Writers: Break the Rules
The entire reason we want to have writing “rules” is so that we can break them . Between my annoyed ranting and my personal opinions, it slipped my mind that many people haven’t been told this, and it’s only been brought to my attention recently that my own posts (and many others) don’t emphasize this point nearly enough.
Please take every writing guideline with a grain of salt.
If someone says don’t do this it should never mean don’t ever do this but rather do this sparingly in order to get the effect you want out of it .
If you use stammers and ellipses to show pacing throughout your story, those things become the pacing itself. But if you use the sentence structure and action tags to show pacing, you can use stammers and ellipses to show anxiety, or create a unique speech pattern for a particular character, or a multitude of other cool things.
If you constantly use epithets to describe every character in your story, they become a long, often annoying alternate to a pronoun or name. But if you cut out most epithets, and just use a specific one to refer to a particular person or group of people, you can show something about your pov character’s view of the world, whether prejudice or admiration or adoration; the possibilities are endless.
The same idea can be applied to most things pertaining to writing. Remember that almost anything you use frequently throughout your writing will loose its point. That’s why said is such a good dialogue tag. Once you use it enough times, most readers don’t notice it anymore.
So when you read a writing guideline, one of your first thought should not be that’s a foolish rule or wow my writing must be terrible, but rather in what ways could this rule be broken in order to achieve a certain effect?
Once you know that, it’s much easier to tell if the rule itself (and the breaking of it) is something you think would benefit your writing, or if you’d be better off ignoring it entirely.
(If we could pass this around the writeblr community that would be wonderful!) Disclaimer, sarcasm, and more info below the cut:
Migraines suck. That is all.
Why am I doing this? ... Seriously brain, why.
I wanted to play with a tumblr tag cloud. Found all the js externally hosted tag clouds are down. Found a php self-hosted alternative -- it’s actually really easy to ‘install’ and use, but! but!
There’s no way to limit how many tags show up, so in my case, I do a bunch of “crazylol” or “rambling thoughts” tags that aren’t really serious? And it mucks the whole results set up and goes boom (like I’m serious, boom, 198 posts, 923 tags. Boom.) and yeah I can restrict how many posts to take into account? but then you potentially lose old-but-much-used tags that haven’t shown up in x posts.
So I mean. Why not. My day job is mucking around in php code, might as well alter this code to suit my purposes?
(But seriously it’s almost midnight and I’m coding on a tiny screen, why am I like this. The only way this could get better is if I’m drinking booze while coding.)
Rambling thoughts about what sort of limits to impose below the cut, feel free to ignore.
Keep reading
Ugh, so immediately after saying I was going to aim to do writing every day, I stop doing it XD Tho tbf, this is a result of two 10 hr coding days in a row. I’m just not feeling up to writing after all that time.
I’m not going in this weekend, tho, and next week should be regular days. So maybe a chapter by the weekend after <3
“really?” I say to inanimate objects that are not working like they usually do
“Stay.” I glare at inanimate objects that continuously fall over
“Thank you!” I say exhasperatedly to the inanimate objects when they do finally work right/stay put
“Sorry! I say to the table I bumped into
“SHHH” I say to the inanimate object that keeps making noise
“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming,” I huff at the persistent kitchen timer.
“Don’t take that tone with me!” I exclaim at objects that make strange and sudden unknown noises.
“Stop crying, you’re fine,” I snap as I’m looking for the charger cord for the electronic device beeping demandingly at me.
“Oh nice, real mature,” I snarl at devices that suddenly stop working after I berate them for not working properly.
JESUS CHRIST I HAVE NEVER RELATED SO HARD IN MY LIFE
“Don’t you shout at me” to the till whenever I don’t hit the right button and it beeps shrilly at me.
Report: humans seem to believe that inanimate objects possess a spirit of some sort, and will often address them thinking the item will hear and understand. This makes our previous observations about the joy they experience when blowing things up quite disturbing.
Everything has a spirit, obviously. Including my code.
"Are you really doing this to me?" I ask my code in despair, when I change one thing and everything breaks because of it.
what do chairs for dragons look like.
big comfy piles of pillows
Well, that don’t work in the scene I’m doing it’s too cute not to draw.
they use human chairs but really badly
Wait elongated chairs y’all. Eight chair legs instead of one, they can lie down majestically and put their chins on the table like they were always meant to.
