seas-dubh

[seas-dubh]

Chewing at the end of its name, we lose ourselves in the memory of a howl.

Alejandra Pizarnik, from The Galloping Hour: French Poems (tr. Patricio Ferrari & Forrest Gander)

(Original: On mord le bout de son nom, on se perd dans le souvenir d'un cri.)

#words #wip: my name your teeth

[seas-dubh]

🌺 What is your oc’s formal wear like?

hi!! thank you so much for the ask and i’m SO sorry for the massive delay! i’ll answer for aiteann and dorian, because i feel like they’d have the most interesting answers.

for aiteann, although he’s a faery, and a favourite of the queen, he’s also a soldier. he wears the fancy silks and embroidery common amongst the fae, but opts out of the looser garments — popular for formal occasions, as it shows you can afford more fabric, and that you have no need to move quickly — that can make it difficult to move in. cloaks can still be useful for hiding weapons, though.

dorian had his fill of fancy clothes in the faery realm, and he doesn’t like modern formalwear (not that he had much cause to wear formalwear at all before he joined the fae). he tries to dress nicely, but even at a formal event he’d probably just opt for black trousers and a nice shirt.

#again: so sorry i took so long to answer this! #wip: my name your teeth #ask #ask game #rainbowbutterfrosting #ch: aiteann #ch: dorian

[seas-dubh]

How to Kick a Reader in the Gut

Disrupt the reader’s sense of justice. 

This generally means setting a character up to deserve one thing and then giving them the exact opposite. 

Kill a character off before they can achieve their goal. 

Let the bad guy get an extremely important win. 

Set up a coup against a tyrannical king. The coup fails miserably.

Don’t always give characters closure. 

(Excluding the end of the book, obviously)

A beloved friend dies in battle and there’s no time to mourn him.

A random tryst between two main characters is not (or cannot be) brought up again.

A character suddenly loses their job or can otherwise no longer keep up their old routine

Make it the main character’s fault sometimes. 

And not in an “imposter syndrome” way. Make your MC do something bad, and make the blame they shoulder for it heavy and tangible.

MC must choose the lesser of two evils.

MC kills someone they believe to be a bad guy, only to later discover the bad guy was a different person altogether.

Rejection is a powerful tool. 

People generally want to be understood, and if you can make a character think they are Known, and then rip that away from them with a rejection (romantic or platonic) people will empathize with it.

MC is finally accepting the Thing They Must Do/Become, and their love interest decides that that’s not a path they want to be on and breaks up with them

MC makes a decision they believe is right, everyone around them thinks they chose wrong.

MC finds kinship with someone Like Them, at long last, but that person later discovers that there is some inherent aspect of MC that they wholly reject. (Perhaps it was MC’s fault that their family member died, they have important religious differences, or WERE THE BAD GUY ALL ALONG!)

On the flipside, make your main character keep going. 

Push them beyond what they are capable of, and then push them farther. Make them want something so deeply that they are willing to do literally anything to get it. Give them passion and drive and grit and more of that than they have fear.

“But what if my MC is quiet and meek?” Even better. They want something so deeply that every single moment they push themselves toward it is a moment spent outside their comfort zone. What must that do to a person?

Obviously, don’t do all of these things, or the story can begin to feel tedious or overly dramatic, and make sure that every decision you make is informed by your plot first and foremost. 

Also remember that the things that make us sad, angry, or otherwise emotional as readers are the same things that make us feel that way in our day-to-day lives. Creating an empathetic main character is the foundation for all of the above tips.

#writing advice #writing tips

[seas-dubh]

In the Dream House, Carmen Maria Machado

[ID: “Sometimes your tongue is removed, sometimes you still it of your own accord. Sometimes you live, sometimes you die. Sometimes you have a name, sometimes you are named for what—not who—you are. The story always looks a little different, depending on who is telling it. There is a Quichua riddle: El que me nombra, me rompe. Whatever names me, breaks me. The solution, of course, is “silence.” But the truth is, anyone who knows your name can break you in two.]

