goddessofcheese:

snarkengaged:

Is it weird that this mostly just makes me an emotional wreck? That after Morrigan thawed towards the Warden and admitted herself capable of true friendship, she went took another step and (tacitly) admitted Leliana’s opinion had some validity?

I can imagine her traveling through a village, heavy with child. Her back is in agony and she feels like the old witch still has eyes on her. She is strangely ecstatic, knowing that the future holds such potential, but…she is alone. She misses making snide remarks to Alistair. The solid force of the Warden’s friendship and affection, the loss of it-she is vulnerable now. She is angry about this, just-spitting angry, like a cat. She knows she has to keep moving, has to make it to the Eluvian, and yet…she has ducked into a shop for a moment, merely to momentarily keep out of the eye of a Templar   patrolling. And she felt herself drawn to this-this garment. It’s nothing, less than nothing. The trappings of a caged bird.

But when her hand is on the velvet, she feels. 

She doesn’t wish to examine the feeling. She cuts off a strip of the fabric for darker days, for the days coming. Because she will need to remember the Warden and those she’d traveled with. And perhaps, when her sentence is served and her body is again her own, she may have use for such a thing.

Flemeth had said beauty was weakness. But her beauty was now entirely her own, and it could be her weapon.

*whispers*

nooo

daunt:

thebeggarandtheking:

queennubian:

She was once the a beautiful virgin shadow maiden of Athean. After Poseidon rapes Medusa in Athena’s temple, Athena punishes Medusa….making her the embodiement of death and damning her to a life of solitude.

What does this say about society then, and now?

Well, the myth that tells Medusa’s metamorphosis into a monster as a punishment by Athena is the patriarchal Roman version. The ancient Greek myth, which has closer ties to its progenitor, the Egyptian tale of Wadjet, tells us that Athena gifted Medusa with ugliness and the power to turn men to stone as a way of protecting her from further violations of her person. Even so, her ugliness was emphasized in the Roman retelling as a way to further demonize and disenfranchise Medusa (i.e. she only lashed out on men because she was too ugly to be loved by them, her ugliness forced her into seclusion from men, ugly women are bad, etc. ((I am ironically using abbreviations for Latin words here yes)).). As the original myth tells it, she lived in solitude because she did not wish to be around men after what Poseidon had done. And Athena gave her the power to never be at the mercy of a male again. So originally, Athena was pissed at Poseidon, not Medusa. And then, of course, the Romans took it one step further and had Perseus behead her (yay the vindictive old hag is dead) and give it to Athena for her shield.

But yeah, renderings of Medusa’s head appeared in the doorways of many women’s shelters in ancient Greece because she was a symbol of female empowerment, not a monster feared by men and women alike.

This brings me to my awkward segue into a cool essay on the subject: The Laugh of the Medusa by Helene Cixous actually touches on the system of misogynistic fear behind the Romanized version, but most importantly why women need to write their stories because this is the shit that happens when dudebros get ahold of them. It’s also an awesome overture to queer theories of writing. If you can read French, I highly suggest getting your hands on the essay as it was originally written, because Cixous’ voice is just incredibly inspiring when you read it as she intended it to be read. Also, the essay itself is worthy of criticism as it is not as intersectional as it absolutely needs to be. I feel I should add that before someone thinks I advocate the problematic things she says.

But now that I’ve totally digressed from my original point: It’s important that we’re always mindful to question the credibility of those telling us not only history, but also legend.

(I became absolutely exhausted halfway through this so forgive me if the connection I’m making between the original post and this essay is more arbitrary than I think it is at the moment)

Wooow, now I just want to read a million retellings of Medusa’s real story. :(  Thank you for the information!

spicyshimmy:

THINGS SHEPARD’S PRETENDING HE’S SAYING

• You’re going to pay for that, and I can use classified Spectre intelligence files to find out where you live.
• Now, now: being a hero just means eavesdropping on strangers and sticking your handsome nose into their personal business. Anybody can do it—but not everybody can do it as well as Commander Shepard.
• Haha, an ‘your commander’s so old’ joke, huh? Can’t wait until you say hello to my krogan friend. 
• He’s got four testicles and a great sense of humor. I really think you two’ll hit it off.Hey, that was a joke, too! You should be laughing. Good for the body, good for the soul. 
• It’s cute that you think I care about this conversation.
• Sure, I’ll pretend your face doesn’t piss me off, ‘cause my face more than makes up for it.
• One of these days, calibrations—straight to the Hydra System.
• I’m not as thunk as you drink I am.
• Well, Diana, the truth is, I wish we could all wear ergonomic sandals during a massive galactic invasion. 
• I’d say this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship, but Garrus is already my beautiful friendship, so, uh…later. 
• I’ve got a great idea. How about the council just talks the Reapers to death, and I go on vacation?
• Nothing to see here, folks. I’m just kawaii as hell. 

