Latest Posts by everywriterneedsfanart - Page 3

The first story has been written! It is about a forest and a pair of black riding boots. On top of that, let me reveal one more character:  Elliot, the ‘awkward apprentice’, has a talent for luring memories from objects. He has the gentleness and the patience that is required for so delicate a task. But sometimes Gabri worries about him. So many of these treasured objects come with memories of grieve, of lost lovers or lost friends or lost parents. And experiencing all that sadness and anger, even if it is secondhand? She is just not sure if he will have the stomach for it. 

So…  I am thinking of creating a podcast. It would kind of be like the Magnus Archives, in the sense that every episode is its own small story (and maybe connected to a larger frame?).  Only instead of horror, it’s urban fantasy, loosely inspired by Scottish mythology.  And instead of an Archivist, it is told by Gabri, a women in her early thirties running a small antique store. She uses magic to pull the memories from objects; memories she assembles, smooths out and collects.  Prepare for a lot of faeries, magic lore, awkward apprentices, extravagant antique-sellers, apparitions, foggy autumn feelings and summonings.  Would this be something you people would listen to? 

If you want a poem.

Reblog this, and I’ll send you one.

So...  I am thinking of creating a podcast. It would kind of be like the Magnus Archives, in the sense that every episode is its own small story (and maybe connected to a larger frame?).  Only instead of horror, it’s urban fantasy, loosely inspired by Scottish mythology.  And instead of an Archivist, it is told by Gabri, a women in her early thirties running a small antique store. She uses magic to pull the memories from objects; memories she assembles, smooths out and collects.  Prepare for a lot of faeries, magic lore, awkward apprentices, extravagant antique-sellers, apparitions, foggy autumn feelings and summonings.  Would this be something you people would listen to? 

(source)

Unsplash -  photography, illustration, and art

Pixabay - same as unsplash

Pexels - stock photos and videos

Stockvault.net - stock photos

freepngimg - icons, pictures and clipart

Veceezy - vectors and clipart

Kissclipart and kissPNG - more vectors and clipart (often transparent!)

Getdrawings - simplistic images and drawing tutorials

Gumroad - photoshop brushes (and more)

Canva - needs login but has lots of templates

Library of Congress - historical posters and photos

NASA - you guessed it

Creative Commons - all kinds of stuff, homie

Even Adobe has some free images

There are so many ways to make moodboards, bookcovers, and icons without infringing copyright! As artists, authors, and other creatives, we need to be especially careful not to use someone else’s work and pass it off as our own. 

Please add on if you know any more sites for free images <3

Exploring rural forests

- Bring a flashlight. Bring an extra battery. Bring another battery. Bring your headphones. Do not bring a camera.

- Set out after rain. It cleans the air.

- If a tree falls in your peripheral, it's a warning. Be careful, you only get one.

- If a tree falls right in front of you, something is out to kill you, and something wants to protect you.

- Those hooves you hear? Don't go looking, it's not a deer.

- You might get the urge to take your shoes off. Allow yourself to give in, if you are feeling reckless. However, no matter how familiar the ground seems, don't let it touch your ankles. Make sure you remember your name. Not all trees are born from seeds.

- The man with the dog does have eyes. He just shares them.

- If you come across a field with cows, check the height of the grass. Does it grow above your knees? Make haste. Do not dwell on the question what the cows have eaten instead.

- You might hear your own steps echoed in the bushes. Looking will not help you. There is nothing there to see.

- It's not thunder, it's moaning. You are lucky their pain is keeping them occupied.

- If you visit the abandoned house, don't close the door behind you.

- You can rest on a fallen trunk, but do not eat. You can lay your bag on a picknick bench, but remain standing.

- The carved signs are not meant for you.

- Horses do not step in puddles for they fear they will break a leg. Horses do not step in puddles for they fear they will be dragged under.

- The shadow is not that big, it's just closer than you think.

- The rolling fields look wonderful. Don't stay for the sunset.

