shouldn’t have to explain why how common it is to have a Disabled character driven to suicide, or being killed by a loved one, because of their disability is a bad thing, right?

If Sherlock Holmes was Isekai'd to a fantasy world he would just deduce the rules of this world and get back to solving crimes. He'll find an elf girl sidekick,name her Watson, and pretend like nothing happened.

"If you look closely, you can see traces of chalk dust on the floor. Our murderer must have used a magic circle to kill our victim."

"Actually Holmes, this looks like salt. Quite unusual for a magic circle, since it can be scattered so easily..."

"It tastes like salt too. Good eye Watson. Let us start by visiting the fish mongers."

"Well I would enjoy some fried dragonfish, but how does this help our investigation?"

"A process of elimination, my long-eared friend. There're only two ways for the culprit to get salt in the city. They could have brought it in themselves-"

"But then they'd have to pay the tarrif!"

"Very astute! No, a much likelier option is that they bought it here. Either the docks or the meat market would be the place. And I have a hunch that our culprit is fishy in more ways than one."

"But Holmes, how did you know the merfolk ambassador was the killer?"

"An excellent question, the key was the footprints."

"But he doesn't even have feet!"

"He doesn't as of right now. But you forget, the magic circle."

"I see! The killing spell was a water spear, which normally requires a circle."

"But doesn't if you're already imbued with water magic like our scaly ambassador."

"So the circle..."

"To grant him a pair of feet. For just long enough to leave distinctive footprints in the scattered salt and to make us suspect a two-legged killer."

"By the Goddess, Holmes, you're a genius!"

Makes sense.

Anyway, getting sheer autism vibes from Holmes

Good. That means I wrote him in-character.

You know, when I see fictional characters who repress all their emotions, they're usually aloof and very blunt about keeping people at a distance, sometimes to an edgy degree—but what I don't see nearly enough are the emotionally repressed characters who are just…mellow.

Think about it. In real life, the person that's bottling up all their emotions is not the one that's brooding in the corner and snaps at you for trying to befriend them. More often than not, it's that friendly person in your circle who makes easy conversation with you, laughs with you, and listens and gives advice whenever you're upset. But you never see them upset, in fact they seem to have endless patience for you and everything around them—and so you call them their friend, you trust them. And only after months of telling them all your secrets do you realize…

…they've never actually told you anything about themselves.

You just finished translating an ancient message found near an unknown structure that roughly means “…this is not a place of honour…”

The first step a reader takes into your story & world is through the opening chapter of the novel. Opening chapters are the writer's way of introducing their characters, plot and world to a stranger: just as important as a handshake at an interview. Thank you to @curiousloveable

What makes a First Chapter Pop for a Reader?

Some readers are fickle and will abandon books without an interesting first chapter. Some power through and discover the story beyond. But you cannot go into writing the opening chapter thinking such. First Chapters are your way of introducing your story to a stranger. You want to make the right impression, put your reader in the right mood.

As a reader myself, the most entertaining opening chapters are those that are not bogged down by expostion and terrible character descriptions. They are the ones that tell you where you are, what you're doing and who is leading you through the story. Your opening chapter should be concise and to the point. Your reader doesn't care whether your character has eyelashes that smwould shame a cow or likes to butter their toast sideways. It's not important yet unless your bovine MC is going to survive the opening act of the plot because they butter their toast lift to right.

Kinds of Opening Chapter

There are 3 kinds of opening chapter, which I have given sone helpful names:

What should be included in an Opening Chapter?

As I said, the opening chapter is the introduction to the story. An opening chapter should have the most fundamental things a reader should know about your story & the narrator.

Firstly, the fundamental:

1) Who is the Narrator?

2) Where are we?

3) What's happening in your narrator's life? / Around them?

The Optional/Subject to story type:

1) introduce antagonist or conflict

2) inciting event to rest of plot

Some things you should remember

Made this design based on the work of Carl Golden for whoever may need a little help with their character’s development