I’m not sure if this is silly or a good idea lol
you’re a dragon manners mean jackshit nothing
excuse you dragons are pillars of nobility and composure
you’re a dragon. who’s gonna stop you? hmm? the dragon politeness upkeep taskforce?
I mean other dragons are really the only thing a dragon fears
Date a dragon who uses big comfy piles of pillows as chairs
Date a dragon who tries to use chairs for humans but has trouble
Date a dragon who uses elongated chairs made just for dragons
Date a dragon who is a pillar of nobility and composure
Date a dragon who rests their chin on the table
I love this post way too much not to reblog it.
The cutest damn things Ive ever seen
Draw that in a separate post also these
I just lay on the floor. Maybe with something soft under me.
500 more words added to DE’s next chapter, woot.
I think I’m going to try for between 500-1000 words per weekday, and 1500-2000 words per weekend, on actual writing and about double that if I’m editing.
Current chapter word count: 5523
So it looks like 2k is about my limit for writing recently. Well, I'll take it. Current chapter count is at 5k
I always find it kind of weird that matriarchal cultures in fiction are always “women fight and hunt, men stay home and care for the babies” because world-building-wise, it makes no sense
think about it. like, assuming that gender even works the same in this fantasy culture as it does in ours, with gender conflated with sex (because let’s be real, all of these stories assume that), men wouldn’t be the ones to make the babies, so why would they be the ones to care for the babies? why is fighting and hunting necessary for leadership?
writing a matriarchy this way is just lazy, because you’re just taking the patriarchy and just swapping the people in it, rather than actually swapping the culture. especially when there are so many other cool things you could explore. like, what if it’s not a swap of roles but of what society deems important?
maybe a matriarchy would have hunting and fighting be part of the man’s job, but undervalued. like taking the trash out or cleaning toilets: necessary, but gross, and not noble or interesting. maybe farming is now the most important thing, and is given a lot of spiritual and cultural weight.
how would law work? what crimes would exist, and what things would be considered too trivial to make illegal? who gets what property? why?
how would religion work? how would you mark time or the passage into adulthood? what would marriage look like? if bloodlines are through the mother, bastardy wouldn’t even be a concept - how does that work?
what qualities would be most important in a person? how would you define strength or leadership ? what knowledge would be the most coveted and protected? what acts or roles are considered useless or degrading?
like, you can’t just take our current society and say you’re turning it on its head when you’re just regurgitating it wholesale. you have to really think about why things are the way they are and change that .
THIS IS SUCH A GOOD POST THOUGH.
I think what really bothers me about the whole “men take care of the children and tend house because they’re not in charge” thing is that it reinforces the idea that traditionally feminine work SHOULD be undervalued. That there’s no way anyone could see raising children and think, “wow, what a valuable contribution to society”. Even though families are what societies are MADE of, and if you ignore the welfare of your children the society falls apart in a generation or two.
Imagine if women were seen as the ideal political leaders BECAUSE they’re the ones best suited for raising young children. What if it was assumed that government positions were sort of scaled-up households, and that only a leader who saw their subjects as their children could be fair and compassionate enough to rule effectively? What is a village, or a country, but an extended family?
On the one hand, the ability to use physical force effectively is super important for a low-tech society, and there’s always the threat of hostile military takeover, either from outsiders or via internal revolt. On the other hand, a society where all the men want to rebel is probably not a society that’s being run at all effectively, and there are other ways of maintaining control (ie religion, cultural traditions, propaganda, etc). Women could be the more educated group–in some ways that’s even intuitive, since a non-magical preindustrial society is one with a high infant mortality rate, which means it has to have a high birth rate to compensate, which means women will be pregnant a lot. If they have trouble consistently working physically demanding trades, why not assign them to jobs that require more mental exertion? Why not a society where all the lawyers are female, all the doctors are female, all the historians and most respected poets are female? If you keep that up for long enough, eventually that gets seen as an inherent sex difference, and men don’t exert physical force because holy shit they’d have no idea what they were doing once they gained power.
It doesn’t have to be these specific differences, of course. But I think that’s the thought process that most of the best worldbuilding comes from–why are things this way? How have they stayed this way? Just saying “what if women could tell MEN what to do!” is so boring compared to asking why we value the things we value. Besides, fictional societies that are created without asking why things are the way they are are not going to stand up under close scrutiny, whether they play into or subvert our expectations.
This is such an excellent addition to my post, @apprenticebard
(Not aliens, but goes along with some discussions on how cultures might differ.)
