Latest Posts by yourcrowsovereign - Page 6

Maple syrup. In a freakin wine bottle. I can only imagine Francis getting this for Matthew as a birthday present, and Matthew just being so moved that he cooks pancakes for the world’s best papa.

Muslim brothers and sisters

So I found this app called Scan Halal where you scan the bar code of your food and it tells you if its halal or not. It’s a free app too. Pass this on so others can see and worry a little less about their food/snack choices

A SHOUT OUT FOR NEW URDU CHANNEL!

Salam ! Today i wanted to give a shout out to a urdu youtube channel which has garnered my interest. Here’s the link: (Channel Name : Urdu Language Club) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCW1Su6qZD8HvDXTOzS9a-AA

So , this channel is fairly New and it has already started talking on some very interesting topics. I mainly use this channel because it has helped improve my (embarassingly weak) Urdu vocabulary by expressing views on different topics. Again i think this channel would be helpful for anyone to increase their Urdu vocabulary as it uses some rather complex-er words and increase their knowledge in general.

If you want to learn urdu and it’s basics , visit this link (Channel Name : Learn Urdu with UrduPod101.com) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGiKlOBHnhWnb2hv6IVOb4w

Urdu is a very easy-to-learn , language ! Especially if you belong to areas that surround Pakistan , It is basically a whole mixture of all the regional languages ranging from Persian , Arabic , Hindi etc Also i think overseas Pakistanis should remain in-touch with their roots so these two channels would be very helpful if you wanted to get started with Urdu.

If you’re Pakistani , I would really appreciate it if you could re-blog this and spread the message ! ^v^

🌙🤲🏽RAMADAN FOR DUMMIES🌙🤲🏽

❌ islamophobes begone❌

Ramadan is super close!!! - and I’m so excited. Every year I get tonnes of questions from my non-muslim friends and even muslim friends who want to know better. So I’m compiling it all here in this post.

~ I’ve been fasting each year for more than ten years and I’ve been a student of Islamic studies more than 13 years. So yeah I know what I’m talking about.~

What is Ramadan?

It’s the ninth month in the Islamic calendar and a pillar of Islam. It has extreme significant importance to Muslims as it is the month in which the Quran was first revealed. A very holy month in which Shaytan ( the devil) is said to be locked in chains and each good deed and prayer blesses a Muslim 70 times more than any normal month of the year.

Muslims all around the world spend each day fasting from dawn till dusk. We celebrate the end of this blessed month - the first three day of the next month, Shawal - in a celebration known as Eid-ul-Fitr. It’s a really big deal for us.

How do you know when Ramadan is? Does it have a fixed date? When is Ramadan this year?

Ramadan does not have a fixed date! It depends on physical sighting of the moon or the Saudi Arabian declaration of Ramadan ( which is then again, by sighting of the moon but some countries avoid the hassle and follow that. Or if it’s a non-Muslim majority.)

The moon cycle is different for many parts of the world, hence the beginning and end of Ramadan is different - usually no more than one day - for each country.

Ramadan 2k18 is estimated to begin on 15th May! -confetti burst-

So all you do is just abstain from food and drink from dawn till dusk in Ramadan?

No! We also abstain from eating, drinking, smoking and having sex from dawn till dusk. After breaking fast most Sunni Muslims also attend series of special prayers in congregations called ‘Tarawih’ which are specific to Ramadan only. Some Muslims segregated themselves for a few days in mosques of their homes - not engaging in talking or listening to music etc - and spend the time secluded in prayer. This is not specific to Ramadan but most Muslims prefer it during this Ramadan. This practice is called ‘I’ttekaaf’.

In Ramadan the Muslim community gets together, we break the fast together as family and friends. Some hold feasts at the end of Ramadan. Nearing the end of Ramadan and throughout Ramadan able affording Muslims give money to the poor and destitute from their property, money, jewellery. This practice is called Zakat. It is not an option, every able Muslim must give Zakat in Ramadan.

Not even water?

Yes, not even water. Nothing can go into your stomach or out of it during fast. Yes, you read that right. Voluntarily vomiting breaks the fast! ( I take ten minutes brushing my teeth during the fast…careful to not let water into my throat.)

If you’re sick, do you still have to fast?

It depends on the sickness itself. You may not fast if your sickness becomes worse with fasting - however if you are a well-off Muslim - you are to feed a poor person three meals for one day for each fast you miss for your sickness/any other reason from which you recover.

If it’s a mild sickness, take a break from fasting until you get better but you are required to complete your fasting after Ramadan.

Children smaller than ages 13-15 are not allowed to fast. If you are travelling a hard and long journey, you are not required to fast. If you are pregnant, breastfeeding - you are not required to fast but you are to make up the days you missed after Ramadan is over. And you can’t fast at all when you’re menstruating. Menstruating breaks your fast.

