Learning to Fly

jackfrostftw: kelso895: theflowerandthemoon: pawprintsandsnowf...

Sun, 19 May 2013 23:27:18 +1000

kelso895:

theflowerandthemoon:

pawprintsandsnowflakes:

Mash-up of the BIG FOUR.

DOWNLOAD LINK

This… is… AMAZING.

THIS IS SO JKAHSDFKLHASLKDKLSDLKASLHDKJADSJKHADSKJLHVHIJLVLJKFV

everyoneneedsaguardian: explodeyfaces: #this is an accurate...

Sun, 19 May 2013 23:27:09 +1000

everyoneneedsaguardian:

explodeyfaces:

#this is an accurate representation of me trying to introduce friends to a new fandom

#watching my favorite movie with my parents

didney-worl-no-uta: admiralrainbow: rirygoesrawr: cyanide-pois...

Sun, 19 May 2013 23:26:59 +1000

didney-worl-no-uta:

admiralrainbow:

rirygoesrawr:

cyanide-poisoning:

Men Experiencing Labor Pains

With their wives supporting them.

HAHAHHAHAHA TOO GOOD

I bet a kick in the balls would feel real good right about then.

“Men can handle anything”

“Women exaggerate everything”

And then they realized just how wrong they were

ghettohipsterhitler: ironmanfan: chickem: logs onto...

Sun, 19 May 2013 22:26:42 +1000

ghettohipsterhitler:

ironmanfan:

chickem:

logs onto facebook

logs off facebook

linin prak ohmygod

I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS TO COME BACK

I know that I’m just being really selfish now but please I’ve had a really bad day and...

Thu, 16 May 2013 21:51:46 +1000

I know that I’m just being really selfish now

but please

I’ve had a really bad day and want nothing more than the promise of chocolate and a movie

mesange03: “Even to the point in the exercise books in the...

Thu, 16 May 2013 01:14:55 +1000

mesange03:

“Even to the point in the exercise books in the Great Hall set, we’d actually do our own school work on set, just made it look as authentic as possible” (Oliver Phelps)

619fit-guy: Great Quick Story:A Little Girl Wanted to go to...

Thu, 16 May 2013 01:01:51 +1000

619fit-guy:

Great Quick Story:
A Little Girl Wanted to go to Disneyland to Meet Snow White. This little girl believed Snow White would help her make her dream come true. Her Dream was to see her Daddy come home from Afghanistan doing his tour in the Marines.
She met Snow White who took her to the Wishing Well and Snow White told her to make her wish and close her eyes and wish real strong…. When she opened up her eyes, her Daddy Magically appeared.

No Better place to make this happen than Disneyland.

authocracy: kingcheddarxvii: do you think God ever gets sad like “what do you mean you don’t love...

Thu, 16 May 2013 01:01:46 +1000

authocracy:

kingcheddarxvii:

do you think God ever gets sad like “what do you mean you don’t love yourself i worked so hard on you….”

…why is this so uplifting

THERE ARE FOUR KINDS OF FANFICTION

Thu, 16 May 2013 01:01:26 +1000

eatsleepcrap:

ANGST

FLUFF

CRACK

AND… *AHEM*

timelordparadise: ppyajunebug: NEVER FORGET Cedric Diggory tried to call off the entire Quidditch...

Thu, 16 May 2013 01:01:18 +1000

timelordparadise:

ppyajunebug:

NEVER FORGET

Cedric Diggory tried to call off the entire Quidditch game and get a re-match when he caught the snitch after Harry fell off his broom

#HufflepuffsAreTheBest

And it was a Hufflepuff who figured out how Sirius was getting into Hogwarts in Prisoner of Azkaban

‘Disguised himself, probably,’ said a Hufflepuff fifth year.

Hufflepuffs are so underrated

ghostbadgers: ghostmignon: THE FINISHED PICTURE!! a really...

Wed, 15 May 2013 09:41:00 +1000

the result!!!

ghostbadgers:

ghostmignon:

THE FINISHED PICTURE!!

a really quick step-by-step of how i draw! if you have any questions, just send me an ask and ill try my best to answer your questions!

i use clip studio paint to draw and color, and i use photoshop for everything else. all cropping happens in ps.

thanks for looking!

Photo

Mon, 13 May 2013 22:29:44 +1000

art-and-sterf: Learn Manga: Watercolor Tutorial complete by...

Mon, 13 May 2013 22:28:19 +1000

art-and-sterf:

Learn Manga: Watercolor Tutorial complete by *Naschi

“Most fictional universes are horrible. There’s war and...

