The Skellingcorner

[its-a-writer-thing]

[nimblesnotebook]

1) Risus Monkey Fantasy Language Cypher

This is amazing!!!!!!!!!!

Are you creating a fictional language? Do you need help coming up with words that sound like they fit with what you’ve come up with so far?

Just put your fictional language in the model text, type some words in the translation text, and click “translate”. It’ll “translate” whatever words you put in using patterns from your sample text.

2) Speed Distance Calculator

These calculators aren’t perfect, but they can help you figure out:

• How long it will take your characters to get somewhere based on how fast they’re going,
  
• how far your characters moved based on how fast they were going and on how long they were moving,
• how fast your characters need to move to reach a certain distance in a specified time

The calculator was meant for cyclists, but you can use it to get estimates for other things too.

3) Fantasy Calendar Generator

Another amazing resource!

This can create a random calendar for you or you can input the year, the number of months, the name of the months, the number of moons, the number of days in a week, the names of each day, and more.

You can even save the data for your calendar so that when you go back to the generator, all you have to do to get to your calendar is paste the data.

4) Inkarnate Map Maker

This is a new resource that’s still in beta, so it’ll probably be updated in the coming months.

This map maker is easy to use and free. You can add different climates, mountains, trees, towns, cities, text, and notes. For an example of these maps, look at the quick map I made for this post’s header.

[sweetlittlevampire]

Just finished crocheting my second hat! It´s Slytherin-themed; I´ll see if I can snap some decent pics later.

[marvellousbee]

How to pronounce Celtic words and names

[todosthelangues]

Step 1: Read the word.
Step 2: Wrong.

[literary-potato]

A REAL LIST OF ACTUAL NAMES AND THEIR (approximate) PRONUNCIATIONS:
Siobhan — “sheh-VAWN”
Aoife – “EE-fa”
Aislin – “ASH-linn”
Bláithín - “BLAW-heen”
Caoimhe - “KEE-va”
Eoghan - Owen (sometimes with a slight “y” at the beginning)
Gráinne - “GRAW-nya”
Iarfhlaith - “EER-lah”
Méabh - “MAYV”
Naomh or Niamh - “NEEV”
Oisín - OSH-een or USH-een
Órfhlaith - OR-la
Odhrán - O-rawn
Sinéad - shi-NAYD
Tadhg - TIEG (like you’re saying “tie” or “Thai” with a G and the end)

[the-enchanted-storybook]

[kinkypoptarte]

once in a blue moon ☾

[sweetlittlevampire]

I love this country.

(”Dat ass” means “This/That is” in Luxembourgish, but for some reason I do prefer this translation.)

[writingwithcolor]

[takeafuckingsipgabe]

Realizing it’s not romance that I hate but overdone straight relationships with zero chemistry built on a slew of misogynistic tropes was like a huge revelation for me

[kaylapocalypse]

I have a story about this.

My revelation regarding this was spurred by a little-known film that actually didn’t do very well in theatres at all, from the early 90s called Corina Corina.

Starring heartthrob of the time Ray Liotta, fresh off his Goodfellas fame and…..Whoopie Goldberg??? as his love interest??????

Bear with me here.

Corina Corina is the story about a man whose wife died, leaving him alone to parent his 8-9 year old daughter alone in what appears to be the late 50s-early 60s.   His daughter, Molly, is non-verbal due to the trauma of her mother’s death and is dealing with feelings of isolation as a result of her mourning process. Ray Liotta’s character makes a concentrated effort to be a good dad for her, but it’s real clear that both of them are still dealing with the death of his wife. Because Ray’s character works full time, he needs to find a nanny to watch his girl and pick her up from school. After a couple of terrible experiences (one with a hilarious appearance by Joan Cusack) he decides to hire Whoopie Goldberg.

Whoopie Goldberg’s character is a college educated black woman (in the 50s!!!!) who appears to be doing domestic work because its the only work white 50s America will hire her for. She and Ray’s daughter Molly get along well because she is the first person to take Molly’s decision to be non-verbal seriously and learn an alternate way to communicate with her.

Long story short, Whoopie Goldberg and Ray Liotta fall in love and live happily ever after. 

But, more importantly, the way the movie built their love changed the way I was able to process hetero couples on screen forever.

1. First, they were both provided with alternate romance options from the beginning of the movie. Ray was given an extremely attractive white lady love interest, and Whoopie was given an attractive and charming black man love interest. Both of them were given opportunities to return their affection but both pointedly chose not to.

2. They were attracted to each other based on common interest. They both liked the same music, they both bonded over their ability to play the piano, they both loved molly, they both helped encourage each other in their chosen fields (whoopie’s was english, and ray’s was being a songwriter), they both respected each other’s opinions and they both were honest with each other about the circumstances they were in.

3. They were realistic about the issue of a black woman being in a relationship with a white man in the era, and didn’t glide over racial identity issues. Ray made sure that his white neighbors knew that he loved her and didn’t care what they thought. He even explained to his mom that Molly emulating black culture wasn’t shameful and that she should mind her business about the way he felt about Whoopie Goldberg.