If you had a hippopotamus that could breathe fire and fly what would you name it??

I would probably name it Salvador, after Salvador Dali, because I suspect he saw it first.

what is one thing you absolutely need to write?

For a deadline: I need to write a short story that is respectable and good enough to send to a potential publisher.

For myself: I need to write a story about leaving and homecoming, about friends and family and love and how to find out if you have told the truth when you are not sure anymore. I need to write about the beautiful pointless passion of people. And I need to write about the gravestone with the poem etched into it, because I cannot stop thinking about it.

what is the best/worst book you've ever read?

My childhood love are the books by Tonke Dragt. She has created the strangest, most fascinating universes, always slightly unsettling but at the same time inviting, and wholly unique.

One book that will always have a special place in my heart is The Bookthief, by Markus Zusak, because that is the book that showed me I didn't have to be ashamed of my love for stories.

More recently, I was very impressed by Kafka on the Shore, by Haruki Murakami. It's a crazy, almost absurd, book, but I was immediatly caught in this confusing, magical world of his.

I also am a fan of Donna Tartt, who's meandering works have never failed to give me wonderful images and inspiration and insights.

what is the most unique aesthetic you've either created for a character, or someone has sent into you?

That's a difficult question! I've read such awesome character descriptions and I hope I created something nice for each of them. I am still very happy with the Instagram-aesthetics I did for @futureauthor-mabye, that felt like a unique little project!

I am also satisfied with all my Waterwegen aesthetics, especially the one I made for Paco and the one I created for the full story. It's a story with a very distinct feel to it and I like to think I captured it pretty well.

This is what I am writing!! Befuddled early twenties! Panicked late twenties! Falling in love again - and it’s still hard. Maintaining a relation - also hard! Hunting down a crime organization while trying to organize a found family - very hard! 

we need more books that are written like YA novels but have characters in their 20s… like I can’t keep reading books about teenagers but I’m also not ready for the weird adult romance section of the book store

posing questions to a silent universe // my very thoughts are cursed  - Bears Den 

(requests for OC aesthetics are open) 

A moodboard for the soldier Jackson. Hope you like it, @spaceinvaydr! 

I lived above a Domino’s and I can confirm they are demons! The back entrance of my house was the same as the back entrance to the shop. It consisted of an alleyway where the lights were always flickering (even if we had just changed the lightbulb). There was a stone building in the corner, without a roof, but the door was locked. Things I found in this alleyway include but are not limited to:  1) Two tarot cards 2) A red toy car ln which a three year old could ride around  3) Three dead birds, evenly spread over the length of the alley  4) A silver charm with a card tied to it, proclaiming it a ‘guardian angel’ (the day after the birds)  5) My own bike, but turned upside down The building was also right in front of a nunnery-turned-student-housing. There was an old couch in the front yard, but I never saw a single student go in or out. Next to it was a big old house with a pointy roof and curtained windows that looked less like a place for demons and more like a vampire home. I am fairly certain the birds and the guardian angel where the signs of some ongoing war. 

omg so yesterday i put a salt line on the pathway to our front door because i was fucking around and my brother was pretending to be a demon

and today we ordered pizza and the salt line was still there

and my brother went outside to sign for the pizza

and the pizzaman refused to step over the salt line, like he almost did and then he backed up and handed my bro the pizza and left; which is pretty ridiculous because it’s far from our door

so a heads up to everyone i’m pretty sure domino’s is actually run by demons??? kind of like how in men in black the post office is run by aliens

Just a reminder that I still make OC moodboards! Just tell me about your characters and I will create something (hopefully) aesthetic for them :) 

hi reblog this for a tiny doodle of a mystical creature based on ur blog in ur inbox

Part of me wants to write traditional, serious fantasy with serious lines in serious situations, and the other part of me just wants to write “I really don’t feel like this is the time for a quarterly review” as one of my pov characters runs from an army of the dead who are only partially on fire when they should be ash

a tip for writing female characters: don’t be afraid to make her feral. just absolutely batshit. her actual intelligence? that can vary. but bring out the chaotic stupid tendencies. embrace her as a one brain cell enemy of the state

Thanks to @ladyliliana for tagging me! (And sorry for not getting back to you, I want to and I will! I am just a mess). 