“Humans are weird” idea It seems to always be the case that aliens have names that are “unpronounceable by the human tongue.” But, y’know, humans are actually really good mimics. We can do impressions of anything, and some of us are really good at it. What if that was a special skill of ours that was constantly surprising the aliens?
Alien talks about human like s/he’s not there, only to be shocked when its own language comes out of that strange little mouth.
Alien can’t figure out WHAT that noise onboard is, only to find human crewmate pranking it. (“As soon as he leaves, I’m gonna do the sound of a failing hover engine, okay? Just see where he looks first!”)
Alien hears a different noise and a thud, then “Sorry, I tripped.” (”But you squeaked .” “Yeah, didn’t mean to. Sounded kinda dumb.”)
Alien is alarmed to hear the sound of two Dangerous Animals coming from the containment room. Thinks the one has multiplied. Runs in, find human yowling back at it. (“It seemed lonely, so I was talking to it. Reminds me of a cat I had once.”)
The away team is threatened by a Large Animal protecting its young. Alien Captain knows what to do. Shoves the human up front and points. “Make the noises that the little ones are making. This is your time to shine.”
akaluan Follow Current ProjectsList all the things you’re currently working on in as much or little detail as you’d like, then tag some friends to see what they’re working on: writing, art, gifsets, whatever. Tagged by @brynwrites via their statement of tagging everyone with a WIP. So, bryn, hardly as fascinating or as work-intensive as your list, but...Starting from the top.Everything is Bleach fanfic unless otherwise noted.Dragon Eclipse (clicky for story)Status: Uh... In Progress / first draftCounts: ~140k in 17 chapters, still going (Oh dear lord how did this monster get away from me like this? ;-; )Blurb: A single mistake, that's all it took to shatter Ishida Uryuu's world around him. A mistake coated in metallic blood and desperation to win... no, to survive. Now burdened with the expectations of everyone, Uryuu must forge his own path while trying to relearn exactly who he is. A Dragon Flaps Its Wings (clicky link)Status: in progress / first draft (I’ve got fragments and the start of an outline for where I might want to go from there)Counts: 8k posted, another couple thousand scattered through my notesBlurb: If a butterfly flapping its wings can create a hurricane, then what’s the result of a dragon flapping its wings? Uryuu finds himself tumbling backwards to a beginning he wasn’t even aware of, and refuses to sit idly by. Shattered EclipseStatus: in progress / first draftCounts: 6k or so written, nothing postedBlurb: The war is over. They’ve won. Aizen lays bound and defeated at their feet, his dreams of conquest ended. This should be a time for celebration and happiness. All Uryuu can think about is the cost of that victory, and how there’s an empty space at his side and far too many voices in his head.Outside Looking InStatus: in progress / first draftCounts: 2k or so written, nothing posted (this one isn’t meant to be huge. It wasn’t even meant to exist. whoops.)Blurb: Ryuuken thought he understood his son. Thought he knew what made Uryuu tick. So when he came to offer Uryuu an escape from the clutches of the Shinigami, Ryuuken couldn’t connect that mental expectation with the stubborn fury and sharpened tongue that he ran headfirst into. It left him shaken and out of sorts, and with a sinking feeling of failure in his gut that refused to go away no matter how much he tried.(For the record I kinda hate writing Ryuuken like no one’s business but the idea wouldn’t leave me alone so WHATEVER.)We’re Listening This TimeStatus: in progress / first draftCounts: 3k written, nothing postedBlurb: Ichigo and co go back in time to fix a problem they didn’t know existed. Also Uryuu is Theirs now. Shinigami and undead bad guys can go away. (not official blurb, haven’t put much thought into how to sum this one up.)In less fanfic-y news!Untitled NaNo Project 1Status: stalled / first draftCounts: .... 