Me Me Me Me!! Im Glad I Stumbled Upon The Humans Are Space Orcs When I Was Reading

Me me me me!! Im glad i stumbled upon the humans are space orcs when i was reading

"Hoops, strings, and other placebos" by bubblebtch, Hollow knight fanfiction.

I mean like- Mary being the only human in a bug kingdom is a fascinating read to me, learned about the humans are space orcs through the comments section.

Go read the fic btw, its hilarious 100%. I almost binge it on 1 day. 10/10 would read again.

Anyone else who’s really happy that they stumbled upon the humans are weird/humans are space orcs/humans are space australians fantom and now never wants to leave raise your hands!!! I need some more blogs to follow!!!

What are some ways to make stories more detailed and invigorating to read? I am a beginning writer and often times I have very limited dialogue and mediocre descriptions even if what I have in my head is very detailed.

Happy holidays!  Thank you for your question :)

I’m going to say first that your problem, while a very real issue, should be dealt with mainly in the second draft and further.  Details and descriptions aren’t something to worry about until you’ve got the story out – so even if you’re dissatisfied with your descriptive skills right now, keep writing through your scenes!  You can add in description and edit dialogue later.

This is a big question, though, so I’m going to answer the dialogue part of your question and come back in a couple of days with a description post.  Is that okay?

I hope it is, because I’m doin it anyway hurr hurr hurr…

Dialogue Improvement

From what you’ve said in the question, I’m assuming your dialogue is a bit barebones or impersonal – a common issue in modern writing, I’ve noticed.  We see a lot of our favorite characters on TV, and we can tell them apart by their actors’ faces and voices, more than their word choices.  So when we turn to writing fiction, we struggle to keep things unique.  There are a few ways to start changing that, though:

Remember that dialogue and prose have different rules.  While in prose, small words, passive words, and processing terms (like “um”, “well”, “maybe”), are no-nos, they can add to dialogue to make it sound more realistic and audible.  Think about all the natural things we say, which writers are encouraged not to use in their prose and descriptions – and use them, in some places, to improve your dialogue.

Think about which character is speaking.  Write out a list of their most distinctive traits.  If they are humble or introverted, they may speak less or more briefly.  If they are confident or excitable, they may exclaim, exaggerate, or emphasize their speech.  If they are pensive or thoughtful, they may remain quiet for long stretches before speaking in long, eloquent sentences.  Think of these things, and create a cheat sheet for yourself.  For example:

John: boastful, silly, speaks so quickly that his brain struggles to keep up.

Anna: negative, intelligent, speaks when addressed, calming.

Sierra: thoughtful, very funny when she does speak, nervous, stutters.

Abide by “less is more”.  This doesn’t mean that your characters shouldn’t speak, but that you should limit your stretches of dialogue to a few sentences at most.  Monologues and speeches rarely happen in real life.  In fact, it’s rare that all speakers in the conversation go uninterrupted.  Dialogue is best messy, interrupted, and brief – never clean-cut and sterile.

Make your dialogue linear, but not completely.  When you’re writing a long conversation, make sure that nothing comes out of nowhere!  One piece of dialogue, one mention of something, should lead to another.  Even if your character randomly thinks of something (”Oh!  I think I left my scarf at your house!”) it should be prompted by something said previously (”I had to clean up after the party Christmas party last night.”).  This said, however, things shouldn’t be completely Point A -> Point B.  Small topics should branch off between two or more people, and should be dropped and picked back up as is necessary.  Too much of a formula makes your characters into dull boys.

Lastly, a common idea: read your dialogue out loud.  I don’t care if your roommate will hear you.  I don’t care if you’re not an actress.  I don’t give a tiny little damn if you think it’ll take too long.  When reviewing or editing a scene, please, just read it.  I’m not griping at you, anon – I’m griping at all writers.  It’s such an easy thing to do and it improves your dialogue so much, but people just don’t do it!  Why not?  Just do it!

Those are just a few good rules off the top of my head, and if I think of more, I’ll certainly post them.  If none of this is what’s ailing you, then just flick me on the forehead and send me another question.  In a little bit I’ll make another post about description, so look out for that too!

Thanks for your question, and happy writing :)

If you need advice on general writing or fanfiction, you should maybe ask me!

So, I'm writing a fanfiction with OCs and well, it doesn't exactly line up with some of the canon information because it wasn't there before. I know there are AUs and stuff but it's not divergent enough and with new information.. I'm not sure what I should do or make some sort of attempt to change my writing for it

Thanks for your question!  I will say that I don’t exactly understand the question, so if my answer doesn’t apply to your situation, feel free to message me with more details.  But let me see if I understand what you’re asking.

