helps-the-writing-brain-go - Tumblr blog

helps-the-writing-brain-go · 9 days

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worried that thing you put in your art or writing or game or music is too self-indulgent, too self-referential, too niche for anyone but yourself? fear not! you can do whatever you want forever. and you should.

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helps-the-writing-brain-go · 23 days

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I WAS SO DISTRACTED BY THE BOOPS I FORGOT IT WAS BEST BOY BILLY'S BIRTHDAY AAAA 😭😭😭

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helps-the-writing-brain-go · 23 days

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For peeps booping me on this blog, please know I am absolutely booping u back through my main @here-i-am-king

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helps-the-writing-brain-go · 23 days

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Me remembering I can give Billy whatever crossover and origin story I want: Hell yeah!

#billy batson #captain marvel

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helps-the-writing-brain-go · 24 days

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i made a guide for ppl

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helps-the-writing-brain-go · 1 month

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Another worldbuilding application of the "two layer rule": To create a culture while avoiding The Planet Of Hats (the thing where a people only have one thing going for them, like "everyone wears a silly hat"): You only need two hats.

Try picking two random flat culture ideas and combine them, see how they interact. Let's say taking the Proud Warrior Race - people who are all about glory in battle and feats of strength, whose songs and ballads are about heroes in battle and whose education consists of combat and military tactics. Throw in another element: Living in diaspora. Suddenly you've got a whole more interesting dynamic going on - how did a people like this end up cast out of their old native land? How do they feel about it? How do they make a living now - as guards, mercenaries? How do their non-combatants live? Were they always warrior people, or did they become fighters out of necessity to fend for themselves in the lands of strangers? How do the peoples of these lands regard them?

Like I'm not shitting, it's literally that easy. You can avoid writing an one-dimensional culture just by adding another equally flat element, and the third dimension appears on its own just like that. And while one of the features can be location/climate, you can also combine two of those with each other.

Let's take a pretty standard Fantasy Race Biome: The forest people. Their job is the forest. They live there, hunt there, forage there, they have an obnoxious amount of sayings that somehow refer to trees, woods, or forests. Very high chance of being elves. And then a second common stock Fantasy Biome People: The Grim Cold North. Everything is bleak and grim up there. People are hardy and harsh, "frostbite because the climate hates you" and "being stabbed because your neighbour hates you" are the most common causes of death. People are either completely humourless or have a horrifyingly dark, morbid sense of humour. They might find it funny that you genuinely can't tell which one.

Now combine them: Grim Cold Bleak Forest People. The summer lasts about 15 minutes and these people know every single type of berry, mushroom and herb that's edible in any fathomable way. You're not sure if they're joking about occasionally resorting to eating tree bark to survive the long dark winter. Not a warrior people, but very skilled in disappearing into the forest and picking off would-be invaders one by one. Once they fuck off into the woods you won't find them unless they want to be found.

You know, Finland.

#writing tips

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helps-the-writing-brain-go · 4 months

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ways to describe eyebags/visible tiredness?

Ways to Show that Someone is Tired/Exhausted

dark circles under eyes

red eyes

difficulty concentrating

fatigue

lack of energy

dizziness

irritability

headache

blurry vision

accidentally falling asleep

Prompts for Showing Exhaustion

-> feel free to edit and adjust pronouns as you see fit.

She looked-- for lack of a better word-- awful. Dark circles stained the skin under her eyes and her face drooped. She blinked slowly at their approach, forcing a smile onto her face.

"You look like death," he said, face scrunched in concern. "Thanks," they replied, "I feel like death."

Their eyebags were dark and sunken in, making them appear more dead than alive.

She stumbled, closing her eyes for just a moment too long before brushing her hair out of her face.

His eyes were bloodshot.

"You look dehydrated," their friend had commented. "Probably," they responded simply, "add that to my list of problems."

She watched his eyes flutter closed before he jolted back awake. A desperate attempt to stop himself from falling asleep.

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helps-the-writing-brain-go · 4 months

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but seriously though i’m sick and tired of those masterposts that are like “here! A reference site on Greek mythology for all your needs! Look it has all fifteen Greek gods on it!” And I’m like. tHERE WERE LIKE HUNDREDS OF FIGURES IN MYTHOLOGY YOUR CRAPPY HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL BIBLIOGRAPHY SITE MEANS NOTHING TO ME

if you want a basic outline of Greek mythology okay sure fine??? but like. if you want an extensive fucking reference site you are looking in the wrong goddamn places

as a self-declared greek mythology snob my reference site is fucking always this fucker right here. almost every single figure ever mentioned in a Greek text is on it, it has the most obscure gods, spirits, nymphs– it’s GREAT. You really wanna extend your mythological knowledge past the basic 12 and like four others? USE THEOI. plus plus PLUS everything is cited so you can actually read the source material written about whoever it is you’re looking at.

fucking signal boost this. i’m so sick and tired of writer’s helpers blogs referring people to sites with as much information you would get from opening a third grade mythology book jesus chriiiiiist

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helps-the-writing-brain-go · 4 months

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Something like this would be so colossally helpful. I'm sick and tired of trying to research specific clothing from any given culture and being met with either racist stereotypical costumes worn by yt people or ai generated garbage nonsense, and trying to be hyper specific with searches yields fuck all. Like I generally just cannot trust the legitimacy of most search results at this point. It's extremely frustrating. If there are good resources for this then they're buried deep under all the other bullshit, and idk where to start looking.