THINGS SHEPARD ACTUALLY SAYS

• None of the above, obviously.

HOODIE: two hundred credits. N7 STATUS: A lifetime of dedicated service. SMIRKING LIKE SHEPARD AND GETTING AWAY WITH IT: Now that’s priceless.

yeahwriters:

Last fall my fiction professor thought that our class wasn’t creating vivid enough characters, so he had us write 5 pages about one of the characters in our existing stories, or about a character that would be in an upcoming story. Basically all we had to do was describe the person, using the below outline to help us think of some details about our characters. What resulted were these great character vignettes, and you’d be surprised how much of the character outlines ended up being really great content for the actual stories. They really, really helped our characters pop. I’d suggest that everyone try it, especially those of you who have a hard time creating “round” characters or getting to know who your characters really are.

You don’t necessarily have to fill this list out before you write a character sketch—it can also just be used as a reference—but here are a zillion-and-one character traits to think about (loads more under the “Read More” cut):

ORIGINS & FAMILY:

Name:

Nickname:

Reason for name:

Birthday:

Age:

Gender:

Place of birth:

Places lived since:

Parents’ names, backgrounds, occupations:

Number of siblings:

Relationship with family (close? estranged?):

Happiest memory:

Childhood trauma:

Children of his/her own?:

If so, relationship with their mother/father?:

Age he/she gave birth/became a father:

PHYSICAL

Height:

Weight:

Build:

Nationality:

Disabilities (physical or mental, including mental illnesses):

Complexion (freckles, acne, skin tone, birth marks):

Face shape:

Distinguishing facial features:

Hair color:

Usual hair style:

Eye color:

Glasses? Contacts?:

Style of dress/typical outfit(s):

Typical style of shoes:

Health (is this person usually sick? or very resilient?):

Grooming (does she/he wear makeup? shower daily? wear only clean clothes? pluck her eyebrows?):

Jewelry? Tattoos? Piercings?:

Accent?:

Unique mannerisms/physical habits (bites nails, talks with hands, taps feet when restless):

Athletic?: 

INTELLECT

Level of education (high school drop out, undergrad BA/BS, PhD, MD, etc.):

Level of self esteem:

Gifts/talents:

Shortcomings:

Style of speech (loud, mumbler, articulate, etc.):

“Left brain” or “right brain” thinker?:

Artistic?:

Mathematical?:

Makes decisions based mostly on emotions, or on logic?:

Neuroses: 

Life philosophy:

Religious stance:

Cautious or daring?:

Most sensitive about/vulnerable to:

Optimist or pessimist?:

Extrovert or introvert?: 

Level of comfort with technology: 

RELATIONSHIPS

Current marital/relationship status:

Sexual orientation:

Past relationships:

Primary reason for being broken up with:

Primary reasons for breaking up with people:

Level of sexual experience:

Story of first kiss (if any—if not, how does he/she want it to happen?):

Story of loss of virginity (if any—if not, how does he/she want it to happen, if at all?):

A social person? (popular, loner, some close friends, makes friends and then quickly drops them):

Most comfortable around (person):

Oldest friend:

How does he/she think others perceive him/her?:

How do others actually perceive him/her?:

VOCATION

Profession:

Past occupations:

Passions:

Attitude towards current job:

Attitude towards current coworkers, bosses, employees:

Salary:

SECRETS

(Every character—no matter how minor—should always have secrets!)