Alternate Universe Fanfiction

AUs are tricky things to write, because you want your creative liberty but you’re never sure how much is up for change – what you need to keep consistent – what’s innovative and what’s lazy.  If I’m right here, you’re saying that you have a few small changes or inconsistencies between your fic and the source material, but not enough changes to declare it an AU?  Or maybe that your changes don’t have a reason behind them (e.g. a canon character is missing but there’s no reason why)?

Either way, I think the solution is to take a few minutes and compare your world (be it an AU or not) and the canonical world, and list out the differences.  Classify them as minor or major differences – focus on the major differences.  If a character is missing, if you’ve changed a concept, if you’ve changed the course of the plot, check these items and make sure you have reasons behind them.  Why did these things happen this way?  Why aren’t these two characters together?  Why is there a conflict in the details?  If you can come up with plausible reasons for everything, then there’s no reason to change anything.  These are your creative liberties.

If you have changed things with no real reason, though, then you might want to reconsider what you’re doing.  If you change singular events (e.g. the second Hunger Games never happened) then it’s an AU – if you change ongoing events (e.g. cutting out Katniss’s relationship with Gale) then you’re gonna need more explanation, or even a preface before the story.  In this example, if Katniss didn’t have her relationship with Gale, she would be a completely different person.  That can be hard to believe for your readers.

The thing that helps me in these situations is that, if I want to change/remove a relationship/character/event, I go back to a particular canon event and use it to change/remove them.  For instance, if I wanted to remove Gale from Katniss’s life before the events of Catching Fire, I could use the Hunger Games as a tool to separate them.  I could say that they’re no longer close because she changed after the Hunger Games, so they drifted apart.  It’s still an AU, but if I can draw it back to a singular pivoting point, then it becomes believable.

I’d like to note a difference, also, between AU and headcanon.  Headcanons are typically non-canon events/relationships/scenes that could technically fit into the canon, while AUs are built on ideas that couldn’t work with the canon.  If you’re merely adding information to a story or universe, you’re building headcanons, and that doesn’t have to be classified as an AU.  You don’t have to actually build an alternate reality just to add in your personal ideas.

So to sum up, if I’ve answered your question at all: try to make your ideas align with the canon, and if you can’t, draw your changes back to a single event.  If you’re only adding to the story, it’s headcanon and doesn’t need to be labeled AU.  If you’re subtracting/changing lore, characters, or events, it should be labeled AU in the summary with a brief explanation of the changed events in a prefacing author note.

If none of this was what you’re looking for, hit me up with another ask or a DM and I’ll do my best to help!

If you need advice on general writing or NaNoWriMo, you should maybe ask me!

Previous design of Ghost gijinka's, heavily inspire by other design i've seen on tumnlr and/or instagram.

The picture on the left side are my previous gijinka (which again inspired by other gijinka, i think they have tumblr but i forgot their username) and the right side is the new one!!

The hair and eyes are inspired by foileadeux and the elf ears by featherlouise. I really like their elf ears headcannon for higher beings :D

Tips on Writing Characters Without Faces

so yeah, we all know that facial expressions can tell us a lot about how a character is feeling, but what if that isn’t an option? how can you make someone emote if they don’t really have standard facial features? the answer; body language.

let’s consider how emotions are conveyed on a stage production vs movie with Sweeney Todd. First, the stage play:

Note how Todd’s entire upper body goes into his gestures, how he’s single-mindedly focused on his dreams and ideals; how his hands GRAB for each imaginary ‘man’ with these sharp, aggressive, destructive movements and how that contrasts with Mrs. Lovett’s body language; how her hands linger in the air and gravitate towards Todd even after he’s pulled away, and the slow turn she gives him. It does an excellent, though exaggerated, way of conveying their relationship (her focus is on him and making him happy, his focus is entirely on revenge)

Contrast this to the movie:

Same lines in the song, much more subtle. Lovett’s eyes still track towards Todds, which reminds us she’s still more focused on the outside, but all of the emotion is in their faces. Were this not a close-up shot in a movie it’d be very, very hard to read their expressions.