4. When Ray confessed his feelings, it was incredibly heartfelt and he was literally crying.

5. They didn’t pursue a romantic relationship until Whoopie wasn’t working for him anymore. And they didn’t gloss over the issue of power disparity in that equation. Ray doesn’t condescend to Whoopie at all through the movie, but once he’s aware he has feelings for her, his new goal is to let her know that he unquestionably considers her his equal both in private and in public And its clear that he’s aware that this is the first thing that must be settled before anything else. 

By the time you get to the end of the movie, the entire concept of Ray Liotta being with Whoopie Goldberg seems not only normal, but exceptionally romantic and you’re left wondering why you thought they would be a gross couple to begin with when they’re sO cLeArLy MaDe fOr eAcH oThEr

I now call this the Corina Corina standard. 

If a movie has a hetero couple and their relationship isn’t as fleshed out as Ray/Whoopie, I now have difficulty accepting whats occurring. 

The concept that two hot straight people who are vaguely near each other just doesn’t do it for me anymore after watching Ray Liotta walk through a black neighborhood in the 50s and knock on Whoopie’s door to beg her to come home to him.

Oh so you say your characters are in love?

Prove it.

[woodelf68]

Reblogging for the review.

[glam-alien]

I love this movie

[writerswritecompany]

There are many things a character needs to do in a story, and many more that authors need to exclude.

‘Drama is life with the dull parts left out.’ ~Alfred Hitchcock

We all have pet hates when we read. They can be big mistakes, such as when you’re introduced to 20 unnecessary characters in Chapter One, or when an author takes three pages to describe a cake, or when you have to read pages of boring backstory.

There are also smaller mistakes authors make when writing fiction. The reasons for these mistakes can relate to the lack of a story goal, a weak plot, or the incorrect choice of characters. They also relate to poor writing skills where authors treat characters as if they are real-life people.

Here are three problem areas for characters that make me want to stop reading a book: 3 Things Your Characters Should Not Be Doing

[its-a-writer-thing]

[lildarkmatchbook]

(via Basic Plot Structure - The Five Plotting Moments That Matter - Writers Write)

[sweetlittlevampire]

Hair dyed! It´s barely visible in its current state, but in broad daylight it should have a dark cherry, almost purply violetish haze to it. I´ll attempt a selfie tomorrow when I´m back from school.

To be honest, I would looove to have really purple hair, but since it´s naturally dark I´d have to bleach it first, and I really don´t wanna do that.

[its-a-writer-thing]

[its-a-writer-thing]

Anonymous asked you: As a kind of follow-up to the other question, I seem to lack the inspiration to actually do anything to my character. Help?

 Ha-ha-ha-ha someone that finds it hard to torture their character – a rare specimen. Well, the rest of us have enough sadism to spare, so you’ll probably find lots of awful things to do to your pretty around some writer blogs.

 A great piece of cruel advice I found was this. “Think of the worst thing you could do to your character… then do it.”

 What would be the most heart wrenching experience for them? What would be the most painful? Better yet – what would make them break? Would it be watching their favorite person in the world be killed or having to do it themselves? Watching the metaphorical predator approaching or not seeing it coming? What kind of torture experience would be the most awful for them? What is the sentence spoken from a single person that can crush them in an instant?

 What would break them? What is the one thing they can trust the most? Pull that out from under them like a rug.

Be a pessimist – don’t let anything happen without finding the worst that could go wrong. Star crossed lover finally reunite! One gets hit by a car on the way. Or one has already moved on. Or one secretly resents the other for not coming for them sooner.  Or one is horribly injured, making them paralyzed or mute or something, but they didn’t mention it before.

The character who didn’t think they could get pregnant is finally expecting! Miscarriage? Deformity? Not her significant other’s child? It’s illegal for her to be pregnant? She’s in a contract where she can’t have a child? Dangerous job that doesn’t allow her to care for it?

Think of something good going on for them, then think of the one flaw in it and exploit it.

And show no mercy! If you think of something that makes you cringe or avoid eye contact with anyone around you, run for the pen and paper!

Write on!

[ministryofroleplay]

Anonymous asked:

Hi! Can I get some tips on how to start/run a roleplay that would revolve around some sort of Triwizard tournament?

Greetings, anonymous person. Thank you for your letter.

Tips? Maybe a few. I have never admined or been a part of a roleplay like this. However, I definitely have lots of questions for you to consider: 

• What is the tone of this tournament? Is it sinister? Is it in good fun? Be sure to set the tone with your color scheme and graphic design!
• How many players are there? Are all characters in the tournament or are some merely spectators? Are some of the playable characters organizing the tournament or pulling the strings behind the scenes? 
• Who are the players? What makes them unique? Are they all school aged? Are there requirements that must be met for a character to be eligible for the tournament? Age restrictions? Blood status restrictions? 
• Do the players know each other? Do they spend time together outside of the tournament?
  