Phobias:

Life goals:

Dreams:

Greatest fears:

Most ashamed of:

Most embarrassing thing ever to happen to him/her:

Compulsions:

Obsessions:

Secret hobbies:

Secret skills:

Past sexual transgressions:

Crimes committed (and was he/she caught? charged?):

What he/she most wants to change about his/her current life:

What he/she most wants to change about his/her physical appearance:

DETAILS/QUIRKS

Daily routine:

Night owl or early bird?:

Light or heavy sleeper?:

Favorite food:

Least favorite food:

Favorite book:

Least favorite book:

Favorite movie:

Least favorite movie:

Favorite song:

Least favorite song:

Coffee or tea?:

Crunchy or smooth peanut butter?:

Type of car he/she drives (or wishes he/she drove):

Lefty or righty?:

Favorite color:

Cusser?:

Smoker? Drinker? Drug user?:

Biggest regret: 

Pets?:

comesilvertongue:

Long ago, Loki gave Sif a gift - a trinket, nothing more - yet tonight, with his passing, it must take the place of him.
_[2/3]

Read More

HALP IM CREY

I HAVE SO MANY FELS I CAN’T

consulting-ranger:

amandaonwriting:

Writers can use these 12 Archetypes to create characters

The 12 Common Archetypes by Carl Golden

The twelve archetypes are divided into ego types, self types, and soul types. 

1) The Four Ego Types
 
1. The Innocent
Motto: Free to be you and me
Core desire: to get to paradise
Goal: to be happy
Greatest fear: to be punished for doing something bad or wrong
Strategy: to do things right
Weakness: boring for all their naive innocence
Talent: faith and optimism
The Innocent is also known as: Utopian, traditionalist, naive, mystic, saint, romantic, dreamer.
 
2. The Orphan/Regular Guy or Gal
Motto: All men and women are created equal
Core Desire: connecting with others
Goal: to belong
Greatest fear: to be left out or to stand out from the crowd
Strategy: develop ordinary solid virtues, be down to earth, the common touch
Weakness: losing one’s own self in an effort to blend in or for the sake of superficial relationships
Talent: realism, empathy, lack of pretence
The Regular Person is also known as: The good old boy, everyman, the person next door, the realist, the working stiff, the solid citizen, the good neighbour, the silent majority.
 
3. The Hero
Motto: Where there’s a will, there’s a way
Core desire: to prove one’s worth through courageous acts
Goal: expert mastery in a way that improves the world
Greatest fear: weakness, vulnerability, being a “chicken”
Strategy: to be as strong and competent as possible
Weakness: arrogance, always needing another battle to fight
Talent: competence and courage
The Hero is also known as: The warrior, crusader, rescuer, superhero, the soldier, dragon slayer, the winner and the team player.
 
4. The Caregiver
Motto: Love your neighbour as yourself
Core desire: to protect and care for others
Goal: to help others
Greatest fear: selfishness and ingratitude
Strategy: doing things for others
Weakness: martyrdom and being exploited
Talent: compassion, generosity
The Caregiver is also known as: The saint, altruist, parent, helper, supporter.
 
2) The Four Soul Types
         
5. The Explorer
Motto: Don’t fence me in
Core desire: the freedom to find out who you are through exploring the world
Goal: to experience a better, more authentic, more fulfilling life
Biggest fear: getting trapped, conformity, and inner emptiness
Strategy: journey, seeking out and experiencing new things, escape from boredom
Weakness: aimless wandering, becoming a misfit
Talent: autonomy, ambition, being true to one’s soul
The explorer is also known as: The seeker, iconoclast, wanderer, individualist, pilgrim.
 
6. The Rebel
Motto: Rules are made to be broken
Core desire: revenge or revolution
Goal: to overturn what isn’t working
Greatest fear: to be powerless or ineffectual
Strategy: disrupt, destroy, or shock
Weakness: crossing over to the dark side, crime
Talent: outrageousness, radical freedom
The Outlaw is also known as: The rebel, revolutionary, wild man, the misfit, or iconoclast.
 
7. The Lover
Motto: You’re the only one
Core desire: intimacy and experience
Goal: being in a relationship with the people, work and surroundings they love
Greatest fear: being alone, a wallflower, unwanted, unloved
Strategy: to become more and more physically and emotionally attractive
Weakness: outward-directed desire to please others at risk of losing own identity
Talent: passion, gratitude, appreciation, and commitment
The Lover is also known as: The partner, friend, intimate, enthusiast, sensualist, spouse, team-builder.
 
8. The Creator
Motto: If you can imagine it, it can be done
Core desire: to create things of enduring value
Goal: to realize a vision
Greatest fear: mediocre vision or execution
Strategy: develop artistic control and skill
Task: to create culture, express own vision
Weakness: perfectionism, bad solutions
Talent: creativity and imagination
The Creator is also known as: The artist, inventor, innovator, musician, writer or dreamer.
 