Do medical injections, drips, eye drops, nose drops break a fast?

It’s important not to swallow any of the nose drops etc. Otherwise it’s a-okay to use. Injections and drips as long as they aren’t of glucose/nourishing stuff are permitted during fasting.

Fasting is such a good way of losing weight lol. You all must get real skinny after Ramadan!

HAH. Listen, Muslims gain more weight during Ramadan than any other month. That’s because we party after dusk and we eat a lot of fatty stuff to keep us going throughout the day. And a lot of Muslim countries have special non-alcoholic sugary drinks that we drink so. Much. After breaking the fast.

Also that’s really fucking disrespectful, we don’t fast to diet, we fast as a religious duty and to practice patience and steadfastness. The whole Muslim community comes together during this month.

How can I be behave as a Non-Muslim during Ramadan?

Be respectful!

Don’t make a big deal out of eating infront of us - most of us have been fasting for ages.

Tag tumblr content like food, porn etc as #nsfr ( not safe for Ramadan)

Don’t call Eid, ‘The Muslim Christmas’ just…don’t.

Remember that Ramadan is for all Muslims. That includes minority Muslim sects ( wahabis don’t interact ), LGBT Muslims, Muslims suffering in war zones, disabled Muslims, new converts. Ramadan is for all of us.

Please, consider donating to the people of Syria, Palestine and the Rohingya Muslims this Ramadan. They are as much as part of this Ummah as we.

Ramadan Mubarak everyone. 🌙

Ah whatever

hey everyone it’s been a while but i desperately need money

SO i was wondering if u guys paid me to write stories so i can pay off my bills and food etc bc i’m literally borderline of getting kicked out of my home

my paypal email is kelina00@me.com

it doesn’t matter the amount u pay me but the more u do the more uhhhhhh motivated i might be (lmao)

but in all seriousness it doesn’t matter the amount anything would be much appreciated thank you so much!!

if you have a request just put it in the comment section of paypal and i will try to write the best story ever 💖💖💖

if you can’t pay me, that’s fine! just please boost this so more people can see this thank you!

beautiful

Arthur summons undead troops!

—

A Fantasy AU idea or something a friend and I came up with. Conceptual stuff for a possible askblog in the future maybe who knows not me thats who. ( I don’t really like these too much but heeyyyyy  ;;>//v//>)

I gotta do Frannie and Canada’s soooon. ;c; 

^^love

I felt like drawing whimsical-looking children today, I suppose. More fantasy AU requested by popular demand, haha.

(Alfred is going to starve the entire village this child must be stopped)

More fantasy!hetalia stuff: x x

Ask box open!

[About] [Characters]

a really cool series, check it out!

[ASK BLOG OFFICIALLY OPEN!]

[About][FAQ]

A man with imperial ambitions takes a child with a prodigious talent under his wing. He uses the child for his own ends while showing the child favor. He slowly instills within the child the belief that they are the best, that their talent makes them superior to others, and that being treated as the same as others of lesser talent, and being expected to follow the same rules as those lesser people is an insult and an unfair imposition. He plants the idea in this child that only he truly sees this child’s value, and all the other people who might care for this child are just holding them back and keeping them down, trying to make them live like lesser mortals. The child becomes more and more isolated and relies more and more on the man. until the fear and strain take their toll and they break spectacularly and fight a losing battle against one of those less talented people, a brother who loves them, and who is forced to take them down.

Who am I talking about? Azula, or Anakin Skywalker?

While I was working on the posts about how Ursa and Iroh are not to blame for Azula’s problems, it really struck me that many people severely underestimate the corrosive effects of someone like Ozai’s favoritism, and how abusive that favoritism is to the favored. But most people in the Star Wars fandom acknowledge how instrumental Palpatine’s poisoned kindness is in luring Anakin into his web and into becoming Darth Vader.

Anakin and Azula are very different characters, but Ozai and Palpatine are in fact a lot alike, and they share deep similarities in how they treat and groom their chosen favorite, and the subtle yet profoundly destructive abuse they subject them to. And much as with Anakin Skywalker, it’s a mistake to think that what Ozai does to Azula isn’t abuse and isn’t horrifically damaging simply because it looks less painful than what he does to Zuko.

Mosaics from the Iowa State building.