• Are you starting with the tournament already in process with the players chosen or are you choosing your players based on application? If the plot starts with the players having not yet been chosen for the tournament, who will choose the players? Will they enter their names willingly or be forced to participate? 
• What are the stakes? If they have a choice, why should a player participate in the tournament? 
• What are the most basic rules of the tournament? Choose five or fewer core rules that every player must follow, such as tasks must be accomplished without outside help or all players must keep the tournament a secret. Keep the rules simple. You can always add more obscure restrictions or exceptions in later on a task by task basis. 
• What’s the prize? Money? A trophy? Entrance to an exclusive club or school? A job? A powerful leadership position? A marriage? The player’s life? 
  
• Is this tournament sanctioned by the government, or maybe run by it? Is it off the books? Is this something organized by the students themselves, or perhaps by a third party for something like an initiation or competition towards a grander purpose? For example, a competition between students for entrance into an exclusive private magical university or secret society. 
  
• If it’s a school thing, how many schools are participating? All of them? Just three? Is it an academic duel between schools? 
• Where is the location of the tournament? At a school? At some middle ground? At a government facility? At a changing, secret location that you have to solve a puzzle to even find? 
  
• Is the tournament open to the public to watch? Is it being reported about in the papers? Do the players become celebrities or are their identities kept secret? 
• What are the tasks? How many tasks are there? You could base them around the core academic courses, or the four elements, four seasons, seven deadly sins, five stages of grief, etc. etc. 
• How much magical skill is involved in completing the tasks? How much of it is bravery or intelligence or sheer dumb luck? Do the players get hints about tasks like the the Triwizard Tournament? Are they allowed to prepare in advance for the tasks or are they sort of just dropped into situations and expected to adapt or die, so to speak? 
• Are the tasks designed to reveal a larger intrigue in the plot? For example, does each task teach the players something they must learn or otherwise impart information to the players in order that they may achieve some larger goal? If they’re forced to participate in a tournament run by a secret organization, for example, maybe the tasks give hints about who the secret organization is and how they may be defeated. 
• Is someone tampering or otherwise interfering with the tournament? How does that affect the outcomes of the tasks? Do the players know someone is cheating? Do the players themselves cheat? In the Triwizard Tournament, cheating was unofficially expected. Is that so for your tournament? How do you plan to handle characters cheating from a roleplay mechanics standpoint? Will roleplayers have to tell the admin in advance how they plan to cheat and get permission?
• Are there judges? Who or what are they? How are the players scored or measured against each other? Is there a point system where the people with the most points move on to the next task, or does everyone move forward and the points are tallied at the end of the tournament, or is it pass/fail? 
• What happens to the characters that lose? Can a player drop out? Could a player be kicked out of the tournament for any reason? 
• Can characters die in this tournament? Is that likely to happen?
• How long of a waiting period is there between tasks in-game? What happens between the tasks? Are there events, plot drops, etc. to keep roleplayers busy even when they’re not participating in a task for the tournament? 
• Is there a dance or celebration that kicks off or concludes the tournament? Is there something like the Yule Ball in there anywhere? Everyone likes a party!
• What other traditions are associated with the tournament? The Triwizard Tournament has a Yule Ball and is judged by the heads of each school and has the Goblet of Fire to choose champions among other things. What are your tournament’s traditions? Maybe a masked ball on the night before the first task. Maybe alliances between players are traditional like in The Hunger Games.
• You can look up books with tournaments or competitions in them. For example:
• The Player of Games by Iain M. Banks
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
• The Selection by Kiera Cass
• Battle Royale by Koushun Takami
• Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
• Red Rising by Pierce Brown
• Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
• You can also look into medieval tournaments for ideas. And, of course, read all about the Triwizard Tournament for inspiration or guidelines as well. Also look at the different protections guarding the Sorcerer’s Stone in book one. Herbology, Charms, Logic, Magical Creatures, and Potions are all represented there. 
• If I were you, I’d plan out what the tasks will be beforehand. Planning out the tasks gives you a clear direction and will help you create the overarching plot. Plan the tasks, and plan the events between like dances, trips to Hogsmeade, exams, Quidditch matches, etc. 
• I would give the roleplay a conclusion. When the tournament is over, the roleplay comes to an end. That doesn’t mean there can’t be a sequel roleplay, though! You could even plan for that! 
• You can really lay out the tasks in detail during event drops, maybe offer the roleplayers an ooc explanation of the end goal of the task and address how to get there for each character. It depends on how involved you want to be in crafting each character’s role in the plot, really. 

I am usually available via chat here on Tumblr to talk over ideas if you’d like to contact me. Sometimes it helps to have a sounding board to bounce your ideas off of. 

If you have been a part of or admined a Triwizard Tournament-type roleplay and would like to offer tips for the anon, a firsthand perspective would be much appreciated! 

Best wishes,