100k written, I believe? Which TECHNICALLY spans what would more appropriately be 3 different ‘books’ if this ever went anywhereBlurb: Selverat is the firstborn son of a border lord... except he really isn’t. Son of a fire elemental and entirely unwanted, he’s shuffled off to the knights, and then the Dragon Knights, as soon as possible and told to never return. That’s okay. He’s over humanity, especially those he’s theoretically related to. Giant dragons? Yeah, those are probably a lot more his speed. At least if one of those wants to kill him, he’ll actually die.Untitled NaNo Project 2Status: Stalled / first draftCounts: 50k written, definitely not nearly completeBlurb: Born under a Wild Star, Nekir is cursed to be known as a Destiny Breaker. And what better place for a reviled destiny than in the midst of a rebellion? Along with about three other untitled, little-more-than-notes WIP fanfic concepts that I haven’t actually started because I still (somehow) have some sort of restraint. For however long that will last. Awkward.Eeeh -- well! Doing the same thing; if you have any WIPs of any sort, consider yourself tagged if you’d like to do this <3 #dragon eclipse#dragoneclipseverse#how did one story spawn so many AUs?#I'm serious here#what is my muse doing#also NaNo 1 and NaNo 2 are in the same universe#but entirely different planets#maybe someday I'll complete NaNo 2#but NaNo 1 is... probably not#I love Selverat#but his story is... eh#i dunno#it's older and therefore a lot more childish#I think all my ofic is childish#is it?#probably not#tell that to my self confidence
akaluan Follow Ages in Dragon Eclipse*ENDLESS LAUGHTER* Omfg so I just ended up making an age crack in DE (Kurosaki asking Kaito how old he was, and Kaito replying with “Older than you”) and then I tried to DO THE MATH ON IT...KAITO REALLY ISN’T. AT ALL.HAAAAHAHAHAHAHA.(okay, that’s sorta a lie, it gets a bit complex with the timeline wrapping, BUT...)Kaito went back in time FIVE DAYS BEFORE HIS BIRTHDAY (November 6th; final fight with Aizen is Nov 1st.)Five days after traveling back in time, Kaito turns 16 (making his new birthday somewhere around June 6th-14th, I think, depending upon when I have him coming back). I THINK I have Kaito coming back near the beginning of June, which gives him essentially a MONTH on Kurosaki Ichigo, whose birthday is July 15th.CONGRATS KAITO. You’re, uh... not half a year younger than Kurosaki anymore?(Shit I don’t even know why, but realizing Kaito didn’t even turn 16 until AFTER the timetravel just makes things... so much worse somehow. I mean It’s not like it’s THAT much of a difference between 15 and 16 but... I dunno. Whatever. Ouch.)#timeline#dragon eclipse#dragoneclipseverse#ages#poor Kaito#seriously tho I was thinking he had like 4 or 5 months on Kurosaki#because of time travel#but at least 'older than you' is still the correct answer#BARELY
akaluan Follow bibliomatsuri replied to your post: Aight, the living room is now a No Go zone because... i believe in you *shiny eyes of encouragement* (also i am sorry i haven’t replied on the latest DE chapter, I’ve been low on capacity to words lately) No worries! We all have times like that for sure <3 I know for most of the month of May that was basically me, for different reasons than the crazy you’ve been living through, but similar result for sure. Whenever you can get to it is just fine ^^ No pressure! (100% I am so pleased just getting comments that it doesn’t matter when I get them XD )(Also also, returning to being able to word lately-- I’ve actually got a partially complete reply to that long rambling thread we were reblogging between each other, about our original works. May killed me and June sorta did too, so now I’m getting back to finishing it at last xDD )As for DE! I’ve got 1000 words done and am taking a brief break, so that’s something ^^(And Mowgli is being a cute brat and sitting between me and the keyboard demanding pettings, lol. Needy cat.)#bibliomatsuri#replies#writing update#gunna need to reeeaaally edit this section#it's awkwardly written#but it's still WORDS#and a framework to build from later#that's all that matters
akaluan Follow Aight, the living room is now a No Go zone because the carpet is wet (we bought a rug washer machine thingy yesterday) and I’ve dealt with practically every other indoor chore that I had scheduled for today (except for small things like running dishes and folding laundry, but those are break-time chores).I have 6 hours before dinner needs to be made. Let’s see how much writing I can get done in that time.#*cracks knuckles*#let's get this done#3k words would get me a full-if-small chapter#think I can do it?#writing updates