3) The Four Self Types
 
9. The Jester
Motto: You only live once
Core desire: to live in the moment with full enjoyment
Goal: to have a great time and lighten up the world
Greatest fear: being bored or boring others
Strategy: play, make jokes, be funny
Weakness: frivolity, wasting time
Talent: joy
The Jester is also known as: The fool, trickster, joker, practical joker or comedian.
 
10. The Sage
Motto: The truth will set you free
Core desire: to find the truth.
Goal: to use intelligence and analysis to understand the world.
Biggest fear: being duped, misled—or ignorance.
Strategy: seeking out information and knowledge; self-reflection and understanding thought processes.
Weakness: can study details forever and never act.
Talent: wisdom, intelligence.
The Sage is also known as: The expert, scholar, detective, advisor, thinker, philosopher, academic, researcher, thinker, planner, professional, mentor, teacher, contemplative.
 
11. The Magician
Motto: I make things happen.
Core desire: understanding the fundamental laws of the universe
Goal: to make dreams come true
Greatest fear: unintended negative consequences
Strategy: develop a vision and live by it
Weakness: becoming manipulative
Talent: finding win-win solutions
The Magician is also known as: The visionary, catalyst, inventor, charismatic leader, shaman, healer, medicine man.
 
12. The Ruler
Motto: Power isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.
Core desire: control
Goal: create a prosperous, successful family or community
Strategy: exercise power
Greatest fear: chaos, being overthrown
Weakness: being authoritarian, unable to delegate
Talent: responsibility, leadership
The Ruler is also known as: The boss, leader, aristocrat, king, queen, politician, role model, manager or administrator.

Note: There are four cardinal orientations: freedom, social, ego, order. The types have a place on these orientations.

Article via soulcraft.co

I’m like… all of the Soul ones. oop.

And Sherlock is definitely a sage and magician, Mycroft is the ruler (duh) and John is part magician, part caregiver, with a little orphan tossed in

what

jillyfae:

alduiin:

foxghost:

Saw this quote float by my dash a few times, basically bashing the words used to describe said male parts between the legs. And called it “obscene.”

There is nothing obscene about “throbbing meat stick.” But there is a whole lot of hilarity, which might be what you’re going for. If so, skip. There’s a lot of stuff like that - “you should not do this it’s bad bad bad” but then “how should I do this?” As it happens, I specialize. So.

This is not a guide. It’s just what I do. Take it with a drop of salty prec- *picks mind out of the gutter* huge grain of salt. It’s also what I like to read.

Penis is too clinical - like going to the doctor’s office. Cock, on other hand, is perfectly fine. But using the word cock over and over again (quote: is not obscene) is like using “face” in a kissing scene. It feels distant and not intimate enough. My basic strategy:

• split up referring to said organ and its cousins in parts: base, shaft, underside, vein, crown, ridge, tip, slit, sac, sensitive folds of the sac, light bump above his entrance. Get specific but remain vague on the c-word. It’s like writing a fluff scene; one does not describe a person smashing his face into another person’s face in a kissing scene. It’s always lips/tongue/teeth. This applies to cock.
• Insert three of the five senses in a given act. Taste, smell, touch are the winners. If you say salt, musk, velvety, steel, taut skin - you can skip the c-word and people will still know what you’re talking about.
• Get specific with placement and go vague on the actual organ.
  
  • hardness between his legs/pressing against his thigh/showing through the tightness of his pants
  • throbbing (it’s okay to use throbbing. No “meat stick”) under his fingertips/as he slid between his palms/against his hips
  • reddened tip on which he swirled his tongue/pulled off a drop of precum
  • sight of his arousal/bobbing softly below him/begging for attention
  • neglected length/also begging for attention
  • You just thought “penis” didn’t you?
• If you laugh at the porn when you’re writing it, chances are, it’s crack. (I have done this.) (I posted it anyway because it was good for crack.)
• It’s perfectly okay to write “throbbing meat stick” if you’re writing crack. Otherwise…urr…there goes the mood.
• How do you know it’s good? You got hot and bothered writing it. (Why am I writing on if it’s not helping me, right?)
• WRITE SOME PORN.
• The previous was a subliminal message meant to be inspirational
• This is not a guide. If you don’t write porn like this, that’s okay too.
• Oh, and impossible positions get in the way of fapping.
• Look up my “for science” posts if you’re worried about what having a penis feels like or having a prostate feels like
• STOP WORRYING AND WRITE ALL THE PORN

THE MALEFICAR COSIGNS

[ basically this is… uh everything I do wow look at that ]

YES. 

