Inkcrowsnest - Nevermore! Nevermore!

so soft it hurts

Apparently a lot of people get dialogue punctuation wrong despite having an otherwise solid grasp of grammar, possibly because they’re used to writing essays rather than prose. I don’t wanna be the asshole who complains about writing errors and then doesn’t offer to help, so here are the basics summarized as simply as I could manage on my phone (“dialogue tag” just refers to phrases like “he said,” “she whispered,” “they asked”):

“For most dialogue, use a comma after the sentence and don’t capitalize the next word after the quotation mark,” she said.

“But what if you’re using a question mark rather than a period?” they asked.

“When using a dialogue tag, you never capitalize the word after the quotation mark unless it’s a proper noun!” she snapped.

“When breaking up a single sentence with a dialogue tag,” she said, “use commas.”

“This is a single sentence,” she said. “Now, this is a second stand-alone sentence, so there’s no comma after ‘she said.’”

“There’s no dialogue tag after this sentence, so end it with a period rather than a comma.” She frowned, suddenly concerned that the entire post was as unasked for as it was sanctimonious.

Birdcage

You feel the cold grip of fear course through your veins. One moment you were sitting by the campfire waiting for the Destined One / Sun Wukong to come back the next a group of yaoguai showed up and took you captive. Large clawed hands ding into your arm as you’re lifted effortlessly off the ground. Kicking, screaming, you do everything in your power to escape. 

But it’s useless. You're dragged further and further away. 

Taken to a cave deep within the mountain, the cavernous lair is cold and haunting. It stinks of flesh and rot. Littered on the ground are bones of people who met an unfortunate end. You’re going to die. That’s the only thought running through your head.

But to your surprise the leader of the group has different plans. Instead of being turned into dinner, you're thrown into a massive birdcage. The bars are too narrow for you to squeeze through and you have nothing in hand to pick the lock. 

A day and night passes. 

You’re left to your own devices inside that lonely birdcage. With only the occasional visit. Your kidnapper does nothing, simply watches you inside your cage. You cling on to the hope that soon you’ll be rescued.

Destined One

[-] Starts to immediately go on the search for you the moment he realizes you’re gone.

[-] His one goal is to find you and make sure you are safe. His eyes narrow as he looks for any clues that will lead him to you. When he does find the cave, he initially sneaks inside but is spotted.

[-] The ensuing fight is a mess. His staff is swung left and right. Pushing through the enemy until he reaches you.

[-] Busting open the birdcage, DO rushes to your side. Pulls you into a hug and immediately starts to check you for injuries. When he’s sure that you’re okay, he’s going to slump against you.

[-] The stress of worry finally caught up to him. Both of you walk out of that cave together,exhausted but relieved.

[-] He’s going to follow you everywhere. Need to collect herbs and vegetables for dinner that day, he’s going to be at your side carrying anything you find. Need to take a bath, well better be comfortable with sharing a bath. 

[-] You’re going to have to reassure him that everything will be alright. And only after you’ve given him kisses will he relax.

Sun Wukong

[-] WHO WOULD DARE KIDNAP YOU?! Sun Wukong, known for wreaking havoc in heaven, earth, and the underworld, is beyond  furious. It’s not a matter of if he’ll find you, but a matter of when he’ll find you.

[-] Will do anything within his power to get you back. If he can’t do it on his own, he’ll threaten to cause another incident in heaven if they don’t help get you back.

[-] When he does find out where you are being kept, his first instinct is to storm in and take you. But, not wanting to risk you getting hurt, Wukong transforms into a small beetle and sneaks inside.

[-] Seeing you inside a birdcage causes him to detransform. The fight that follows is bloody. He shows no mercy to those that kidnapped you.

[-] By the time he’s done, you know that no one would think about ever kidnapping you.

[-] Wukong is going to check to make sure that you’re alright. Will tend to any wounds you may have gotten. Will make sure that you eat something and will stay by your side. 

[-] For the next couple of days, Wukong is going to be clingy. He’ll never admit it, but the thought that you could have died keeps him up at night. He has a lot of enemies that want revenge and any of them could try to hurt you.

[-] Keeps you within sight and reach. His tail is going to be wrapped around your waist or wrist.

[-] Is going to hold you closer at night, dreading the idea of waking up to you gone. He’ll only ease up when he knows you can protect yourself. Expect to get personal one-on-one training with him.

but seriously though i’m sick and tired of those masterposts that are like “here! A reference site on Greek mythology for all your needs! Look it has all fifteen Greek gods on it!” And I’m like. tHERE WERE LIKE HUNDREDS OF FIGURES IN MYTHOLOGY YOUR CRAPPY HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL BIBLIOGRAPHY SITE MEANS NOTHING TO ME 

if you want a basic outline of Greek mythology okay sure fine??? but like. if you want an extensive fucking reference site you are looking in the wrong goddamn places

as a self-declared greek mythology snob my reference site is fucking always this fucker right here. almost every single figure ever mentioned in a Greek text is on it, it has the most obscure gods, spirits, nymphs– it’s GREAT. You really wanna extend your mythological knowledge past the basic 12 and like four others? USE THEOI.  plus plus PLUS everything is cited so you can actually read the source material written about whoever it is you’re looking at.

fucking signal boost this. i’m so sick and tired of writer’s helpers blogs referring people to sites with as much information you would get from opening a third grade mythology book jesus chriiiiiist

@oh-tobeafrog thank you for inspiring me with this galaxy brain take on my two favorite marvel heroes :)

original post here

The Golden Boy and the Other Thomas Constantine.

Fan comic exploring dead twins, survivor's guilt and Hellblazer characters dreaming of other realities.

never let anyone tell you that trawling through mediocre victorian poetry isn't worth it. we just happened upon an absolute BANGER of a worm poem. go read it or else 🪱🪱🪱

Divine Twitch Chat come through 🤺

Also B/W version cause they kinda slap

I can understand how "modern person thrown into the past gets by pretending to be a healer/doctor" is as surprisingly common of a trope as it is. I mean I'm fluent enough at bullshitting to be pretty sure I could pull it off to impersonate a doctor in any time pre-1800s. If I have no idea what something is or how to treat it, I could just get the opinion of the other whatever-passes-as-medical-professionals around, but if their suggestions sound like bullshit I'm not doing it. And I'll beat the shit out of anyone suggesting bloodletting or mercury. With my healing stick. I've tied little bells on it, that jingle comically with every smack.

The awesome curative powers of my healing stick come from two separate sources: Placebo, and me using it to beat anyone trying to give my patients mercury.