Writing tag game

1. If you could go to one of your OC’s bachelor/bachelorette party, which would you choose? (also: who would have the wildest one?)

I would probably want to go to Soufre’s. She’s happy and fun and would make sure everyone had a great time without getting too crazy.  The wildest one would definitely be Copper, simply because he does not know the word ‘moderation’, nor can he handle his drink half as well as he thinks he does. 

2. What’s your favourite time of day to write?

I usually write whenever, in between other tasks. But if I have time, I prefer early afternoon, when I am well-rested and have a long day in front of me. 

3. What’s your favourite relationship in your WIP? (platonic or romantic)

In Elementary, I’d say either Soufre and Zinc or Bismuth and Fer. Soufre and Zinc are the most lovely and healthy couple I’ve ever written and I make it a point to have them stay that way the entire course of the story (their relationship is not the main focus anyway, they just love and support each other in the background). Bismuth and Fer are best friends and the ultimate raincloud-and-sunshine relationship. The will sit by the fire endless hours in the evenings and just talk. All the other Elements have grown used to falling asleep with their voices in the background. 

In Waterwegen, I love Paco and Mikel, who are two rowdy eleven year old boys that will literally follow each other to the end of the world (and steal each other’s ice-cream cones). I also love Josepe and Alba, father and daughter, because there is a lot wrong and complicated between them, but they try their best and they are fascinating to write. 

4. How far are you into your WIP?

About 1/4 for Elementary, and at the start of Waterwegen. I am trying! 

5. If you were stuck in a broken elevator for twelve hours, which OC would you choose to be stuck in there with you? (note: you have to be in there for the twelve hours. no Houdini escape)

Mercury! Clever, funny, passionate, into philosophy and art and with no qualms to talk hours on end. 

6. What’s your favourite colour?

All shades of blue. 

7. Where would one of your OCs propose to the other? (if this question isn’t up your alley, replace “propose to” with “surprise attack hug”)

Since I’ve already talked about their relationship: if Zinc was to propose to Soufre, he would do it in a clearing in the woods that he knows. He has collected wildflowers there before, to give it to her. 

Also, Soufre might surprise him and propose instead! She would do it on a normal evening, by the fire, surrounded by all of their friends. She’d love to see his surprise turn into excitement, and she would want to make him blush. 

(Zinc will definitely cry in either scenario).  

8. Which OC is most like you?

Probably my main character, Tungsten, because he is always conflicted between his fear of new people and the big world, and his longing to explore. He is scared of opening up but he craves his own found family. He is timid, but he still wants to be on stage. He is always fighting himself.  

9. Do you prefer writing with ambient noise, music (if so, with or without lyrics), or in silence?

Depends on my mood. I usually write with either soundtracks in the background (preferably fantasy ones), classical music or one song on repeat. Because I tend to read my work out loud, I also often work in silence. 

10. If you suddenly got the power of teleportation, where in the world would you go first?

I’d love to explore Sumatra and Java, or visit my friend in New Zealand! 

If you write a book with a male protagonist and he never cries during the entire book sorry I’m bored!!!! I’m super bored, like extra bored, disinterested, not loving it!! Next

For Josepe, who knows life doesn’t last

Waterwegen: [5/7]  [1/7]  [2/7]  [3/7]  [4/7]

hello I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. The anonymity of tumblr means that I associate my idea/image of you with your icon and sometimes I look at people’s icons and I’m like ‘hmmm….what is that and why?’ 

so pls reblog this and comment in the tags the meaning behind your icon and why you chose it. this is a social experiment. do it for science pls.

Fer describing my MC Tungsten to Silver (all from Elementary) : ‘I know you think he is spoiled and ungrateful, but I see something else: I see a lonely boy. Look at him stumble over his words. He might dress fashionably, but he’s a misfit as much as the rest of us.’