#words #wip: my name your teeth #ship: alex x tricia

[seas-dubh]

9 16 and 25 !!

abby hiii!! thank u sm for the ask!

9) what, if anything, do you do for inspiration?

the only things i really do specifically FOR inspiration are listen to music and watch shows, but i usually end up finding inspiration in anything from taking a walk to having a shower!

16) are there any characters who haunt you?

oooh, i like this! depending on how you read the question, i think andrés is one of them. i just… really feel for the guy. he’s had a rough go of it. and dorian and aiteann. i think about them a lot.

25) copy/paste a few sentences or a short paragraph that you’re particularly proud of

so i KNOW i keep saying i want to keep this account for my original work, but fanfiction is what i’ve been writing lately, so fanfiction is what i’ve got to be proud of! here’s an excerpt from the next chapter of my current wip, take a chance, remake the world:

To the world, their mother was more Stark than Tully. Such is the lot of wives. While her presence in the crypt may not be traditional, it is hardly unwarranted. But Bran knows where Sansa’s hesitance stems from.

If she was a Stark, then I am a Lannister. If she was a Stark, I am a Bolton. If she was a Stark, then I am not.

#thank u again!!! <33 #ask answered #crowfeast #ask game

[seas-dubh]

hey there!! for the authoer ask: 7, 10, and 15, pls?? thanks, have a decent evening ahead!! - 🔮⛈ (@enchanted-lightning-aes)

hi!! tysm for the ask! have a good evening :)

7) when asked, are you embarrassed or enthusiastic to tell people that you write?

i’m usually enthusiastic at the start, but then they ask what i write and i have NO idea what to say, and it’s painfully awkward for both of us.

10) write in silence or with background noise? with people or alone?

in silence usually, but i occasionally listen to music (a lot of the time it just distracts me, though). i pretty much always write alone, but i’ve never tried writing with people, so it might be helpful!

15) why did you start writing?

i honestly have no clue! i’ve been writing pretty much as long as i COULD write. now, though, i write mostly to explore characters and the relationships between them, and sometimes to send a message.

#tysm for the ask! #ask answered #enchanted-lightning-aes #ask game

[seas-dubh]

send an ask: get to know your author

1) is there a story you’re holding off on writing for some reason?

2) what work of yours, if any, are you the most embarrassed about existing?

3) what order do you write in? front of book to back? chronological? favorite scenes first? something else?

4) favorite character you’ve written

5) character you were most surprised to end up writing

6) something you would go back and change in your writing that it’s too late/complicated to change now

7) when asked, are you embarrassed or enthusiastic to tell people that you write?

8) favorite genre to write

9) what, if anything, do you do for inspiration?

10) write in silence or with background noise? with people or alone?

11) what aspect of your writing do you think has most improved since you started writing?

12) your weaknesses as an author

13) your strengths as an author

14) do you make playlists for your current wips?

15) why did you start writing?

16) are there any characters who haunt you?

17) if you could give your fledgling author self any advice, what would it be?

18) were there any works you read that affected you so much that it influenced your writing style? what were they?

19) when it comes to more complicated narratives, how do you keep track of outlines, characters, development, timeline, ect.?

20) do you write in long sit-down sessions or in little spurts?

21) what do you think when you read over your older work?

22) are there any subjects that make you uncomfortable to write?

23) any obscure life experiences that you feel have helped your writing?

24) have you ever become an expert on something you previously knew nothing about, in order to better a scene or a story?

25) copy/paste a few sentences or a short paragraph that you’re particularly proud of

#i know i’ve been more than a bit inactive lately #but if you want please send em in! #ask game

[seas-dubh]

#hey! i know i haven’t been all too active on this account lately #sorry about that! #but if you want to check out one of my current writing projects #and if you’re into game of thrones #here it is! #self rb #my writing #tha mi a' bruidhinn

[seas-dubh]

sleepy is bored at work 62.2

yes, I did a mistake cutout again. I don’t remember what I did wrong but I sure like how it turned out. this is a funky little font. I like it better than the last one I did for you, too. @seas-dubh​ 

#AAA i love it!!! #the colours are so pretty #and the font fits so well!!! #thank you sm!!! #sleepyowlwrites

[seas-dubh]

You know what the hardest part of worldbuilding is for me? Naming conventions. Like, all cultures have them but I don't even know where to start figuring some out. And how am I supposed to start naming characters when I can't even figure out the naming conventions of their culture? It's such a pain.