🌼how to restart learning a language🌼

i’ve recently gone through a language break, taking 5 months out to reassess my future. i really want to get back to learning Japanese, so here are my tips for restarting that language you might have been neglecting!

reassess your goals. its likely that if you’ve taken an extended break, your life has changed a little and there may be some new priorities taking over. reassess what you want to get out of restarting your language journey so it’s easier to plan around your day

make small targets that can be reached easily. for a short while, you’ll have to work hard to get your head back into the swing of learning a language. making small goals can really up your productivity because you wont be discouraged by big expectations at first!

slowly immerse yourself. immersion is widely known as a good supplement to your language learning. while you’re in the early stages of relearning a language, it’s really fun to start rewatching that subbed anime you lost track of, or listen to that spanish band you loved so much. it will help your brain get back ‘into’ the language, and you’ll have fun along the way!

revisit your notebooks. if you’re anything like me, you have a ton of notebooks and stacks of random note paper lying around untouched since you dropped out of your language. do your best to collect them up, sort through the useful stuff and then, get a blank notebook and rewrite all of your notes. your brain wont have forgotten everything but starting a new notebook will give you incentive to learn, as well as solidifying the information you already learnt!

take it slow. your brain is a muscle that needs exercising. if you havent been using your language brain for a while, don’t try and run a marathon without training first! there’s no rush. your journey is yours, and yours alone. take it as slow as you need to to start learning your language again and get back into the studying swing of things

🌼good luck on revisiting your language journey!🌼

OKAY I have been meaning to do this for MONTHS but hey, there’s no better time than the present so buckle up, here we go! THESE BOOKS ARE A GODSEND. I am ALWAYS on the lookout for writing aids that ACTUALLY HELP. If you’re like me, and occasionally venture out to buy books on, let’s say, showing vs telling - you will always get the same rehearsed speeches on what that means. -summons pretentious writer’s voice- You’ve got to shoooooow what’s happening in the scene, not teeeeeeell~~ BAH! What you NEVER get, however, is how to do it, or how do it better.

THESE BOOKS ARE THE STUFF OF DREAMS

Each of these is so freaking helpful, I can’t even convey. They all follow the same format as the pictures I’ve shown above, so you get one detailed page of descriptions followed by tons of more in-depth, thought provoking concepts. I’ll do my best to lay out the five that I have and if you are interested, hop on over to Amazon and buy these suckers up because they are AMAZING; I have NEVER used a writing resource more than I use these. Negative Trait Thesaurus & Positive Trait Thesaurus -gives you a definition of said negative trait -gives you similar flaws also found in the book -gives you possible causes of WHY the character might have this trait -gives you a list of other behaviors the chara might have -gives you examples of the chara’s thought process -gives associated emotions -gives positive aspects of the trait, as well as negative -gives examples of well known chara’s that have this trait -talks about how the chara might overcome it -gives traits that, when combined with this one, might cause conflict How I use this information: Chara building, or when I get stuck on what I want a character to do. Man, I just can’t decide what they WOULD do. Well, awesome, I have a little guide to help me think through the character’s possible motivations. Also, I get help building a potential backstory because I get a framework of which to think, why is the character this way? Urban Setting Thesaurus & Rural Setting Thesaurus -gives a whole lot of examples of sights, smells, tastes, and sounds -gives examples of textures and sensations (ie at an ‘antique shop’ you may encounter chipped paint, distressed wood, etc) -gives you possible sources of conflict (ie at a ‘hotel’ you might have noisy neighbors) -gives list of people you might expect to find at said location -gives related settings -gives tips on this type of setting -gives a setting description example How I use this information: IMAGERY IMAGERY IMAGERY Emotion Thesaurus (aka MY FAVORITE) -gives a definition of the emotion -gives physical signs and signals (ie chara may look pale, might fidget, etc) -gives internal sensations (aka, blood pounding in the ears, dry throat, adrenaline rush) -gives mental responses (ie fight or flight) -gives cues of acute or long-term impacts of the emotion -gives ‘may escalate to _______’ and directs you to other emotions -gives cues of suppression (ie cues of suppressed rage) -gives writer tips How I use this information: I love this book so hardcore, it’s so helpful with internalizing. It’s great because I get to step outside of that box of using the same five responses to a certain emotion and start really thinking about, what can a character do instead to show that they are feeling this, rather than me using adverbs or his adrenaline pumped fifty gazillion times. These books are all co-written by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi (bless their souls) and if this sounds of interest LOOK INTO IT!! I get such buyer’s regret after buying writing guides but these are legit the best ones I have found and I reference them so, so, so much. Hope this helps anyone out there looking for something life-changing!!

Can someone just………………. explain French to me?

Dilemma-- Aaron Burr x sick!Reader

female pronouns. reader likes to pretend they aren't actually sick. sicfic.

Someday, when you were out of school and working your dream job, you would be able to take a sick day. A sick day where you could relax, take it easy, feel like crap and *not have to worry about studying and homework and projects due in three days.

Ah yes. Someday.

But today is, unfortunately, not that day. So far your day had been filled with skimming through your textbook, frantically taking notes in an effort to keep up with the class, hot tea, and multiple near-vomit incidents.

You had managed on your own so far, you had eaten, showered, swept and studied. All before lunch. Though you hadn't felt well enough to actually eat lunch...oh well.