Mon, 13 May 2013 22:18:43 +1000

“Most fictional universes are horrible. There’s war and violence and aliens and danger. I mean, yeah you’re putting off doing your taxes or your geography homework, but are you honestly telling me you would survive a day in a fantasy world?”

(x) fictional friends

Mon, 13 May 2013 22:16:42 +1000

(x) fictional friends

soundoffireinthedawn: Always reblog the Alfather

Mon, 13 May 2013 22:03:10 +1000

soundoffireinthedawn:

Always reblog the Alfather

Photo

Mon, 13 May 2013 02:44:01 +1000

fullmetalfreak: If you didn’t cry at least once while watching any version of FMA then you must be...

Mon, 13 May 2013 02:33:03 +1000

fullmetalfreak:

If you didn’t cry at least once while watching any version of FMA then you must be very strong.

pkalchemy: happy almost mother’s day!!

Mon, 13 May 2013 02:31:49 +1000

pkalchemy:

happy almost mother’s day!!

Author's Tips: Rebloggable

Sun, 12 May 2013 21:12:09 +1000

phantomrose96:

(Oh wow advice?! I’m completely flattered :) )

I’m not really sure what to say specifically, but I could tell you about my writing process and the little tips I’ve learned along the way. ;D

When you’re starting a piece, work backwards. I’m talking planning stages here, because typically when I get an idea, the idea is the big important part of the piece, and that has to come at the end. I get an idea, then I work out how the characters got there.

If a story goes A-B-C-D-E, typically, I might know B, C, or D to start. With that, build background, setting, progression, and important plot points. When I start writing, I probably have A B C, or A B C D, or maybe A B C D E, and while I’m writing I establish how one piece connects into the next. Knowing the important info is not the same as knowing the story; the story is about delivery, so you have to focus on how information builds up, how it is revealed, what character knows what, and how you plan to play out the events to the audience.

Build up is always nice, even for short pieces. (To reference my own work) the original idea in Ghosts Must Dine came from Ectolime’s picture. I just loved the idea of Danny, possessed with hunger, eating the dissected ghost frog. On the A-E scale, that’s probably point D. There was one little scene after, but most of the story was in the build up.

From here, I tried to work backwards. It’d be anticlimactic to just start with him in the lab, and I needed to set up the scene. Establish first, then build. Of course anyone who’d seen the picture knew what was coming, but I tried to keep from spelling it out immediately. Obviously something’s wrong with Danny; he’s hungry but can’t eat a thing, and it’s pretty clear this is some ghostly quirk of his. It doesn’t have to be hard to guess, but refrain from spelling things out. Let the actions, setting, and dialogue give away what’s happening, not the narration. (Readers love piecing it together. If they figure it out before the reveal, they feel good about their deductive reasoning. If they figure it out at the reveal, they’re excited to see all the clues fall into place.)

D-Danny eats the ghost frog

A-He needs to start somewhere for build up—the kitchen. He’s tearing through the kitchen looking for something to eat. This is an easy way to establish the strangeness of his hunger.

C-(Since I’m still thinking about the main idea) How does Danny act when he comes to the basement. What else is there? Another ghost can act as the catalyst that pushes Danny over the edge.

B-Something needs to send him to the basement. Let’s bring in Jazz. She’ll help raise tension, angst, and she can drive Danny away.

E-I need a note to close on. Dinner, afterward, for reflection on what Danny’s done.

After I had all this, I started to write, but in order.

(Now, for general tips.)

Detail is very important. It sounds pretty obvious to say, but it is. When you’re planning something out, look around at the scene in your head. Note colors, textures, body language, positions, smells. Try to hit as many senses as possible (a common mistake is to only focus on the visual), and play around with literary devices. “Danny pulled a dull, dented Fenton thermos out of his bag,” is pretty flat compared to, “Danny locked his fingers around the red-rusted end of his Fenton thermos, wrinkling his nose as the acrid stench of ectoplasmic residue shot through the air. The pads of his fingers conformed to the dents in its side, and he yanked it from his bag, absently appraising his blurry, warped reflection in its tarnished silver cap.”

On a similar note, speak with actions as much as possible. Don’t say “Danny was annoyed” when you can say “Danny ground his teeth together, his hardened eyes flashing with contempt as a tiny nerve twitched beneath his right socket.” They express the same idea, but the second is so much clearer. Use this for reactions as much as possible.