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helps-the-writing-brain-go · 4 months

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Stop making Captain Marvel stupid. He’s silly not stupid. Say it with me: Silly not stupid

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helps-the-writing-brain-go · 5 months

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I have … a tip.

If you’re writing something that involves an aspect of life that you have not experienced, you obviously have to do research on it. You have to find other examples of it in order to accurately incorporate it into your story realistically.

But don’t just look at professional write ups. Don’t stop at wikepedia or webMD. Look up first person accounts.

I wrote a fic once where a character has frequent seizures. Naturally, I was all over the wikipedia page for seizures, the related pages, other medical websites, etc.

But I also looked at Yahoo asks where people where asking more obscure questions, sometimes asked by people who were experiencing seizures, sometimes answered by people who have had seizures.

I looked to YouTube. Found a few individual videos of people detailing how their seizures usually played out. So found a few channels that were mostly dedicated to displaying the daily habits of someone who was epileptic.

I looked at blogs and articles written by people who have had seizures regularly for as long as they can remember. But I also read the frantic posts from people who were newly diagnosed or had only had one and were worried about another.

When I wrote that fic, I got a comment from someone saying that I had touched upon aspects of movement disorders that they had never seen portrayed in media and that they had found representation in my art that they just never had before. And I think it’s because of the details. The little things.

The wiki page for seizures tells you the technicalities of it all, the terminology. It tells you what can cause them and what the symptoms are. It tells you how to deal with them, how to prevent them.

But it doesn’t tell you how some people with seizures are wary of holding sharp objects or hot liquids. It doesn’t tell you how epileptics feel when they’ve just found out that they’re prone to fits. It doesn’t tell you how their friends and family react to the news.

This applies to any and all writing. And any and all subjects. Disabilities. Sexualities. Ethnicities. Cultures. Professions. Hobbies. Traumas. If you haven’t experienced something first hand, talk to people that have. Listen to people that have. Don’t stop at the scholarly sources. They don’t always have all that you need.

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helps-the-writing-brain-go · 6 months

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Anodite Billy Part 2ish

Finding out he's an entirely different species is surprisingly more useful in his day to day life than it is to suddenly be a magical adult superhero.

Captain Marvel is good for the big stuff, he's strong, fast, incredibly durable, can fly and is so flashy that enemies can't help but turn and look - focused on the Living Lighting thwarting them.

He's big and bold and inspires hope wherever he goes.

But Billy Batson can't afford to be as big and bold as he is.

A young boy running from foster care and ducking away from bullies and other people on the streets - well-meaning and not - alike, Billy needs to be small and unnoticeable enough that he can get what he needs and get around with little fuss.

Well, being an indigo-coloured being with magenta and white tinted energy tendrils for hair in truth under his human form isn't exactly uninteresting either, but the form comes with unexpected bonuses.

For one, Billy doesn't need to eat as his other self.

He's getting sustenance from somewhere definitely - when he's at rest, he regains energy quicker as well, but he'd never known hunger as his other self.

It being his true body as well has the added bonus of him being able to 'feed' for a couple hours and then slip into his human form and have his true body nourish that one as well.

Already, his cheeks have filled out a little and his ribs under his shirt don't stand out as starkly. He gets fewer looks now too because of it, having lost the hungry, tired air that always hung about him, looking more now like a regular scrawny boy not yet grown into his ears than a homeless child struggling to survive. With no food eaten or water drunk that hasn't been in the presence of someone else, he rarely needs to go to the bathroom either.

He isn't bothered by the cold or heat either and is now capable of sleeping horizontally floating in their air, preventing his usual aches and pains from sleeping on the hard splintery floor and ratty nest of blankets.

He needs to keep his curtains shut all the time now and block out the bottom of the front door to prevent anyone seeing him glow, but the light from his own hair is more than enough for him to get by - he's even studied by it on some days, serving as his own light source.

Albeit the Captain also helps in that respect - transforming to check his own work with the Wisdom of Solomon has done wonders for his grades in school.

His home life still isn't the best admittedly, but having such physiological needs taken care of now is a load off his mind. He's better able to focus on things - on school, on his job and various odd jobs and of course, on being a proper hero!

