Ex Astris Scientia

the-only-useful-lesbian

prokopetz

I know I’m being an insufferable worldbuilding nerd here, but my basic metric for evaluating media with very inhuman protagonists is “how easily can one offer a complete and coherent account of this media’s plot without ever mentioning the fact that the protagonist is, for example, a talking car?”. The harder it is, the higher it scores.

bizzareshark

@hewwbwazew I would LOVE to read this holy shit

raddudelaserpunch

ultipoter

@territorialoak I hope you don’t mind me adding your tags here, that story is just too good and I’m Obsessed

also @gilgamemesh I feel like this is your vibe too

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The Weather Project: Prologue

Listen to This While You Read | Brief Intro Post
Not even a little bit revised and to hell with Proper Writing Form

It has been 53 years since humans abandoned their home. They’re now almost 14 trillion miles from Earth. Out here, the stars are distant and faint, leaving the Atlas to be illuminated only by the florescent lights lining its halls. This is the farthest anyone has ever strayed from home.

The Alpha Centauri system is 4.37 light years from Earth, and is the Atlas’ destination. Seven planets, three of which are habitable. It was the only logical option.

Over half a century ago they left in search of another home. They had left their home planet it waste and ruin, an unsalvageable husk of what was once their own Eden of which they were cast out. They drove themselves to the brink of extinction with wars waged by the rich where it was the poor that died.

Some had accepted the fate of the human race. Many were in denial.

But there were a few hopeful young scientists with a plan that would require all hands on deck. An engineering feat never before seen by humanity, and they put everything they had left into it.

The Atlas. Carrier of the World upon his shoulders. The last stand against total annihilation.

Extinction is the Rule. Survival is the Exception.

Keep reading

the weather project im probably gonna link music to the updates too bc thats how i be writing i havent written in 4 years

bonesleomccoy

kylo

i wish media would stop perpetuating the name “trekker”. never in my career have i met anyone who prefers that title over “trekkie”

ralfmaximus

Organized Trek fandom was started by women, especially the letter writing campaign that convinced NBC to give the show its third season.

In the 1970s many male fans felt “Trekkies” was too feminine (also disturbingly close to “Spockies” which I kid you not was a real thing) so the backlash was to try forcing Trekker into the vernacular. Which was more “masculine” sounding and also similar to the male centric Trucker fandom which also was a thing that existed in the 1970s. Nothing more testosteroney than big rigs and CB radios, amirite fellas?!

Anyway, it never caught on. Thank god.

spacewhalestarship spacewhalestarship

Oh my God, we’ll that explains the story I just added to this exact post, THANK YOU.

apiaree

Last year, I went to RICC dressed as Ro Laren. This was literally the first thing that happened when I finally got past the line:

two guys come up from out of nowhere and hug me. “Aww! Star Trek! Awesome!” they said.

Me: Yeah…I’m a huge trekkie.

Guys: Oh. You must mean “trekker.” that’s the correct term that fans preferblahblahblah

Me: No. I meant trekkie.

I can’t believe that they tried to mansplain the word trekkie to me. like, HONESTLY. I know what I’m about.

aromantic-goldfishdeactivated202

dyatlovpassingprivilege dyatlovpassingprivilege

tumblr is the only social media site that doesn't crack down on threats of violence because its denizens only do it in very drawn out and lamely prosaic ways that if read aloud during litigation couldn't reasonably be ruled out as just being an insufferable homosexual's creative writing exercise

dzamie

"I'm going to drive nails into your skull you little freak" <- bad! boring! a terribly actionable threat!

"op i will gnaw through the load-bearing walls of your house while you sleep" <- great! unhinged! contains implications of beaverhood!

roxren

ladyskorpia:
“ ratchet-jean:
“ alliaofrph:
“ alliaofrph:
“ I save a helpful links so I think “ow,i should made a masterlist”. I only found the link from my bookmarks.
**maybe i renew/add a new link that i found
”
WRITING HELP/CHARACTER
• writing a...

ref

transdanieljacobi

inkskinned

gay person: i’d like it if there was a gay couple in this media like ever or at all
str8s: not everything is made for everyone!!! this is OURS! keep yourself out of it!!! god why do you always make everything ABOUT YOU !!! make your own media if you want attention!!!!

gay person: i made media, it’s about being gay and in love in a gay way
str8s: this is really about EVERYONE :) anyon e who loves can RELATe :) :) how about we all just CELEBRATE lOVE instead of making it about ONE TYPE of person!! :)

mothnoodle

communistkenobi-archive

the actual reason I consume mediocre media is because I have bad taste. the deeper secret pretentious reason is because I think there’s something very revealing about bad media that you don’t get with good media. when you watch a poorly executed plot point unfold, you see the machinery behind it. you see the gap between what’s actually on screen and the true goal the author is striving for. if it’s particularly awful, you can even measure just how poorly mismatched the author’s skills are with the story they’re trying to tell you. watching a poorly executed narrative play out feels like you’re discovering something, because you see all the wiring and guts underneath that better authors hide from you, in the same way that movies hide boom mics and books make you forget you’re turning the pages. if a story is good and executed well you just see the story. but I want to see the guts and wires!

