Reblog To Let Your Followers Know That They’re Safe From Jumpscares/screamers/etc From You On April

the writer’s dilemma: - want to write a novel - want to read 10 novels for inspiration - end up doing neither and scrolling through memes about writing instead

CLEARANCE SALE!

I'm doing some new years shop cleaning! A BUNCH of new items have been added to my clearance section, where everything is on discount and won't be restocked after selling out! Above is just some examples- check out the clearance section on my shop for the full list!

Last post of the year! Someone inspired me to make Mighty Nein ducks and since I'm meeting the #CriticalRole crew in April, I'll be making more. Enjoy Jester, Caleb, Nott, and Caduceus ducks. And stay tuned for an update on what's coming in the new year!

i have once again done a thing

Some of the fruits of my previous sorting party. Some very sparkly dragons! Been in a diamond art kick, probably going to do some more today.

Hi all you little neurospicy folk :) relax your shoulders, unclench your jaw, drink some water (no, coffee, monster, or any other thing containing water that is not water do not count), eat a snacky snack, get up and walk a few steps if you can :)

thats it :) have a great day :)

Good morning! Welcome to our crochet blog 🥰

The Road Goes Ever On embroidered by seejor.

“After 100ish hours of work, I’m so happy to say this beast is done!!

For the most part, I had an idea that I thought would be cool, drew it up, and transferred it to fabric (here’s the hoop pre-stitching). Prior to this piece, I’d only done florals – some from patterns I bought online (Namaste Embroidery) and some of my own design – so really I just wanted to see if I could embroider a dragon. I hadn’t been embroidering long but was feeling ballsy.

So that’s the pattern… as for color choices: the mountain, clouds, fog, and trees were entirely a product of I’d bought a bunch of floss I thought was pretty and kind of went together and figured why not give it a try. I love how the mountain came out. The gold for the text was my favorite gold I’d worked with in a sunflower piece (I have an entire floss organizer of just shades of yellow because of that piece, so the gold pieces pretty much just followed). Smaug’s colors and pose in general were inspired by an illustration of Smaug Tolkien did that I’ve always loved.

Process in general: I kind of made most of it up as I went along. I knew what effect I wanted in various sections and if I couldn’t figure out a way to make it look the way I wanted with stitches I knew, I’d go googling. The pile of gold Smaug is on is all seed stitch (I don’t know if it’s technically seed stitch, but that’s what I’m calling it) and literally caused me to set this piece down for two years.

- the implement I used to transfer the design was a Sakura Gelly Roll white pen. In a pinch, the gel ink can be removed (like when I edited out the two other mountains)

- I wore a reasonably high powered, rechargeable headlamp for a lot of this project in an attempt to have my stitches be as precise as possible. It ain’t pretty, but it worked pretty well!”

Writing Intimacy

i often see writers sharing a sentiment of struggling with writing kiss scenes which honestly bleeds into other portrayals of physical intimacy. i see it a lot in modernized styles of writing popularized by the recent trend in publishing to encourage short, choppy sentences and few adverbs, even less descriptive language. this makes intimacy come across awkward, like someone writing a script or clumsy recounting of events rather than a beautiful paragraph of human connection.

or just plane horniness. but hey, horny doesn't have to be mutually exclusive with poetic or sensual.

shallow example: they kissed desperately, tongues swirling and she moaned. it made her feel warm inside.

in depth example: she reached for the other woman slowly and with a small measure of uncertainty. the moment her fingers brushed the sharp, soft jaw of her companion, eliza's hesitance slid away. the first kiss was gentle when she finally closed the distance between them. she pressed her lips lightly to gabriella's in silent exploration. a tender question. gabriella answered by meeting her kiss with a firmer one of her own. eliza felt the woman's fingers curling into her umber hair, fingernails scraping along her scalp. everything inside eliza relaxed and the nervousness uncoiled from her gut. a warm buzz of energy sunk through her flesh down to the very core of her soul. this was right. this was always where she needed to be.

the first complaint i see regards discomfort in writing a kiss, feeling like one is intruding on the characters. the only way to get around this is to practice. anything that makes you uncomfortable in writing is something you should explore. writing is at its best when we are pushing the envelope of our own comfort zones. if it feels cringy, if it feels too intimate, too weird, too intrusive, good. do it anyway! try different styles, practice it, think about which parts of it make you balk the most and then explore that, dissect it and dive into getting comfortable with the portrayal of human connection.

of course the biggest part comes to not knowing what to say other than "they kissed" or, of course, the tried and true "their lips crashed and their tongues battled for dominance" 😐. so this is my best advice: think beyond the mouth. okay, we know their mouths are mashing. but what are their hands doing? are they touching one another's hair? are they scratching or gripping desperately at one another? are they gliding their hands along each other's body or are they wrapping their arms tightly to hold each other close? do they sigh? do they groan? do they relax? do they tense? are they comfortable with each other or giddy and uncertain? is it a relief, or is it bringing more questions? is it building tension or finally breaking it?

get descriptive with the emotions. how is it making the main character/pov holder feel? how are they carrying those emotions in their body? how do they feel the desire in their body? desire is not just felt below the belt. it's in the gut, it's in the chest, it's in the flushing of cheeks, the chills beneath the skin, the goosebumps over the surface of the flesh. everyone has different pleasure zones. a kiss might not always lead desire for overtly sexual touches. a kiss might lead to the desire for an embrace. a kiss might lead to the impulse to bite or lick at other areas. a kiss could awaken desire to be caressed or caress the neck, the shoulder, the back, the arms etc. describe that desire, show those impulses of pleasure and affection.

of course there is the tactile. what does the love interest taste like? what do they smell like? how do they kiss? rough and greedy? slow and sensual? explorative and hesitant? expertly or clumsily? how does it feel to be kissed by them? how does it feel to kiss them?

i.e. examine who these individuals are, what their motives and feelings are within that moment, who they are together, what it looks like when these two individuals come together. a kiss is not about the mouth. it's about opening the door to vulnerability and desire in one's entire body and soul.