akaluan reblogged araceil artistsaurio Heads up PayPal is changing ToS againAnd they are getting even more strict when it comes to not using invoices for charging for Digital Goods.Whatever Invoices make you uncomfortable or not, you gotta start using them if you want to keep your PayPal and your money. Changes starting this October 19th.Honestly I don’t get why so many artists are so overwhelmed by invoices, takes just a few clicks to set up. And is not only “oh you have to use invoices because PayPal says so” if you don’t use invoices you’re putting yourself at risk of being scammed by an user abusing the buyer’s protection. Since PayPal ain’t got no idea of what those $50 you received were for, but the buyer is saying they didn’t got anything for the money, PayPal will just side with the buyer.I’m seriously begging ppl, start using invoices. I’m tired of seeing ppl complain their paypal was banned, or is under investigation, or worse, the $100 they got for a very complicated commission, 3 months later get a refund issue. juststartusinginvoicesfor your own sake. Here is how you use invoices because I can’t keep playing devil’d advocate, yes I would love to help you get your PayPal restored but just this last month I had to help three persons, and they were MORE than aware of this issues. Just protect yourself. Step 1. You login and click hereStep 2. You click create new Invoice. YOU NEVER CLICK REQUEST MONEY, unless you want to risk yourself to get scamer by buyer’s protection exploit and not only lose your money but your paypal account, and any future paypal linked to your irl name. Step 3 You follow this steps1. Invoice for amount only2. Ask your client for their PayPal email and put in that field3. Add a vague description of what you’re doing, something like “Character Coloured with Background” is good enough, and if you need more than 1 character you can type in “2″ where it says amount, or just say “2 characters”.Warning: don’t type in “Naruto rawing Sasuke”. That will get you banned. 4. Click send. Optional steps. Create a template, doesn’t take more than 10 minutes and it will save you a lot of time for future invoices, you can even click on “items” right next to “create invoice” and add a list of services you offer such as “character sketch” “character flats” along with a price, so next time you invoice you just add to the invoice from your list of items and you saved yourself some more time. More importantly, you protect yourself from buyer’s protection exploit because if PayPal knows you’re doing digital goods, then you will be allowed that you did in fact created a digital good. Keep PayPal happy, as for right now there are no alternatives to this service, and this is the only source of income for many freelancers. Stay safe. awkwardtimezone Follow Heads up, all commissioning artiststoridomi Follow I’ll be doing this from now on!toridomi ADDING THIS BC I HATE PAYPALLLL
OK so when you send/make invoices…it doesnt let you choose ‘digital good’ or differentiate between “goods (as in physical)” and “services” (as in doesnt need address) which is what you could do with micropayments….
SO WHEN U SEND INVOICE the buyer will be asked for their shipping address.
( I even had the options turned off for shipping?? I was pretty sure there USED TO be an option that you turned off and then it wouldn’t ask for shipping, but that doesnt seem to work anymore? I went to where the setting was and still had the boxes unchecked, and yet my buyer was still getting asked to put in shipping address, and when invoice was paid, i was being asked to provide shipping label by X date or Consequences.)
SO APPARENTLY YOU HAVE TO DO THIS as the SELLERSO go to the invoice (i think this can be done BEFORE the buyer pays?? Didnt try myself tho, i did it after it was paid), and click on VIEW DETAILS in that first box Scroll to the bottom of the page and click ADD TRACKING INFO
(YES COUNTER-INTUITIVE AS BALLLLLS.)of course HERE IS WHERE YOU'RE GIVEN INSTRUCTIONS ON PROCESSING DIGITAL GOODS. HIDDEN BEHIND A BUTTON YOU WOULDNT PRESS IF YOU WERE, SAY, TRYING TO SELL DIGITAL GOODS.
Select Order Processed/Service RenderedYAY this stuff fills itself out and you can save and not have to worry about shipping your Digital Intangible Product to a very confused seller.