That is splendid advice. 

I have a harder time describing female anatomy without using specific words, myself, but this is all basically what it takes to write porn that hopefully isn’t too cracky.  (Sex is weird irl though, so a little cracky’s ok. ^_~)

stealyourshiny:

snazzycookies:

Rebloggable version, as requested by davrosbro. :)

Oooh!  Yes!  I love kisses.  Kisses are where it all starts ;).

Okay, first, remember that a kiss is much, much more than just lips.  It is lips, but also tongues, teeth, eyes, faces, hands, noses, bodies, heartbeats,  breath, voice- and most importantly, a kiss is emotions.  A kiss without emotion is just wet mushy lips stuck together.  Ew.  Gross.  The most important part of a kiss isn’t the how, but the who- because of the emotions between the two people.

Okay so:

lips- Lips can slide, glide over each other smoothly, or they can be chapped and rough and dry and get stuck on each other.  They can match, top-to-top and bottom-to-bottom, or they can overlap, with one person’s top or bottom lip captured between the other person’s lips (yummy).  If there is lipstick or chapstick there is lipstick or chapstick flavor, otherwise, lips don’t have a taste (can you taste yours?).  Lips also can smack- the sound of two of them coming together or pulling apart, because they’re wet and warm and soft. 

tongue- Tongues are always wet, and always warm.  They’re very versatile.  They can trace over lips, teeth, or another tongue.  They can be smooth and graceful or teasing and flicking.  When tongues are involved, there is drool.  It’s only sexy when you like the person you’re kissing, or else it’s kinda gross. :P

teeth- teeth can clack together awkwardly, or teeth can bite down sensually.  A person biting their own lip is cute, a person biting another’s lips is sexy.  A person biting gently is sensual, a person biting roughly is sexual. 

eyes- Eyes can be wide open with surprise, half-lidded with desire, fully closed with pleasure.  Eyes can gaze lovingly, lustfully, wistfully, hungrily, seductively- it all depends upon the emotions of your characters.  Have them do whatever you like, but don’t leave them out- give them at least a mention!

faces- Faces are what the lips are attached to.  Noses bump, cheeks flush, ears turn red, foreheads either wrinkle or relax.  Kisses can leave lips, quite easily, and become kisses on chins, cheeks, noses, foreheads, ears, necks, throats.  Kisses on noses or foreheads are cute and adorable, kisses on cheeks are sweet, kisses on chins, ears, and throats are very sexual.  And a kiss on the lips can be all of those! <3

hands- Hands are super-important.  In order to describe a kiss, usually you want to also describe the hands.  Where are they?  Does one character have their hand behind the other’s head or back, holding them close?  Are they on someone’s shoulders pulling them near, or pushing them away?  Fingers brushing someone’s cheek or palms grabbing someone’s ass convey two very different kinds of situations, even if the kiss itself is exactly the same.

noses- Noses are annoying.  They easily get in the way, especially for first kisses!  People have to tilt their head to one side or the other, and if they don’t, noses bump.  I’d only mention noses if a kiss is supposed to be awkward or uncertain or nervous.

bodies- bodies are either close together, or far away.  Someone can be surrounded comfortingly by someone’s arms, or terrifyingly trapped by them.  Bodies are warm or hot, they are calm or nervous, relaxed or tense.  Body language says a lot.  Is your character pulling away, or moving closer?

heartbeat- Hearts can beat fast or slow, and that’s about all they can do- but there are lots of reasons why they do!  A heart can beat fast with fear or excitement or nervousness; a heart can pound with lust or race with terror or sing with joy.  Hearts can glow, cower, or shatter.  When you really want to drive the emotions of a character home, mention the heart.

breath- To me, the most consuming part of a kiss is the breath.  The air that someone else has just breathed going deep into your lungs is very intimate.  Lips and tongues don’t have a taste, but breath does.  Each person’s breath tastes different, smells different, and surrounds a person differently than anyone else’s breath.  Breath can be warm and sweet, breath can be hot and sexy, breath can be hot and frightening.  It is something that is very present and should not be left out.  A lot of writers leave breath out.  And it’s so important; it’s the most intimate part of a kiss.  Someone else is breathing into your lungs, and it’s either heaven or it’s hell.

