Blink Pt. 4

Game-Changing Sites for Writers

A recent search for a specific type of site to help me build new characters led me down a rabbit hole. Normally, that would make me much less productive, but I have found a treasure trove of websites for writers.

Bring Characters/Places to Life

There are a few different places you can use to create a picture of something entirely new. I love this site for making character pictures as references, instead of stock photos or whatever pops up on Google Images.

thispersondoesnotexist: every time you reload the page, this site generates a headshot of someone who doesn't exist. This is great if you're thinking about a character's personality or age and don't have specifics for their facial features yet.

Night Cafe: this is an AI art generator that takes your text prompt and generates an image for it. I tried it for various scenery, like "forest" or "cottage." It takes a minute for your requested photo to load, but no more than maybe five for the program to finish the picture.

Art Breeder: this website has endless images of people, places, and general things. Users can blend photos to create something new and curious visitors can browse/download those images without creating an account. (But if you do want to make an account to create your own, it's free!)

Find Random Places on Earth

You might prefer to set a story in a real-life environment so you can reference that place's weather, seasons, small-town vibe, or whatever you like. If that's the case, try:

MapCrunch: the homepage generates a new location each day and gives the location/GPS info in the top left of the screen. To see more images from previous days, hit "Gallery" in the top left.

Atlas Obscura: hover over or tap the "Places" tab, then hit "Random Place." A new page will load with a randomly generated location on the planet, provide a Google Maps link, and tell you a little bit about the place.

Random World Cities: this site makes randomly selected lists of global cities. Six appear for each search, although you'll have to look them up to find more information about each place. You can also use the site to have it select countries, US cities or US states too.

Vary Your Wording

Thesauruses are great, but these websites have some pretty cool perspectives on finding just the right words for stories.

Describing Words: tell this website which word you want to stop repeating and it will give you tons of alternative words that mean the same thing. It typically has way more options than other sites I use.

Reverse Dictionary: type what you need a word for in Reverse Dictionary's search box and it will give you tons of words that closely match what you want. It also lists the words in order of relevancy, starting with a word that most accurately describes what you typed. (There's also an option to get definitions for search results!)

Tip of My Tongue: this website is phenomenal. It lets you search for that word you can't quite place by a letter in it, the definition, what it sounds like, or even its scrambled letters. A long list of potential options will appear on the right side of the screen for every search.

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Hope this helps when you need a hand during next writing session 💛

Professional screamer

Writing Prompt #1959

"I'm done playing nice, little heroes." The villain straightened his back, and wiped the blood from his lip. "So this is your final warning; turn around, go home, and let me finish my business."

IF YOURE EGYPTIAN AND LGBTQ+ GET OFF ANY QUEER DATING SITES, THE POLICE ARE TRACKING AND HUNTING PEOPLE DOWN AGAIN. DELETE YOUR ACCOUNTS.

when you have no idea what you’re doing but ur just happy to be involved

Anti DOESN’T “not glitch.”

Am I really the only one who thinks “”non-glitchy Anti”“ is corrupted Chase? :u

Anti is always glitchy, y’all. He glitches in all canon appearances. The shit we think is him, isn’t confirmed him, isn’t canon, isn’t solely ego-oriented.

But what we do know is that Chase is running the channel to cover Jack. We do know Chase had a run-in with Anti in Dark Silence. We don’t know what happened after. We do know that even when games have had glitches in them, they’ve had truckloads of references that immediately make us think of Chase, references to alcohol, being drunk, family, divorce…

That’s not Anti. That’s not Anti and Chase. That’s just Chase.

We don’t know what happened after Dark Silence.

We have an idea that Anti thrives off our attention. If Chase is the one running the show, that’d make him a threat to Anti’s access to attention, right?

Wouldn’t it make sense for Anti to corrupt Chase after Dark Silence? Make him his puppet? Now that means Chase is preaching for him.

Anti has Chase doing his dirty work and challenging us to devote ourselves to the channel, to Anti. Testing us, testing how loyal we are. We trust Chase. Anti knows this. Of course we’d listen to Chase. We listen to and trust Chase’s word. So if Chase is saying devote ourselves to the channel, thus to Anti, it must be the thing to do right? Or maybe, in a non-4th-wall-breaking sense, we aren’t aware that it logically wouldn’t be right. We just know Chase is saying do something, we trust him, so we should do it.

Anti doesn’t “not glitch.” He’s not human, he always glitches. That non-glitching person is Chase. Brainwashed and “strung up” to be puppeted by Anti.

Anti glitches.

Chase doesn’t.

Chase is the one we’re seeing, just like he said. That never changed.

stream among us drip remix tubbo fancam

I've been down lately going through family and adult stuff and responsibilities. I was wondering if you can recommend a fic that's got a very sad/hurt Dick where someone helps him out? Those really help a lot especially when they talk to him. Thanks

Oh no, I’m so sorry that life’s got you down, friend. Sorry it took me so long to respond, but I was working. Anyways, here’s the list, and I hope you enjoy!