I am so salt about this. excuse me while i go cry angrily.shia-art Follow Think I’ll reblog this for my own use…eymbeeart Follow Guess I gotta get used to sending invoices for all transactions soon thenplaganest Follow i have been getting commissions from trusted clients, but as i expand the busyness i feel the need to save this for later.jdlaclede invoices arent hard yalllkichizone Follow The most confusing part for most digital artists is the last bit but its very important!! Please do this so you don’t have issues with your paypal !!#signal boost#paypal#digital goods#so counterintuitive
akaluan reblogged blackmanju dannykitchen Follow Advice for girls: buy skinny jeans in the boy’s sectionThey’re more comfortable, still form fitting, and best of all: THE POCKETS. THEY HAVE ACTUAL POCKETS.don’t believe me? look:these are boys pants, and they look just as good on me as any other skinny jeans I ownSee that phone? I’m going to put it in the pocket. Must be so small right??Ah yes, girl pants length. Probably can’t fit any further than that-what? what’s this?Good god. Oh good lord in heaven. This is blasphemous. Look at how much room is still there. There’s chaos in the streets. Babies are crying. Fashion designers are screaming out of fear of the unknown. Buy your pants in the boys section, girls. Live in the beautiful world you deserve where you can fit shit in your pocket.prismatic-bell Follow Curvy ladies: Men’s dress pants have more room in the butt. I don’t know why, I only know that all my dress pants for work are off the rack in the men’s department in Target. Literally nobody has noticed, except a couple of my younger coworkers who’ve asked me–you guessed it–”oh my god, where did you find pants with pockets?”Tall ladies: men’s pants are easier to find in longer lengths than women’s pants are.Trans ladies: Wanna get on this gravy train, but afraid people will misgender you for wearing clothes off the men’s racks? Step one: tell me who these people are and I will punch them in the face. Step two: if it doesn’t make you dysphoric, please don’t feel obligated to wear pants off the women’s racks if pants off the men’s racks are more comfy/useful to you. I’m a cis woman who’s been wearing pants from the boys’ section and, later, the men’s section, ever since I hit puberty and in thirteen years maybe, maybe half a dozen people have noticed. And it’s always women asking the oh-my-god-pockets question. You’re all good. <3Fat ladies: you will pay the same for a pair of 42x32 jeans as for a pair of 34x32 jeans, instead of having to pay some kind of Fat Penance Tax by way of being in the “plus size” section. Also, did I mention more room in the butt?Ladies concerned about modesty: For obvious reasons, there is more crotch space in men’s pants. Embrace it and enjoy a life free from cameltoe worries and spontaneous labia-wedgies when you squat down.All ladies: I swear to god the waists in women’s pants these days are made specifically to fit exactly nobody so that no matter what you do, your underwear will show. Men’s pants do not do this. The waists sit where they’re supposed to and will actually lay flat against the small of your back instead of flopping open to show your unmentionables to the world. If you want hiphugger jeans, buy one leg-length too small and one waist-size too large and let them hang, and they still won’t accidentally show your undies. Men’s pants will last longer. They cost less, in a lot of cases. Embrace the men’s jeans. Buy the men’s jeans. Stop buying shitty flimsy women’s jeans that wear out in six months.AND FINALLY: to determine your size in men’s pants, take a tape measure around your waist at its smallest point. This is your waist size and will be the first number in a pair of men’s pants. Next, take the tape measure from about an inch below your no-no squares parts, and run it to your ankle. (You may need a friend or parent to help with this.) This is your inseam length, and will be the second number on a pair of men’s pants. Men’s and boys’ pants are tailored the same way, so if you have trouble finding your waist size in men’s, hop over to the boys’ section. Feel no shame. If they’d give us decent fucking pants we wouldn’t have to steal theirs, right?thewinterotter Follow Listen you guys, I am SO MAD ABOUT THIS. I’ve seen this first post before, and recently my mom said, “Hey, did you see that post on Tumblr about shopping for jeans in the men’s department?”And I said yeah, I’d seen it, I’ve been through the Trying To Fit Clothes On My Stupid Body wars, and this post really only applied to skinny jeans because they’re so stretchy. It couldn’t possibly work for regular jeans! I have TRIED SO MANY TIMES. I’ve always shopped in the men’s department because women’s clothes are like 90% bullshit and 10% fake pockets.But I hadn’t seen the second addition, which gave me more hope, and I decided to just try on a few pairs when I was at Old Navy the other day. They have some “classic” jeans with no give to them at all, which is what I was trying on years ago that convinced me it just wasn’t possible. (Jeans in my price range didn’t really come with any form of stretch back then, as I recall. Textile technology is bad-ass.) But these days they mostly have “flex” jeans that have some give to them. (Women’s jeans are usually labeled “stretch” but apparently men’s have to be “flex” like they need stretchy garments so their HUGE MUSCLES don’t just TEAR THEIR CLOTHES!)This was totally an impulse decision so I couldn’t measure myself, but I grabbed a few sizes based on what I vaguely thought my measurements probably were and decided it couldn’t possibly be worse than the endless cycle of