Dialogue’s always been the hardest for me. It’s easy to get stuck in the rut of a hackneyed, forced back-and-forth, especially when you’re using dialogue to reach a certain revelation or trigger. Try sounding things out in your head—people trip over their words a lot when they talk, and very few people sound like Shakespeare when they’re speaking out loud. Your vocabulary and word fluency should be dialed way back in dialogue (at least compared to the narration), but you still have to keep from sounding robotic.If I ever need to create a natural pause in dialogue, I always resort to an added bit of narration.

“I couldn’t come today. I was…busy.”

“I couldn’t come today.” Danny’s eyes flickered to the far corner of the room, his half-smile wavering. “I was…busy.”

Also, refrain, as much as possible, from repeating one word in a short period of time. This is actually pretty hard to do, and it’s a problem my friend and I have dubbed “damn end-table” after I realized I repeated the word end-table three times in rapid succession with no suitable synonym to replace it.

“Danny smiled at the ground. His smile was sly and impish, with the smile seeping into the bright green glow of his eyes.”

“Danny smiled at the ground. His grin was sly and impish, and the cruel joy of it seeped into the bright green glow of his eyes.”

Two exceptions to this rule: Do not replace a repeated word if the synonym doesn’t quite fit. Don’t ruin meaning for this little thing. Also, if you’re repeating something for emphasis, you obviously should leave it alone.

“Danny smiled at the ground. His smile was reserved, and it flickered and fell as he tried to hold back tears.”

Should NOT be replaced with:

“Danny smiled at the ground. His grin was reserved, and it flickered and fell as he tried to hold back tears.”

In that example, grin doesn’t carry the right connotation, so you might end up leaving it.

When you’re describing things, get imaginative with your vocabulary. It creates a much better experience.

“He looked backwards”

No

“He threw his gaze over his left shoulder.” Hopefully no one’s actually throwing eyeballs around, but it adds color to an otherwise stagnant line.

Fluency and varied structure. These two are vitally important. You can have wonderful vocabulary and descriptions, but (I use the phrase “gum up”) those are worthless if you cannot pace a sentence properly.

“Danny watched the box ghost hover over the props from last year’s play of My Fair Lady and ducked just in time as he sent the dusty and moth-eaten clothing from the box into a whirlwind of ghostly power that would be regarded as scary by anyone but Danny.”

If you run out of breath reading it, don’t do it.

“Danny set his eyes on the box ghost, who rifled happily through forgotten props from last year’s play. He ducked just in time as a cascade of dusty dresses and moth-eaten wigs rained from above. The clothing took a sharp turn, congealing into a swirling mass of ghostly energy three feet above the stage, and glowed brighter as the musty-smelling clump gained power. It was quite an intimidating display, or it would have been, had Danny not seen the same trick eight times since Wednesday. He rolled his eyes and readied his stance.”

For variety, avoid starting the same sentence with the same subject each time. This can get difficult if there’s only one person in the scene. If that’s the case, alternate the name with the pronoun, throw in some sentences about the setting, or change the subject to some equivalent.

“He watched the sky darken. He swallowed a lump in his throat. He spread his feet on the cold ground.”

“Danny watched the sky darken, carefully noting the pricks of moisture that beaded on his skin. A few loan raindrops dripped from above, but weakly, periodically, as though they fell from a broken faucet. He blinked through the wetness, swallowed a lump in his throat, and his feet spread themselves squarely on the cold ground.”

(Gee, this is getting long. I’ll wrap it up.)

Grammar, in my opinion, is pretty important. Nothing ruins the impact of a story for me like seeing a “your” in place of “you’re” or a “then” in place of “than.” It gives the sense that the author is unconcerned with the quality of his/her writing. If you’re unsure, google it. I do that for spelling all the time. Also, try to get a good grasp of how to properly punctuate dialogue (plenty of people are pretty clueless here) and know when to use a comma or a period. These give your writing a professional kind of quality.

Lastly, write often, and write for yourself. I’m genuinely happy when I’m writing something that gets me excited, but right after I post it, I often fall into a worried slump, wondering if anyone else will like the idea the way I do. Maybe no one will like it. Maybe the idea wasn’t clear. Maybe it was too twisted. That kind of thinking is poisonous, and I always look back at it afterwards with annoyance. Be proud of what you write, and be happy about it.

Write often. If you fall off the horse, it’s difficult to get back on. Back in 2011, I wrote a 2-3,000 word chapter of a Danny Phantom fanfic almost every day for a month. Then, one week, I granted myself a “well earned” hiatus. It then took half a year to just finish up the last few chapters.

This is probably way more than you were looking for, and maybe you’ve been rolling you eyes through most of it, but it was pretty fun to write it out. I’m really flattered you’d ask, and I hope this helps you out in some way. :)