#anodite billy #billy batson #captain marvel #shazam

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helps-the-writing-brain-go · 7 months

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Monsters Inc. AU where Billy is Boo would be so funny honestly.

Who's gonna believe Billy in his daily life anyway? Billy almost doesn't believe it, but he hopes so much it is real

He hopes even more that it's real and Kitty (Sully) is coming back for him after his parents die and he gets kicked out

Spoiler: Sully does not, unfortunately.

Billy ends up getting chosen by the wizard and is validated that yes, there are portals to other realms in Fawcett, Kitty and Mike Wazowski HAVE to be real

Billy and thus Captain Marvel now have a particular obesession with portals and interdimensional travel

This being discovered by others is ripe for misunderstandings

THEY GOTTA MEET AGAIN AT SOMEPOINT OK

Something something technology exchange

Monsters can power things off fear and laughter respectively, no fossil fuels necessary

So many applications humans can have with that!

Plus the implications given by the doors!

Travel would be revolutionized!

Monsters would have even better access to power sources!

Idk what the monsters' world is like but some parts seem fairly similar like grass trees and sky, but others could be vastly different!

Interdimensional tourism!

Batman offers to adopt Billy at some point but Billy already had a big, blue, fluffy dad!/hj

#Boo!Billy #billy batson #captain marvel #shazam #monsters inc

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helps-the-writing-brain-go · 7 months

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Back at it again with the Anodite!Billy AU bc I just watched some Ben 10 again-

When he gets more comfortable with his whole situation, there are many fun bits that can arise.

Captain Marvel daydreaming about shedding his human skin and going flying in his true form because air flow doesn't affect him like that - Martian Manhunter who was onlu doing a cursory scan looking at him in muted horror

Meeting either the Justice League or Young Justice team in his Anodite form as Billy and being chased down as a rouge alien because the mana he is giving off while flying around in powerful places i.e. leylines bc he is subconsciously attracted to them is giving major sus vibes

Anger as Marvel usual results in glowing gold eyes, crackling lightning and the smell of ozone, with his patrons backing him up with their might. Cut off from his powers, his eyes glow magenta, hell his whole body is subtly glowing magenta and the anger is a palpable force shaking the walls

Concerning tidbits Cap lets slip about not being entirely human, not sure if he's the last of his species etc.

Mana bolts, mana bolts! Just zap annoying people in the ass why doncha (Cap could do this, but he usually has more self control with the lightning)

Increased mischeviouness that is harder to temper in alien form due to the species propensity for being 'free spirits'

Freaking Zatanna/Constantine, many a magic user if they ever find a living embodiment of mana just hanging out, outside his skin. Magical vision is generally blinded at first glance by him, bc holy heck is he shining like a sun.

#anodite billy au #billy batson #captain marvel #shazam #that's all I got for now #but like there's so much fun here guys!!!

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helps-the-writing-brain-go · 7 months

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This ...but with Billy and Danny Phantom. 🤩🤩🤩

Like...

The Fentons were briefly a foster home, mostly because of an anonymous tip-off (cough, Vlad) about certain ghosts being drawn in by lonely foster kids and Maddie and Jack wanted to test this theory out.

Vlad on the other hand, is hoping the added scrunity by CPS will get the Fenton kids taken away, possibly so he can adopt them and win Maddie's undying love

On Billy's part, it was admittedly one of the weirdest but also one of the most fun Foster homes he's ever been in.

The Fenton parents are genuinely loving (albeit somewhat smothering at times) and suddenly absent in equal measure

They let him play with cool stuff like ghost weapons, with a bit of training and ghost science thrown in to make sure he doesn't hurt himself

Besides, Jazz provides plenty of structure for a growing child and is in turn perfectly happy to do it in exchange for a new little brother who still listens to her (she still loves Danny so much, but sometimes he can be so stubborn/frustrating)

For once, Billy getting removed from the Fentons foster home isn't his fault but because they thought he was in danger

After he's left, the Fentons are no longer registered as a foster home.

You’re about to be sacrificed by a cult, but when the demon appears before you, it speaks with the voice of your high school friend and says “Hey man, haven’t seen you in forever!”

#billy batson #captain marvel #shazam #danny phantom #Fenton Fosters

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helps-the-writing-brain-go · 7 months

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helps-the-writing-brain-go · 7 months

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SHSHDVKWSNAL WITH A STOOL

AND ooooh, that's a really nice idea for a middle name in terms of meaning. I like that 👀👀

A universe where Superman and Connor act like genuine father and son should meet Dad! Marvel and Connor actually :)

Bonus if that Superman knows their own universe's Captain Marvel is a child and is discretely trying to ask if this one is too. Hsjsbflaal.

#Billy Batson: the dad that stepped up (albeit with a stool but stepped up nonetheless)#shazam #captain marvel adopts superboy #captain marvel adopt superboy au #captain marvel #billy batson #connor kent #superman

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