You glance at the wall mounted clock from your position on the couch, *twelve twenty-four. Crap, Aaron was coming over for that study session in a bit. You re-did your hair and set your supplies on your ‘school shelf’ before brushing your teeth once more and changing out of your pajamas and into something a great deal more presentable.

You checked yourself over in the mirror, hopefully, now you could pass as someone who had left the house that day. Of course, Aaron wouldn't think any less of you for looking about as well as you felt, but maybe feeling fresh would help you focus...on the material, of course.

The doorbell rang right after you had finished organizing all the supplies you would need for the study jam. You opened the front door to the sight of Aaron standing there in sneakers, jeans, a light coat, and scarf, as well as a messenger bag slung over his shoulder.

“Hey, (Y/N).” It's a marvel how his smooth voice flowed with such composure and warmth even when uttering something as simple as an obligatory greeting.

You shook yourself out of your musings, “Hey, Aaron. Come right in.” You showed him to the dining room and had him sit as you got the pair of you bottles of water. You came back and set yourself down in the seat next to him, feeling hopeful for the first time that day that you might actually get some work done, and perhaps feel a bit better, but you were sure that was from the change of clothes.

The two of you got to it, divvying out chapters and taking notes, comparing and discussing information, then doing it all over again. The comfortable rhythm went on for about an hour or so, but you could feel yourself losing steam, and fast. It was fine though, all you had to do was make it through this next half hour- then Aaron would be gone and you could go back to letting yourself feel the full effects of the heaven forsaken illness in peaceful solitude.

Oh, no. Aaron didn't know you were sick. No one knew you were sick. Was it weird that you didn't want anyone to know? Maybe, but for some reason you preferred to ride it out alone than have people losing their heads over one little cold.

“Achoo!” Dang it, that was the third time in the past six minutes, any more and he might start suspecting something. And the ever-growing pile of tissues in the small trash can beside you was certainly not helping your case.

You took a swig of your water bottle, hoping to drown the coughing fit that was trying to force its way up your throat, your tiered frame shaking with the effort. The sudden drop in the rooms’ temperature was really prevalent now, when had that happened?

Rubbing your hands together and clenching your jaw, you focused on keeping your teeth from chattering on top of everything else. You risked a glance over at Aaron to see if he had picked up on your odd behavior yet. Nothing. He was still focused on his reading. Good. You yourself couldn't help but notice how peaceful he looked like that, the intent and purpose with which he studied, how relaxed he seemed sitting in the afternoon sun...

A shiver ran down your spine. It was even colder now, how? And why was Aaron unaffected?

Speaking of sneezes, you could feel a nasty one building up in your nose. Oh dear, not here, not now. But it was fine, you only had- you whipped your head up to check the time and your hope, like your gut, plummeted. --twenty-two minutes left.

Ok. So maybe you were doomed.

You grabbed the nearby throw blanket you had been resisting for the sake of attempted normality and pulled it tight around your now noticeably shivering frame.

You reached for another tissue, only for your hand to knock over an empty box.

Great.

The pressure in your nose was nearly at its peak. You shot up, nearly toppling your chair in a rush to make it to the kitchen where hopefully you still had some napkins left-

“ACHOO!” The sneeze was too much for your poor lungs and sent you into another coughing fit. You grabbed a couple paper towels from the counter and wiped off the snot and mucus that had escaped your nose and mouth.

You sigh. So much for your previous notion.

“(Y/N)? Are you ok?”

Crap.

You slowly turned around to find Aaron leaning against the kitchen doorway, concern shining through those warm brown eyes of his.

“Um, well,” you shuffled and looked down at your feet, mumbling a quiet “I guess I've been feeling a little off today.” that came out as more of a question.

“A little off?” He repeated, skeptical. “(Y/N), you're shaking like a leaf.” He moved further into the room.

“What? N-no. I’m totally-” your feeble protest was cut off by another violent sneeze.

Aaron raises an eyebrow. “You’re totally…?”

You scowl at his triumphant smirk. Which quickly slips away when the sneeze demons decide they’ve had enough of your lungs and would much prefer some sunshine.

Aaron sighed and put a hand on your shoulder. Steering you toward your bedroom. “Now, (Y/N), you’re going to your closet, throw some more layers on, curl up in bed, then sit around like a bum and let me take care of you.”

“What? No! You’re my guest! I can’t just let you-”

“And none of that BS. You can’t just pretend you actually follow proper social etiquette whenever it’s convenient.”

“Done it before and I’ll do it again.”

Aaron rolled his eyes. “Stay.” then he shut you in your room. “I’m making you some toast, ok?” you hear him call from the kitchen.

You opt to ignore him and rummage through your closet for a fresh sweater, your old one was three days worn and stinky, you had thrown it in the wash after your shower. Shame, it was the thickest sweater you owned.