Let’s play a game!

Describe your MC in the voice of any secondary character, using no more than three sentences!

My battery is low... 

Today, a collection of cameras and steel was pronounced dead. She sang to celebrate herself, survived a marathon of miles, shared and showed her redburned hollow home. We gave her iron claws to drag along a planet's spine and when, one morning, the sensors would not wake, we shouted out a thousandfold: 'Are you okay?'

To no response.

She had a name. Between hurricanes and stars, we tend to love what kills or dies, ripping up our teddybears in Sunday morning rooms till stuffing snows and tickles throats, brings water to our eyes.

Stuck on an arbitrary globe, we compose 'Space Oddity'. Dream of escape, at least embrace the ache of rust she cannot feel. There is both humor and humanity in loss.

She might be us. Cross-winded, heading straight into the dust. We weave the trails into a 'why', frantic scramble metaphors, and with our scraped up hands, mold her dying code into a poem.

...and it's getting dark

Me [falling off the stairs in public]: performance art 

For Dores, who is very much sixteen 

Waterwegen: [4/7]  [1/7]  [2/7]  [3/7]  

For Mikel, who would rather just watch

Waterwegen [3/7]  [1/7]  [2/7]  [4/7]

For Paco, who fights without knowing what for 

Waterwegen [2/7] [1/7]  [3/7]  [4/7]

For Imanol, who wants to leave, but only in theory 

Waterwegen [1/7] [2/7]  [3/7]  [4/7] 

I have some animal companions for you! They are all animals my band of traveling artists, The Elements, encountered on the road and adopted, either because they were left behind by someone or because they have disadvantages that would have made surviving out in the wild hard for them.  The first one is Milton, named after the poet that wrote Paradise Lost. He’s something called an ‘epitaf’, which is a small rodent-like creature, but with a pointed beak instead of a snout. An epitaf has the ability to ‘read’ wishes, so if a hungry predator comes near them, they can feel their hunger and hide. They are extremely quick climbers and usually live in and around trees. However, Milton is albino, so he stands out quite a bit. Now he inhabits Tungsten’s top hat. 

Then there is Guiseppe, a simple sheepdog that was the victim of a levitation spell gone wrong. When the Elements found him, he was up in the air and almost strangled by the cord that bound him to a tree. He usually wears a weighted harness to keep him on the ground, but during performances The Elements sometimes gives him a basket to collect money and let him float at knee height. 

The third animal is a wren called Valentine. A wren is basically a very small dragon. They live up in Northern Scotland and are about the size of a cat. They are not usually domestic animals, but Silver has tamed this one and it enjoys sleeping in his lap. The scales and wings of a wren change colour according to the temperature/seasons. However, Valentine’s scales are extremely sensitive. If he lays next to a fire, he gets brighter green, while running an ice cube over his paws will leave white trails. 

Last but not least, there is Ginny (her actual name is Sigal). She is a so-called cliffdiver. Cliffdivers resemble horses, but instead of manes they have scales that run along their neck and over their foreheads, forming patterns around their eyes. Their bellies are also scaled. They are extremely fast and can speed up and slow down in a matter of seconds, the scales on their stomachs protecting them against pebbles and other matter flying up around their hooves. They live mostly in Norweay, where they tend to galop to the end of fjords and stop suddenly (making them look like they will jump off and earning them the name of cliffdiver). Because of their speed, cliffdivers are often used as warhorses. So was Ginny, who was left behind when she was wounded, turning her right eye blind.  

If you guys have any cool animal companions/creatures/monsters/cool plants in your wips, you should come tell me about them. I want to know. Reblog. Comment. Message me. Send an ask. Idc I just want to KNOW

Tag Yourself: Waterways Edition I know this meme is dead, but I enjoy shitposting. For left to right: Imanol, Kalliope, Josepe, Paco, Mikel, Alba, Dores, Peuk and Captain.