While I do recommend you watch a few stage plays (in person near the back row if you can) to actually study body language for yourself or try out charades with your face covered with friends/watch how cosplayers or mascots emote, here’s a few shorthands to get you started (US-centric so expressions may vary on your region):

Head:

perfectly still - fear, intense attention, feeling under scrutiny

tilted up - recollection, intimidation (looking down nose at threat, aiming to appear taller)

tilted down - intense thought, shame (avoiding eye contact), depression/sad feelings

turned away - not giving person full attention, avoiding subject/conflict without being combative

cocker-spaniel (sideways) tilt - confusion, curiosity, amusement

Hands

at the forehead - fatigue (wiping away sweat), illness (checking self for fever, feeling a headache), realization/memory (a ‘well duh’ tap)

at the eyes - fatigue or headache (shielding eyes from light), distress (blocking out a painful view, concealing tears)

at the nose - disgust (a pinch at the nostrils,) irritation (rubbing at sore spot on nose from glasses wear)

at the mouth - nausea, surprise, repressing an emotion/stopping self from saying something

at the chin - contemplation, tiredness (face resting in hand)

rubbing back of neck - a need to relax tension, embarrassment, slight unease/desire to distract self

at the chest - surprise, self-protection (reaction to a wounding statement, sometimes used sarcastically), strong emotions (clutching at heart, could be good-strong or bad-strong), need for security (touching necklace/adjusting clothing to conceal more)

at the stomach - pain (clutching, pressing), satisfaction after a meal, protectiveness towards fetus when applicable

at the hip(s) - confidence, intimidation, nervousness (if grabbing for weapon)

at groin - concealment/unease (usually male-coded as protection of genitals), politeness (hands folded in lap)

on thighs - exhaustion (bent over, hands on legs supporting tired upper body)

formed into fists - holding back an intense emotion, preparing to fight

toying with something - restlessness (bored, nervous energy, craving something they can’t touch) or deliberate disrespect of property (playing with personal objects someone holds dear as an intimidation tactic)

Arms

at sides, relaxed - default posture

at sides, tense - unease, restraint (soldier at attention, person holding still to avoid being attacked), fear

crossed at chest - disapproval, displaying authority, unease (hugging oneself)

crossed at stomach - pain, intense laughter (caused by sore stomach muscles from laughing)

up, fingers laced behind head - confidence, relaxation

one arm on back of furniture - confidence, invitation for someone join them

general rule - the further arms are away from body, the more confident/dominant a person means to appear; exposed torso indicates that they don’t see anyone around as a threat to them

Legs

square with shoulders - professional, restraint, protective stance

wide stance, one foot a little back but planted - defensive stance, expecting to receive blows (knees may be unlocked - seen in swordplay and fencing)

weight on one leg - relaxed, tired, may also be leaning on something or pair with one ankle tucked behind the other

uneven stance - could indicate old injury

foot tapping/bouncing - boredom, nervous energy

Whole Body:

stiff and still - fear, unease, standing to attention

limp or pliant - relaxed, tired, pleased

shoulders back/head up - alert, focused, aggressive

shoulders forward, hunched - tired, ashamed

leaning towards person - interest, intimidation (looming over them), aggression (usually paired with tense arms or hands in fists,)

leaning away from person - relaxation, confidence, disgust (recoiling)

smooth/fluid movements - joy, confidence, experience

stiff motions - fear (reactive, fight or flight), pain (reluctance to move), anger (either fighting to keep control of emotions or lashing out), cold (conservation of heat by keeping limbs near body)

cracking joints/stretching - preparing for a fight, often reading as confidence in abilities

general rule - close contact/proximity can read as intimidation (paired with tense body - an invasion of personal space) or affection (paired with relaxaed body language, gentle movement) or passion/attraction while distance can read unease/distaste/fear/dislike.

with those in mind, let’s read this scene from Red vs Blue (a personal fav of mine for body language) featuring agent texas from season 8.

So first of all, very relaxed upper body; limp arms held away from the body, which slowly come back to rest on her hips as she looks at what she’s done. Watch how her lean shifts at the end as her center of gravity shifts, and how she has to move her right leg to restabilize herself when she’s finished pushing it. This reads, in order from the start of the loop; detachment (the least amount of her body is involved in the action as possible), relaxation (smooth movements, the deliberation of those little steps backwards) and confidence (hands on hips.) We can tell a ton about this character just in this gif alone, based on her body language.

in summary! this list isn’t exhaustive, but hopefully it gives you some ideas for ways of making characters emote in fics when you can’t see their faces.

Ah yes, angst and my character craving parental affection, a little bit of a Stockholm syndrome add into the mix. She kind of having a mental breakdown i guess?? Idk, i just winged it.