Once bundled you paused. You could hear Aaron rummaging about the kitchen, he would probably take a few minutes. Perhaps you could sneak away while he was distracted? No, that wouldn’t do any good, he was still in your house. Plus, you didn’t feel like you could make it more than a block. You were too tired, too cold and too reluctant.

You laid down, sleep did sound rather inviting at the moment...but no. Not while Aaron was still here, it’d just give him an excuse to be right!

Moments stretch into minutes. Minutes that feel like hours. Despite the extra layers you’ve put on, the chill has only gotten worse. Creeping into your bones and mind. Dulling everything, until the only thing you can register is cold. So, so very cold. Even under your blankets and sweaters and sweat, even though the fever you know has jumped up, all you can feel is the cold.

Faintly, you hear the door creak open and Aaron’s voice penetrate the stillness. You can’t make out a word he says.

The bed dips next to you, a hand tucks the blankets in closed around your body and readjusts your pillows. It then moves to your forehead and seems to be displeased by what it finds, because it retreats for a minute or two. It appears again, this time shifting you into an upright position and placing a small cup into your hands, tipping it up toward your mouth till you start moving on your own accord.

The cup is drained. The hand takes it, soothing you back down into your previous position.

The hand retreats, and only then do you realize how good the heat it gave off felt.

You hand reaches out and finds the heat again. Finally, you’re able to fall asleep.

When you opened your eyes again the light streaming through the window was lower and warmer. Peeking through the blinds at a near horizontal level. Almost sunset, then. You felt, different. Somehow…

Oh.

The cold.

It was gone.

Relief and excitement sprang up in your gut, but not too much, as you were still very keen on enjoying the lulling pull of sleep on your limbs. The softness of the blankets and comfortable heat encompassing your body was enough to make you forget about the mild sheen of sweat clinging to your skin.

You shift just the slightest bit as you try and settle farther into the covers, but then you don’t. Because there was a kind of...weight. Resting on you. You then realize that the heat is coming from behind you, and there’s something wrapped around your waist. Shifting around as carefully as you could, you turn your head to look behind you.

Any leftover feelings of restfulness vanished. Your gut dropped like a stone and you struggled to resist the urge to leap out of bed.

Carefully, very carefully, you try and wiggle out of his grip. You’d almost removed his arm from where it was draped over your shoulders when he gave a small hum and pulled you back against his chest.

You held yourself still for a minute. Two minutes. Three; until you were sure he was asleep. Then you again attempted to move his arm off. Successful in that you moved onto the laborious process of inching ever so slowly out of the grip of your sleeping friend. You let out a small sigh of relief when you felt the floor underneath your toes as you placed a foot upon the ground. You gently placed a hand on the empty mattress to steady yourself and pushed off, slowly coming to stand in a semi-upright position. You had almost gotten your other foot off the bed when you felt it snag in the mounds of sheets. For a moment you could feel regret, panic, and dread churn your gut. And then you crashed into the floor.

You groan as pain courses through your hip, arm, and foot. The mattress groans and creaks as the weight on it moves. Aaron’s head peeked over the side of the bed, sunshine coating the ceiling above him.

“Holy- oh my goodness, (Y/N)?” He rolled off the bed and kelt at your side, offering a hand and pulling you up to your feet. “Are you okay?”

You murmur a quick confirmation, heat scorching your face, and not from a fever.

Once the two of you are standing, you think you see Aaron’s eyes linger on the bed, and then down to the ground where you had fallen, and then back to you as if he’s trying to figure out the parameters of the situation. When you see a flash of panic flicker in his eyes, you assume he has done so and busy yourself by staring at your sock-clad feet.

He clears his throat and your head shoots up. There’s a pause where the two of you avoid each other’s eyes almost religiously, and then he’s speaking again.

“So- uh, (Y/N)...you feeling any better?” He squirms for a moment as you try to regain some composure. When you finally murmur a quick affirmative he brightens a bit, straightening his shoulders and glancing back at the bed. “You uh..slept well, I hope?”

You looked back down at your socks. “Umm, yeah. Yeah, I slept just fine.”

“Great! That’s great, I just- well- uh. I should really get going right about now. Sorry we didn’t get much done,”

“No, no! I should be the one apologizing for that, really. But you’re right. You do have work about now, huh?”

Aaron nods, making one more visual sweep around the room before moving toward the exit. He stopped at the door, “Are you, uh, sure you'll be ok?”

“Yeah, yeah, I'll be fine.”

“Um, well I'm pretty sure both John and Angelica are off from work right about now, so if you need anything be sure to call them ok?” He said, shifting his weight between feet.

“Yeah, ok.”

“So...see you later?”

“Mhmm, see you later.”

“Bye.”

“Bye.”

Only when you hear the front door shut do you allow yourself to relax again.