As always, you can check out my fic recs here.

To be seen and not heard - Dick’s hurt, has to hide, and he meets someone unexpected in his chosen hiding place. It just keeps getting better as you go.

Every Fiber of My Being - birdflash, but it’s really good at showing the strain on Dick’s shoulders after Bruce dies. Plus it’s a longfic.

All your resolve (dissolves) - YJ fic. This doesn’t actually have much of a happy ending, but it does show the how stressed Dick was during the invasion through Tim’s eyes.

Short of Stable - Hurt Dick with worried Damian and Alfred

The Mechanics of a Hug - Dick is literally being hugged the entire fic and it’s great.

There Is This Space - Super short, but it’s a fear toxin fic and I can never resist.

Seven Days a Week - Dick’s family takes care of him, even when they don’t know what’s wrong.

The Winter of Our Discontent - Dick gets super hurt in this one, and there’s worried batdad. And it’s 10k.

the man with guns for eyes - Dick comes home from Spyral and everyone’s got issues with everyone. They figure it out with a little help, plus some minor (major) injuries.

With a Broken Wing - Bruce is there for Dick, even when no one else is.

 Save You - YJ fic. Warning for suicidal thoughts. Dick has a really rough time here.

Come One, Come All - Dick’s hurt and his family keeps him company.

To Pass Through This Night - Deals with the fallout Forever Evil never really got around to dealing with. Dick cries.

Even When You’re Down - Sick Dick and worried Jason and Bruce.

Handle with Care - Dick’s sick and Bruce and Damian try their best.

Shield - Bruce is hurt and Dick doesn’t handle it very well.

The Only Moment We Are Alone - Dick and Damian dealing with each other’s nightmares.

You Won’t Wake Up Alone - Dawn wrote this for me, and it’s kind of another fallout fic from Forever Evil, and I’ve read this at least fifty times.

Breather - Dick’s sick and Bruce is there.

Second Generation - Deals with the aftermath of Tarantula and Blockbuster. Mostly Tarantula. Warning for deep, deep depression. I’d recommend taking time to read something else or go on a walk every few chapters.

edit because I forgot a few:

The Gotham Vigilante’s Guide to Christmas - Dick’s hurt and doesn’t tell anyone

There’s Nothing to Fear Here - Dick’s whammied with fear toxin

there’ll always be a few things, maybe several things - Dick has a hard night and goes to Tim for help

It’s a long list, but I hope it helps!

Also, there are some more fics that deal with Dick and depression I have on hand, but I didn’t want to recommend them right off the bat if you’re in too deep of a funk. I know that when I read some of them, they’d send me deeper into my depression than I already was, and I’d end up having to call someone to talk me out of hurting myself or talk me down from panic attacks.

If you would like me to recommend them, I’d feel better if you messaged me personally. Hope you’re alright <3

Quick editing tip: Passing time

Hey all, here’s a quick tip about showing the passage of short amounts of time in a scene. I see a lot of beats like this:

She hesitated

He paused

A few seconds later

There was a long silence

He waited for her to answer

She didn’t respond

Instead of telling us there’s a brief moment of silence or pause in your scene, try showing us by creating the feeling that time has passed through action, description, or inner monologue. Here are a few examples.

Before:

“Are you coming or not?”

He waited for her to answer, but she didn’t respond.

“Clare? Did you hear me?”

“Huh?”

After:

“Are you coming or not?”

Clare scrolled through her phone, her face illuminating with a eerie blue glow.

“Clare? Did you hear me?”

“Huh?”

Before:

Jared lingered at the suspect’s front gate. If this guy didn’t answer Jared’s questions, he was screwed.

“Hey you!” a voice shouted. “Get off my property!”

Jared hesitated. Finally, he turned to face the man. “I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

After:

Jared lingered at the suspect’s front gate. If this guy didn’t answer Jared’s questions, he was screwed.

“Hey you!” a voice shouted. “Get off my property!”

Jared patted his holster. He had a gun, but he certainly didn’t want to use it. Taking a deep breath, he turned to face the man. “I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

Not only does creating a pause instead of describing a pause allow your reader to feel the moment more vividly, it gives you a chance to explain what exactly that pause is about. People hesitate, pause, don’t respond, etc. for all kinds of reasons. Give us as much insight as you can into your weird quiet moment.

Of course, you don’t need to do this every single time. Sometimes it’s fine to say “he paused” or “the room was quiet for a moment”—it could be the best choice for that scene. But look back through your draft and see if you’ve used those “telling” descriptions more often than you needed to. If so, try to create the feeling of a pause—perhaps one that gives the reader a bit more information—using these techniques.

Hope this helps!

Ahhhh!!! It's here!!

Thank you @soopticboop I love it so much!!!