voice- Voice conveys much, even without words.  A voice can groan, whimper, gasp, moan, catch, whine, scream, sigh.  Voice can convey emotion powerfully, and while some kisses are silent, usually they’re not. 

emotion-  Emotion is the most important- and the thing you try not to say.  You want to describe it, through all of the things above, so that it’s perfectly clear what your characters are feeling, without you ever using the “feelings words”.  If they’re in love, their bodies will lean close, their eyes will smile, their voices will giggle softly.  If they’re nervous, their palms will sweat, their noses will bump, their voices will shudder.  If they’re afraid, their muscles will be tense, their faces will grimace, their lips will not open.  Emotion is the color that you keep inside your mind as you write; it’s the base line that drives the description behind everything else you say.

Wow, that was a lot!  Gosh I hope it wasn’t too much!  Keep in mind not every kiss has all these things- this is just a list of things to consider when writing a kiss, and based on how long of a kiss you want to make.  Keep in mind that typing “they kissed for a long time”…that’s six words, it takes half a second to read, so that’s a short kiss!  If you want a long kiss, you need long sentences that make the reader linger. 

So maybe to start off, pick three things on the list to describe in your first kiss.  Don’t try to do it all- that would be too much for even the most epic kiss.  Just pick what’s most important to this particular scene, to these particular characters, and describe those parts along with the lips, and you’ve got yourself an awesome, emotional kiss. <3

Good references.

janiejanine:

serindrana:

oh-you-better-run:

i dug a hole inside my heart to put you in your grave, persephone/hades, southern gothic, r 

-

She walks over meadows with her feet bare, her clothes wet and sticking to hot, pale skin. Her hair is long and red-blonde and flashing, winds about her neck like spun gold. Her feet are smeared with mud and when she spreads her arms wide the sky answers with thunder. She speaks the tongue of the wolf and the curling of the tree root. She walks the earth and it belongs to her. 

He watches her, and he says nothing. Life does not belong to death.

-

Her mother knows what she is, and knows what he is, too. He cannot cross the line, cannot step inside her house. Once, he tries, and his fingers sting for aeons.

“You can’t have her, son,” says Demeter, to the warm night air.

“Ain’t ‘bout havin’,” he says, and delights to see her eyes fill with the fire of a thousand funeral pyres.

In the forest a wolf howls, and a deer falls down, hot then cold. He walks the earth as the lord of death, and beneath his feet the greenery turns deep, dark brown. He cannot enter her house, but he is the lord of death.

Here is the secret. Even gods die.

-

Read More

HNGH YES PERFECT

somebody who gets my mythology otp. :x and writes beautiful stories. HELLO.

Gorgeous. I’m in love with southern gothic.

ERMERGERD YAY NEW QUALITY READING MATERIAL *w* *reads all the wonderful fic*

writeworld:

kuose asked: Do you have any advice/tips for writing a story in which the main character suffers amnesia/memory loss?

There are multiple forms of amnesia. Here are the names and basic definitions of each type.