It's not that you didn't like it; you did. And very much so. That was the problem. Aaron was your friend! Friend. And that's all he would ever be. You came to college to study and get an education, not to get a boyfriend or whatever. You didn't have time for all that lovey-dovey nonsense. You had more important things to do like…like...

“Uhg!” You rolled over, searching for your phone. There was no way you'd get any study or sleep done if you kept thinking about, well, that. It made your stomach flip. More than it had been.

You finally found your cell and unlocked it, pulling up one of your more frequently used contacts.

TheReal(Y/N): Jelly!

AngieChan: (Y/N)!

TheReal(Y/N): I have problem!

AngieChan: can u punch it???

TheReal(Y/N): no :(

AngieChan: darn.

AngieChan: but srsly, spill.

TheReal(Y/N): uhh…

TheReal(Y/N): well…

AngieChan: (y/n)...|:( ...what is it???

TheReal(Y/N): ok, so, Aaron came over for our study session but I wasn't feeling too well and he made me go lie down and take some medicine but I was really out of it (and cold) by then and when he tried to get up sleepy me must have wanted to steal his warm away and so we fell asleep like that and we only woke up like, ten minutes ago and now I'm really confused about what to do and how to handle this because whAT the heckerdoodles my life has suddenly turned into a cheesy rom-com o no o deer o golly helpmeAngelicaSchuylerurmyonlyhope.

AngieChan: ...

AngieChan: (y/n) do u… do u like Aaron?

TheReal(Y/N): what???

AngieChan: o and also u not feeling well? Why did I not kno?!?

TheReal(Y/N): no, Angelica, that does not help me in my current situation.

TheReal(Y/N): and sorry~ I didn't tell anyone I was sick so...

AngieChan: u sure? Abt the “not crushing on Aaron” thing, I mean.

TheReal(Y/N): what do u mean “u sure?” Of course I'm sure. I'm trying to figure out how to approach this with Aaron tomorrow -not whether my life is even more of a bad YA romance novel.

AngieChan: cuz, I was reading in between the lines just now and it almost sounds like u have a bit of a crush on him???

TheReal(Y/N): well of course I was a bit flustered I had just woken up snuggling the life out of one of my guy friends!

TheReal(Y/N): besides, how on earth did u come to that conclusion for my text?

AngieChan: I mean like, there's nothing wrong with having a crush u kno. I'm just a bit surprised.

TheReal(Y/N): jelly! Ur not helping!

AngieChan: don't get me wrong, I'm happy for u gurl, I've just never heard u talk about liking someone ya know?

TheReal(Y/N): omg. Angelica. What part of HELP do u not understand?

AngieChan: I really did not see this coming.

TheReal(Y/N): Angie.

AngieChan: Aaron, of all people.

TheReal(Y/N): Angelica.

AngieChan: actually I think you guys would make a great couple.

TheReal(Y/N): Angelica Schuyler.

AngieChan: wow I ship it.

TheReal(Y/N): k, first off. I do not have a crush on Aaron.

AngieChan: riiight.

TheReal(Y/N): second, you would be embarrassed about waking up like that too.

AngieChan: mhmm~

TheReal(Y/N)TheReal(Y/N): and third, you're making my headache worse I'm going back to sleep.

AngieChan: make sure to check for wild boyfriends;)

TheReal(Y/N): I hate u.

AngieChan: luv u 2 have a nice nap!

You smother your groan in your pillow. Talking to Angelica had not helped. At all. You checked the time. Six forty-three PM. The sun hadn't set yet… you debated getting out of bed to go make some rice or something.

Nah, food could wait till the morning, after you'd gotten a bit more rest.

You rolled out of bed (with great difficulty) and straightened the numerous blankets covering your mattress. Why were they so much more tangled than usua- oh. Yeah. Who knew cuddling messed up sheets so much?

You felt your face heat up. What on earth? Was your fever getting worse? Should you go to the doctor after all?

The heat in your cheeks subsided, did that mean your fever was getting better?

You were honestly too tired to care right now, the pull of sleep dominating all other thoughts. You could figure it all out tomorrow.

Yeah, tomorrow. When you weren't preoccupied with unhelpful friends and how much colder your bed felt without-

Nope. Nope. No no no. Sleep now, sleepy times, you're asleep. You're too exhausted to think right now.

And apparently, you were, because not a minute later you were out cold once again.

AN: So, yeah. That's the chapter… I'm debating whether I should write another chapter from Aaron's POV. Or whether I should write another part to this at all. Depends on the response I get for this one honestly.

But you probably don't care. Anyway, luv u lots!

                        XOXO- QueendomofCrows

“How’s writing going so far?”

Know your way around Narnia

CS Lewis was born on this day in 1898. A poet, academic, critic and theologian, Lewis is best known for his novels, particularly the timelessly popular Chronicles of Narnia.

This delightful map of Narnia and its surrounding lands was drawn by Lewis himself and now resides in the Bodleian archives, preserving a privileged insight into Lewis’ world-making processes.