#i love this!! #writing tips #worldbuilding #names #language

[seas-dubh]

neil hilborn, a place where someone loves you / dylan dog, "le notti della luna piena" / @filmnoirsbian / anne sexton / sonnet by neil gaiman / caitlyn siehl, start here

#words #wip: my name your teeth #ship: alex x tricia

[seas-dubh]

12 Questions to Ask Yourself About Your Magic System

How is it learned and executed?

How is it accessed?

Does it have a will of its own?

Is it restricted in space and time?

What does available magic do?

How does it relate to the character, plot and theme of the book?

What is the cost of magic?

What can it not do?

How long does it last?

Who can use it?

How do others react to it?

Why haven’t people with this power taken over the world?

#writing advice

[seas-dubh]

Yo I'm almost out of wip titles - please supply me with more! Reblog with a title in the tags and I'll draw it.

Alternatively, reblog with "this url" in the tags and I'll draw that.

(Work has been very boring.)

#seventh sunfall! #sleepyowlwrites

[seas-dubh]

200 followers!

hey, that's pretty cool :D thank you i love you you're doing great <3<3

i hit 200 maybe a few days ago? and now that my instrument is back from the shop (for real this time), i can finally carry out this idea that's been haunting me!! you may know from a handful of posts that i'm a musician, and you may also know that i've done a few things for other people's wips (here & here)

to celebrate, i will be randomly selecting 2-4 of my followers (new followers are welcome!!) to compose and perform a piece under one minute based on any wip of yours (this can be one scene in particular or a cool worldbuilding thing or maybe a poem or whatever you want!)

if you'd like to enter, reblog this with the tag #entry !! i'll be closing this in exactly 7 days; good luck! (if you win, i'll contact you via dms)

things to keep in mind:

unfortunately, i can't read minds, and i needs some vibes to be able to do this. this can be anything from "cinematic hand holding scene based on the ship at [link]" to "sea shanties but space" (these are the example recordings)

of course, you're welcome to tell me more details if you have them (the more, the better) !!

i'm a string instrumentalist (viola specifically), and i can only play so low (playing higher /shouldn't/ be an issue)

#oh this is my favourite thing ever!! #congratulations on 200 followers! #entry

[seas-dubh]

Adonis, Selected Poems; “Motion” (tr. Khaled Mattawa)

#ch: alex #wip: my name your teeth #words

[seas-dubh]

all the tips I found for drawing a fantasy map are like :) “here’s a strategy to draw the land masses! here’s how to plot islands!” :) and that’s wonderful and I love them all but ??? how? do y'all decide where to put cities/mountains/forests/towns I have my map and my land but I’m throwing darts to decide where the Main Citadel where the Action Takes Place is

#writing resources #worldbuilding

[seas-dubh]

10 and 25 for morgan my most beloved😌

tysm for the ask!! <33

10. what kind of jokes make them laugh?

physical humour, mostly. “oops, i kneed dorian in the crotch”, “haha, i pushed dorian off the pier”, that sort of thing. she secretly finds dorian’s music puns hilarious, but she’d never in a million years tell him that.

25. what are some things they find difficult to do? or say?

oh, boy. things she finds difficult to say? try EVERYTHING. morgan is probably my most stubborn character (dorian isn’t much better, so you can imagine how their living together goes). she’s dreadful at apologising, and at asking for help. she’s also not very good at swimming in her human form, which she hates — she never needed to be, before she lost her pelt, but now she doesn’t have a choice.

#im so glad you like morgan 🥺🥺💕 #ask answered #crowseyes #ask game #ch: morgan #wip: my name your teeth