• Anterograde Amnesia: This type of amnesia happens when the brain suffers a traumatic injury involving the hippocampus or mammillary bodies. This type of amnesia renders the patient incapable of recollecting memories that are created after the onset of amnesia. In other words, new memories are not transferred to the patient’s long-term memory. This type of amnesia is also called ‘short-term’ or memory loss.
• Retrograde Amnesia: This type of amnesia happens after a disease or injury to the brain that involves the hippocampus and the median temporal lobes. This type of amnesia renders the patient incapable of recollecting events that happened before the onset of amnesia. Assuming the patient is an average age of 25, early childhood memories (such as five years or younger) are generally considered ‘safe’, and effected memories increase leading up to the onset of the disease. This type of amnesia is also called ‘long-term’ memory loss.
• Transient Global Amnesia: This is rare, temporary loss of most all memory. It usually comes with no warning, and can happen to anyone, healthy or not. It is most common in older men. The cause for this type of amnesia has remained a controversial topic. These causes include emotional stress, transient ischemic attack, or “mini-stroke”, strenuous physical exertion„ and a basilar artery migraine, which is a migraine caused by a disturbance to the brainstem. Headaches, dizziness, and nausea often accompany TGA. This type of memory loss usually lasts only a day, but can be quite scary for the individual who experiences it.
• Dissociative Amnesia:Is a serious and rare type of memory loss that involves the patient’s personal information. There are different types of dissociative amnesia.
  • Generalized amnesia involves the patient’s entire life’s memories.
  • Localized amnesia involves memories of a specific traumatic event
  • Selective amnesia is when the patient can only remember certain parts of a specific time period.
  • Systematized amnesia is when a person cannot remember a specific topic of information.
• Infantile Amnesia: This is also a rare form of memory loss that involves the inability to remember events from their early childhood. The agreed upon cause is that certain areas of the brain that deal with memory storage are not fully formed by the time people come to the age of retaining memories.
• Hysterical (or Fugue) Amnesia: This type of the disease is very rare and does not occur very often. Patients with this type of memory loss are unable to remember their past or even their identity. They see themselves, and they see a stranger. It’s usually triggered by a sudden, shocking event that the brain cannot process. In most cases, the patient’s memory slowly comes back within a few days of the onset.
• Other types of amnesia include: Posthypnotic amnesia, which is the inability to remember events during hypnosis. Source amnesia, which is the ability to remember a certain topic of information, but are unable to recall where their learned it. Blackout amnesia, which is the inability to remember events that occurred while intoxicated. Lastly, Prosopmnesia, which is the inability to remember faces (this type of amnesia can be congenital or be acquired).

The most common types of amnesia are Retrograde and Anterograde, as they affect the hippocampus directly. (The hippocampus is involved in short-term and long-term memory).

In most cases, people gain back most or all of the memories lost in any kind of amnesia, but it is possible for memories to be seemingly lost forever.

Now that you know a bit more about amnesia, let’s get on with the writing advice, shall we?

• Writing amnesia is harder than it looks. It may seem easy at first, but writing believable amnesia can be a very daunting task requiring careful research and considerable skill. Amnesia is a very common concept in fiction writing, so much so that many readers (and writers) consider using amnesia as a major plot point lazy and trite writing. They may have a point there; poorly-executed amnesia can be boring or cliched if proper respect to the subject is not shown.
• Try to avoid being cliche. The bump-on-the-head cause of amnesia is quite overdone, and can be even worse when the miraculous cure for this amnesia is merely another bump on the head. Be different. Be original. Take the topic of amnesia and cover the rare, uncommon forms. Do the research to create a believable situation for your characters. 
• Respect the causes as well as the condition. Amnesia can be caused by post-traumatic stress (PTSD), physical brain damage, or other mental disorders. People actually have amnesia. It is not a made-up thing. Be sensitive to the people who live with this condition and respect them by doing your research.
• Make sure to work on the plot before jumping in. Amnesia can be a tricky subject to handle. Does the character get amnesia later on, or does the story start with them wondering who and where they are? Does the character ever recover? How? When? Why? Answer every question you can think of regarding the character’s amnesia before you start writing to make sure you have your bases covered for research and plot creation.
• Don’t just cover what the character remembers. What the character doesn’t know is equally as interesting and just as important to the plot. Treat these two pieces — what a character knows and what he or she doesn’t know — as two separate entities and address them accordingly as you create your plot and develop your character.
• Have a point. Is it the protagonist or the antagonist or some minor character that has amnesia? Is the main plot point of the story? If not, why does the character in question have it and how does it further the plot? If it doesn’t at least somewhat advance the plot, then it might not be necessary to the overall story and we advise removing it.
• Create plot outside of the amnesia. People suffering from amnesia are not defined by their condition any more than people suffering from cancer or schizophrenia are defined by their conditions. A plot based solely on amnesia is a deficient plot. Create subplots that exist outside of the amnesia. These subplots actually make the amnesia more realistic because they create a more realistic situation for your characters. To repeat: there is life outside of any neurological or physical condition (aside from death, which is normally rather permanent and does not include life). Plot accordingly.

If you take nothing else away from this, remember that amnesia comes in many forms and can be a debilitating condition, but it in no way defines a character. Do your research!