Lewis did not intend for his own illustration to be published in his books, intending instead that a professional artist would create a more polished interpretation. Pauline Baynes was introduced to Lewis by his fellow Inkling JRR Tolkien, and she redrafted the map for publication in Prince Caspian, the second book of the series.

In a letter with further instructions for Baynes, dated 8 January 1951, Lewis described the finished look he was hoping for.

My idea was that the map should be more like a medieval map than an Ordnance Survey – mountains and castles drawn – perhaps winds blowing at the corners – and a few heraldic-looking ships, whales and dolphins in the sea.

For those who do not know Narnia quite so well, here are some of the more interesting places on the map.

Aslan’s How: The mound covering what was once the Stone Table where Aslan was sacrificed.

Beruna: One of the four named towns in Narnia. Strategically built at the confluence of rivers, Beruna became the site of two great battles.

Cair Paravel: The capital of the Kingdom of Narnia, and the location of the Royal Castle where High King Peter, Queen Susan, Queen Lucy and King Edmund havetheir thrones.

Dancing Lawn: The ritual site for old Narnians, and the meeting place after Prince Caspian flees from Miraz’s castle.

Lantern Waste: The location of The Lantern of Ever Lighted Lamp, the lamppost where Lucy and Mr Tumnus first meet after she passes through the wardrobe. Lantern Waste is also where Digory, Polly, Jadis and their companions witnessed the creation of Narnia.

Miraz’s Castle: Where Prince Caspian is raised by Miraz, his uncle and un-rightful ruler of Narnia. 

Trufflehunter’s Cave: The home of Trufflehunter the badger, first talking animal that Prince Caspian meets and later a Knight in the Order of the Lion.

A master post of Thomas Romain’s art tutorials.

There’s not enough space to post all of them, SO here’s links to everything he has posted (on twitter) so far : 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12. 

Now that new semesters have started, I thought people might need these. Enjoy your lessons!

Just a friendly reminder that writing is not always a linear process.

That is, it rarely works out that you have an idea, then do a first draft, then edit that draft, then celebrate. The writing process itself is often an act of discovery, and can be messy and “inefficient.”

You may write your first draft and realize it has major holes, causing you to need to return to your outline, correct the issue, and re-approach your draft.

You may discover that the character you thought was your main character is not your main character. It’s actually her sister, and now you need to rewrite your story.

You may change your point of view character several times before landing on the right one.

You may write 9 drafts of your story only to realize the fundamental concept is flawed, bringing you back to the drawing board.

You might throw away hundreds of pages.

If you’re writing a novel, you might outline, then draft, then re-outline, then re-draft several times before you even get a solid handle on where you’re going with your story.

You might write four different endings before you decide which one works best for your story.

You might remove characters, combine characters, add characters.

…all of this is normal. If this is happening to you, you’re not doing anything wrong. You’re a writer, and this is what writing is like sometimes. Sure, some writers seem to be able (or claim to be able) to write more quickly and efficiently. But there’s no sense in comparing yourself to them, and most of them are lying anyway. Instead of criticizing yourself, try to become curious about and embrace your process. There’s something awesome about how mysterious and unpredictable writing can be!

quick note to fanfic writers

So I have noticed that there are times when I read fanfic and I really enjoy so much about it - the dialogue, the characterisation, the descriptions. And then I find my enjoyment is hampered a little bit, not a huge amount, by incorrect dialogue punctuation. I realised this is a common problem in fanfic, and I figured a quick tutorial regarding dialogue was in order. I know it seems like a small thing, but I honestly think putting a comma in the place of a full stop/period makes all the difference with a fic’s readability, and the rules themselves are fairly straightforward.

First, just to clarify, a dialogue tag is a verb (i.e. a doing word) that describes how a word is said. Examples of dialogue tags are “said”, “shouted”, “cried”, etc. If the word does not describe specifically how the word is said and instead focuses on another action by the character (such as “coughed” or “laughed” or “smiled”), it is not a dialogue tag and should not be treated as such.

So, when writing dialogue that ends with a question mark:

“Have I told you how much I love you in that dress?” He murmured. (Incorrect)

“Have I told you how much I love you in that dress?” he murmured. (Correct)

The second example is formatted correctly. Remember, you only have to capitalise a word, unless it’s a proper noun (usually names), at the beginning of a new sentence. The “he” is not capitalised because it is still the same sentence and the word “murmured” is a dialogue tag.

Similarly:

“More than a few times now.” She teased. (Incorrect)

“More than a few times now,” she teased. (Correct)

Again, that whole line is one sentence because the word “teased” is the dialogue tag that is directly describing how the dialogue is being said. Notice the comma, as opposed to the full stop/period, and also the fact that “she” is in lowercase. 