regret, dissatisfaction, and recrimination that is trying on women’s clothing.The first pair I tried on fit like a DREAM. I’ve been gaining weight lately which is a whole separate nightmare (mainly centered around “but I don’t WANT to buy new bras, this is bullshit!”) and the reason I need to buy new jeans because nothing freaking fits me, and I was sure these wouldn’t either, but DAMN. They’re the best pair of jeans I own. Twice as thick, pockets twice as big, legs nice and loose (they don’t even sell women’s jeans with a cut remotely similar to this), and contrary to my super dumb opinion from before this experience, they’ve got my plenty of room for all my womanly curvey bits. AND because they’re actually a relaxed fit instead of trying to cling to every inch of me, they don’t show my weight nearly as much as my women’s jeans do, they’re easier to move in, they’re not constantly inching down my hips with every move I make, and overall they just make me feel GOOD about how I look which is a strange new sensation I could definitely get used to.It’s like a miracle. I want to cry both out of joy and because of all the shitty jeans now filling my closet when I could have been buying comfortable, relaxed, pocket-having men’s jeans all these years. Many blessings to the posters above, may your crops grow and your cows give milk and your jeans hold all the gadgets you desire.thatoneartyishperson Follow Also: men’s pants have constant sizes that are based off of actual measurements instead of the women’s whatever-the-company-wants-to-make-the-size sizes. They’re far more reliable and your size will translate to other brands.inconspicuouslyevil Follow @get-dunkd-on help me remember this for our next Goodwill run lmaofenland-witch I HAVE to try some men’s jeans. Sick of these super skinny show everything always having to be hitched up no pocket crap jeans!k-lionheart Honestly signal boost. Because imagine this actually starts some kind of ludicrous pants revolution that ends up causing women’s pants fashion company’s sales to tank, absolutely forcing them to realize men’s pants have always had the right idea and start doing that instead of this bullshit. Like just imagine. And don’t just signal boost this. Tell every woman you know. Tell every trans friend and every curvy friend out there. You see a lady down the street, stop her and tell her you’ve discovered a new gospel and it’s purchasing men’s pants. With the way women spread information when we’re excited, the mentioned scenario could actually be hella achievableakreliadeklavesht PRAISE THE UNIVERSE I FOUND THIS POST AGAINwhat-even-is-thiss Follow Guys. Gals. Non binary pals. As a trans ftm person who just recently started shopping in the men’s department and has gigantic hips full of dysphoria let me tell you a thing.Athletic cut jeans have more room in the butt. I repeat. Athletic cut jeans have more room in the butt. You don’t need to go to the dress pants to fit your lovely curvy self in there. Go to the regular section or big and tall if you’re a bit taller and/or wider, and there’ll be a little section of athletic style jeans. They’ve still got the giant blessed pockets and the room in the crotch and if you’re really curvy with a large bone structure like I am you can get yourself some quality pants.This has been an addition by your local nb trans dude. Thank you for your time.#signal boost#good advice#true advice#its amazing what you find in the men's department#I've always shopped there#my mom took me into the boys section when I needed jeans for horseback riding#at ten#I just thought#this is what you do#bought dress shirts from there too#again#'this is what you do"#okay tbh I buy 90‰ of my clothes in men's#if men's dept sold skirts and blouses I'd probably buy it there too#because I can guarantee there would be real pockets in those things
akaluan reblogged brynwrites Follow All About Writing Fight Scenes@galaxies-are-my-ink asked,“Do you have any advice on writing fight scenes? The type of scene I’m writing is mostly hand to hand combat between two experts. I’m definitely not an expert so when I try to write it, the scene ends up sounding repetitive and dull.”Fore note: This post is coauthored by myself and one of my amazing critique partners, Barik S. Smith, who both writes fantastic fight scenes and teaches mixed martial arts, various artistic martial arts, and weapons classes.I (Bryn) will tell you a secret: I trained MMA for seven years, and when I write authentic hand to hand fight scenes, they sound dull too. The problem with fight scenes in books is that trying to describe each punch and kick and movement (especially if it’s the only thing you’re describing) creates a fight that feels like it’s in slow motion. I write…Lowering her center of gravity, she held her right hand tight to her face and threw a jab towards his chin. He shifted his weight, ducking under her punch. His hair brushed against her fist, and he stepped forward, launching a shovel hook into her exposed side.But your brain can only read for fast. In real life that series of events would take an instant, but I needed a full eight seconds to read and comprehend it, which gave it an inherent lethargic feel. So, we have two primary problems:How do we describe this fight in a way the reader can understand and keep track of? How do we maintain a fast paced, interesting fight once we’ve broken down the fight far enough for readers to understand it? (We will get back to these, I promise.) But for now, let’s look at…Different types of “fight scenes:”Keep reading#writing tips#fight scenes#combat#characterization through combat#reference#for later#writing reference#writing ref