On that note, here’s some further reading:

• Amnesia in Writing
  • Is amnesia cliche? (forum discussion)
  • Amnesia. (forum discussion)
  • Kathryn Shay: Writing About Amnesia
  • If My Character Has Amnesia, How Do they Get ID? Can They Get a Job?
• About Amnesia
  • What Is Amnesia? What Causes Amnesia?
  • Amnesia (MayoClinic)
  • Amnesia (Human Diseases and Conditions)
  • Amnesia (AtHealth)
  • Different Types Of Amnesia
  • Symptoms Of Amnesia
• TVTropes on Amnesia
  • Easy Amnesia
  • Identity Amnesia
  • Trauma Induced Amnesia
  • Amnesia Danger

Thank you for your question!

- Laikyn and C

fairgroundsoldier:

Eu Não Quero Voltar Sozinho (I Don’t Want to Go Back Alone)

The life of Leonardo, a blind teenager, completely changes with the arrival of a new student at his school. At the same time, he has to deal with his jealous friend, Giovana, and understand the feelings aroused by new friend Gabriel.

WATCH IT YOU GUYS

SERIOUSLY

NOT ONLY IS IT CUTE AND FLUFFY AND ROMANTIC

IT MAKES ME SO HAPPY I DON’T EVEN

IT’S JUST 17 MINUTES WATCH ITTTTTTT SKLDFJAKLSJDFHALSKJA

writeworld:

See below for an extensive source of literary terminology.

Read More

hamburgerjack:

cygnett:

august 21st

by the time someone finds this it may be too late. they boys have filled the yard already. i destroyed the milkshake long ago, that was what brought them here. but they do not relent. their patience is surely growing thin, and i don’t know how much longer the front door will hold.

it’s only a matter of time.

I told them I’d have to charge, but they still wouldn’t give up.

So…

I’ll make them.

I got to the roof via an upstairs bedroom, my shotgun in hand, a crate full of homemade bombs at my feet, tethered to my leg with some extra shoe strings.

They could keep coming in my damn yard if they wanted to.

…

But I’d go down fighting.

I aimed my shotgun down at the crowd, aiming at some rugged looking hipster with a hat hanging off the back of his head.

“Milkshake mother fucker…”

And then I pulled the trigger.

hamburgerjack:

hello-zombie:

beauty and the beast by mindy lee

Everything she was, but couldn’t be, she put into the mirror.

Ugly, hateful, spiteful, narcissistic, scarred, vain…

Weeping, whining…

Imperfect.

But she was perfect.

On the other side.

She was everything anyone could want.

Poised, charming, clever…

In the mirror she was poisonous and sharp tongued.

Having to act each day kept her rigid, like the boning in her corset.

Her sweet expression was maintained by a clenched jaw, her lips sucked against her teeth, a tight smile that appeared to everyone that saw her as pleased and pleasant.

Even her steps, so careful and measured, were the product of a forced image.

She imagined on the other side, her true self staggered and stomped and knuckled dragged. There would be no smiles to be had, her true self would have a permanent scowl, jagged teeth, broken teeth! A lumbering beast, with ragged hair and clawed fingers…

Each day she looked in the mirror and longed for that beast, longed to see it, longed to be it.

“I love you…” she whispered, looking deep into the mirror, her fingers almost touching the smooth, polished surface.

“I love you.” the reflection said back.

“I want to be together.”

“I want to be together.”

“I’ll do whatever it takes!” she said, suddenly desperate. “I can escape this life, we can be together!”

“Escape! Be Together!”

“Yes yes!” she said, beginning to laugh and weep.

**

**

They found her in her rooms, sobbing and bloody and banging the frame of a hand mirror on the floor. Every mirror in the room was smashed, some of the windows too, her arms and legs sliced and gouged and criss-crossed.

“WHERE ARE YOU? WHERE ARE YOU!” she screamed. “YOU SAID WE COULD BE TOGETHER!”

She was losing blood, light headed, delusional.

She could be saved, but she would never be the same.

“Why would she do this? She was so beautiful!”

**

**

“Isn’t it dangerous to have mirrors in there, considering -.”

“They keep her calm.” the doctor said, observing from a small slot in the door. “They’re unbreakable.”

They watched the young woman for a bit, before leaving. She’d sat there, nearly motionless against the mirror, smiling and caressing her own mutilated image.

“I love you.”

“I love you.”

“We’ll always be together now.”

“We were never apart.”

“But now it’s right…” she kissed the glass.

Now it was right.