If the word you are using is not a dialogue tag, you do need a full stop/period. For example:

He coughed, “you look chilly, though.” (Incorrect)

He coughed. “You look chilly, though.” (Correct)

This is because the character coughing is separate from the dialogue itself, which is why the sentence and the dialogue are two distinct sentences. Notice that therefore the start of each sentence is capitalised.

When you continue the dialogue after the dialogue tag:

“I didn’t mean that,” Oliver said, “although I didn’t see it as breaking my vows. Not when your life was at stake.”

Note the underlined commas and the fact that “although” is in lowercase. The way you test this is simple. Simply take out the dialogue tag in its entirety, and if the sentence still makes grammatical sense, you use commas and lowercase. 

Let’s test this out.  

 "I didn’t mean that, although I didn’t see it as breaking my vows. Not when your life was at stake.“

Yep. It still makes sense, so you have punctuated correctly.

Compare that to this example:

“I remember this one too,” she said. “You know, I thought you were going to bleed to death in my car.”

Note the underlined full stop/period and the fact that “You” is capitalised. This is because the sentences are clearly separate (whereas in the last example it was a bit more ambiguous). If you’re confused, just use the test set out above - take out the dialogue tag and see if the sentence makes grammatical sense.

“I remember this one too, you know, I thought you were going to bleed to death in my car.”

If you know anything about comma splicing, you will know that that sentence is most definitely not grammatically correct, so a full stop/period after “too” is in order, like this:

“I remember this one too. You know, I thought you were going to bleed to death in my car.”

So, in summary: 

~use a COMMA and lowercase when using dialogue tags such as “said”, etc.

~use a full stop/period and capitalise the first letter when using verbs that are not dialogue tags (such as “smiled”)

~if you’re unsure when splitting dialogue with a tag in between, take out the tag and see if it makes sense as a sentence on its own. If it does, use commas and lowercase, and if it doesn’t, use a full stop/period and capitalise.

I hope that was somewhat helpful! Grammar is a strange thing - you often don’t realise you’re doing something incorrectly until it is pointed out to you, so don’t feel bad if you realise you’ve been wrongly formatting dialogue all this time! :) It’s not a huge deal, but it honestly makes such a difference for me when reading a fic and not having the flow of the story stopped because I’ve noticed the same mistake being made over and over. Anyway, my inbox is always open if anyone has any questions about this or anything else. I used to beta a lot back in my HP days, so if you’re unsure about anything grammar-wise, I’m your girl. (I mean I’m not your girl - I wasn’t making a pass at you or anything. :P)

STAR WARS WRITING RESOURCES

PLEASE REBLOG AND ADD ANY OTHERS YOU MIGHT KNOW OF <3 <3

WOOKIEEPEDIA. The source of anything and everything you want to know related to Star Wars. Good for fact-checking, character history, or simply killing time. There is also, of course, the official Star Wars Databank! STAR WARS GALAXY MAP. A fantastic project that maps the Star Wars galaxy as we know it. Consider donating ( if you can! ) to help keep the site up and running! Also check out W.R. van Hage’s map and the Star Wars Atlas Online Companion. TIMELINE. While hosted on Wookieepedia, this is nevertheless deserving of its own bullet point. This page provides an approximate timeline with dates of all canon material. You can also filter items, so that it displays only TV episodes, for example, or only books, or only movies! Find the Legends timeline here. STAR WARS SLANG AND PHRASES. A collection I’ve been keeping of phases, slang, idioms, insults, and more from the Star Wars universe. This also contains a glossary of frequently used terms, such as “refresher” in place of “restroom”. Please feel free to use/share! 

STAR WARS NAME GENERATOR. This is a fun one AND a life saver. You can generate up to 100 Star Wars-sounding names ( first and last! ) with a click. 

OTHER GENERATORS: 

Spaceship names as well as spaceship type/models

Earth-like alien planets for any alien planet you don’t have info on

Random landscapes, see above

Technobabble generator for when you need a reason for a red alert

Alien plant/herb/flower name generator. Also: mineral/metal/gemstone names, material names, medication names, and descriptions of alien substances

Scifi tool names for gadgets and gizmos

OTHER WEBSITES:

Jeff Russell’s Starship Dimensions, Dirk Loechel’s Sci-fi Spaceship Size Comparisons, and other Star Wars Deckplans

Star Wars Post 

Star Wars News Net

TheForce.net

This is potentially life saving information everyone should know.

Can we talk 

About

How

Beautiful

Snails

Are?

Seriously

Just Look!!!

IT HAS A FLOWER

(Vyacheslav Mishchenko)

When you’re reading Fanfiction and you read something that is so perfectly detailed and written you gotta look away from your phone like

Gotta just take a breather ykno

im hecka salty.

i aint a prequel fan. im just a Padme fan.

I’ve read so many imagines I feel like one day imma tell someone my name is y/n 🤔