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amy's not dead yet

@amysnotdeadyet / amysnotdeadyet.tumblr.com

she/they, aro/ace/genderqueer/meh, artist, writer, and 50yo cryptid. I'm swtalmnd on ao3. I post fic, art, cat pics, and reblog whatever the fuck I want. Minors fuck off. https://www.patreon.com/amysnotdeadyet
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flame-shadow

hey did you know??? that if you stop stretching and maintaining mobility in your body then it goes away?? things get tight and you can't move the way that you used to??? and when you decide to try getting a stretch routine going that the first week fucking sucks because you keep going 'damn i used to be able to do this no problem' and then you have to switch gears and be kind to yourself and just focus on getting better from here instead of berating yourself for dropping the good habits in the first place??? and your body never stops aging so you gotta keep taking care of it and sometimes you gotta take care of it extra in certain areas because of things that happened when you were younger and it's boring and sometimes hurts but it's so necessary???

i am yelling this at myself right now i am going through An Experience (trying to get into a routine of body maintenance again for my physical and mental health)

oh, Sisyphus! i got you

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Hey btw, if you're doing worldbuilding on something, and you're scared of writing ~unrealistic~ things into it out of fear that it'll sound lazy and ripped-out-of-your-ass, but you also don't want to do all the back-breaking research on coming up with depressingly boring, but practical and ~realistic~ solutions, have a rule:

Just give the thing two layers of explanation. One to explain the specific problem, and another one explaining the explanation. Have an example:

Plot hole 1: If the vampires can't stand daylight, why couldn't they just move around underground?
Solution 1: They can't go underground, the sewer system of the city is full of giant alligators who would eat them.

Well, that's a very quick and simple explanation, which sure opens up additional questions.

Plot hole 2: How and why the fuck are there alligators in the sewers? How do they survive, what do they eat down there when there's no vampires?
Solution 2: The nuns of the Underground Monastery feed and take care of them as a part of their sacred duties.

It takes exactly two layers to create an illusion that every question has an answer - that it's just turtles all the way down. And if you're lucky, you might even find that the second question's answer loops right back into the first one, filling up the plot hole entirely:

Plot hole 3: Who the fuck are the sewer nuns and what's their point and purpose?
Solution 3: The sewer nuns live underground in order to feed the alligators, in order to make sure that the vampires don't try to move around via the sewer system.

When you're just making things up, you don't need to have an answer for everything - just two layers is enough to create the illusion of infinite depth. Answer the question that looms behind the answer of the first question, and a normal reader won't bother to dig around for a 3rd question.

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bfleuter

This is good advice on worldbuilding.

And also. 

I would really like to play a vampire-hunting sewer-nun and her pet alligator in a ttrpg.

Woops uh oh oops woops.

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somehow instead of saying "as a treat", I've started using the phrase "for morale", as if my body is a ship and its crew, and I (the captain) have to keep us in high spirits, lest we suffer a mutiny in the coming days.

and so I will eat this small block of fancy cheese, for morale. I will take a break and drink some tea, for morale. I will pick up that weird bug, for morale.

I'm not sure if it helps, but it does entertain me

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hope is a skill

hope is a weapon you are trained to wield

favourite additions

You cannot hide this in the tags, bestie. This is too lovely to keep a secret.

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wonderwyrm

full scansion:

– ◡ ◡ / – ◡ / – ◡ ◡ / – hope is a / weapon / hope is a / skill – ◡ ◡ / – ◡ ◡ / – ◡ ◡ / – hope is a / plant you can / care for or / kill – ◡ ◡ / – ◡ ◡ / – ◡ ◡ / – hope is a / discipline / something you / choose – ◡ ◡ / – ◡ ◡ / – ◡ ◡ / – hard to stop / looking for / easy to / lose – ◡ ◡ / – ◡ ◡ / – ◡ ◡ / – hope isn’t / something to / have or to / take – ◡ ◡ / – ◡ ◡ / – ◡ ◡ / – if you can’t / find it it’s / something you / make – ◡ ◡ / – ◡ ◡ / – ◡ ◡ / – make it from / willpower / make it from / spite – ◡ ◡ / – ◡ ◡ / – ◡ ◡ / – learn how to / weaponize / love in a / fight – ◡ ◡ / – ◡ ◡ / – ◡ ◡ / – hope is a / shield and a / thing to de/fend – ◡ ◡ / – ◡ ◡ / – ◡ ◡ / – end in it/self and a / means to an / end

metrical form: dactylic tetrameter catalectic rhyme scheme: AABBCCDDEE other notes: Line 1 replaces the second dactyl with a trochee. There is arguably a caesura after the second foot of each line: it’s the point at which the line 1 irregularity occurs and it’s often a sense break.

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mumblesplash

hello! poem author here. i am in love with you if that’s ok