communistkenobi-archive

also I like complaining a lot

rumtumtuggerr-deactivated201705

5 ways to increase/decrease suspense in your writing

heartlessharless

Suspense is one of the trickier parts of writing to manage effectively because, as the author, you can’t experience your story the way a reader does. If you don’t have enough suspense, it can be difficult to keep your readers interested. If you have too much, frustrated and stressed-out readers might throw your book against the wall. Too much suspense can even backfire - if you try to keep your readers constantly on edge, they can stop taking things seriously and the end result is as though you never included any suspense at all.

So how can you tell if you’ve reached the right balance? Unfortunately, I can’t answer that for you. Some things really do require feedback from honest and insightful readers. Once you have that feedback, however, there are easy tricks to adjusting the level of suspense without a drastic re-write. Here are my five favorite methods.

Promises and Payoffs

INCREASE SUSPENSE by promising something huge and then giving your reader something unexpected. To borrow an example from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, imagine a teenage boy and girl sneaking into an empty building. Everything from the costumes to the lighting is designed to make you uneasy about the girl’s safety but, in the end, she’s the vampire. Give the audience something sensational and they won’t be disappointed that you didn’t deliver on what you originally promised.
DECREASE SUSPENSE by promising less than you plan to deliver. For example, if you plan to kill off a character as they walk through a dark alley, let them worry about being mugged rather than murdered. Not only is it less suspenseful, the payoff is more shocking.

Characters are Crucial

INCREASE SUSPENSE by shifting the focus to a character who’s more involved in the action or one who has more at stake. Even if you have a single POV character, another can come in and demand that character’s attention, along with the readers’.
DECREASE SUSPENSE by focusing on a character who’s more concerned with a secondary goal. Subplots are a fantastic way to give your readers some room to breathe.

Calm vs. Chaos

INCREASE SUSPENSE by cutting back on the action. Suspense flourishes in the quiet moments when your characters have time to think and to anticipate what may be in store for them.
DECREASE SUSPENSE by giving your characters a big, exciting mess to deal with. Even when that mess causes more problems and puts more pressure on your characters in the long run, you’ve still created an oasis where both they and the readers are too distracted to worry about how the big picture will pan out.

Devil’s in the Details

INCREASE SUSPENSE by concentrating on the details of the setting. Horror movies are great at this - every creak of a door, every shadow across a wall keeps the audience immersed in the experience and tense with anticipation.
DECREASE SUSPENSE by breaking the “show, don’t tell” rule and allow exposition to help you move things along. You don’t need to take readers through every aspect of your story in excruciating detail. It’s okay to gloss over some things and it helps readers relax because they know you’re not going to be springing any surprises on them just yet.

Ticking Time-Bomb

INCREASE SUSPENSE by imposing a deadline that your characters struggle to meet. It’s one of the oldest and most obvious tricks in the book, but very effective.
DECREASE SUSPENSE by allowing your characters to believe that the deadline has been met or pushed back. If they (and the readers) believe that they’ve accomplished their goal or bought themselves more time, it relieves pressure and allows everyone to relax until the truth’s revealed.

elumish

The one thing to remember is that sometimes, if you decrease suspense too much and then have a big event, it can feel like the event came out of left field, and you lose credibility to your readers.

Make sure, even if you decrease suspense, there’s still a reason for what happens. If an ordinary character is walking down a dark alley worried about being mugged, and then they’re killed by an assassin, it seems absurd. If someone who has been previously targeted thinks that everyone after them is dead/otherwise stopped, and then they’re killed by an assassin, it feels real, and the result is even more interesting.

ref

dyoniisus

stomachachesfrank:
“ perchancetodance:
“ i’m so sorry i just need to organize my reference tag so warning for long post and organization system that only makes sense to me
writing
• names, dead languages, ancient cultures
• 99 ways to beat writers...

ayyyyy ref

bi-aki

perchancetodance:
“ i’m so sorry i just need to organize my reference tag so warning for long post and organization system that only makes sense to me
writing
• names, dead languages, ancient cultures
• 99 ways to beat writers block
• remember to...

ref

give me kingsman promps bc i wanna get back into the swing of writing

also no smut pls this asexual sucks at writing it

Ex Astris Scientia — ultipoter: raddudelaserpunch: bizzareshark:...

See, that’s what the app is perfect for.