“And You Have Fixed My Life – However Short. You Did Not Light Me: I Was Always A Mad Comet; But

I… I don’t know

I think it makes more sense on Instagram(?)

how to draw arms ? ? 

does anyone have any tips on how to make recognizable fanart? by this i mean like drawing will graham and seeing will graham

Research for Writers: How to Do It

So, you want to write a story involving something that you know literally nothing about. (Cool, same!) We’ve all been there before; if you’ve landed at this post, you’ve come to the right place. In this post, we’re going to cover the basics of research and using information, as well as verifying your sources, and other ways to reach out.

But first: why should I do research in the first place?

There’s a whole boatload of reasons you should conduct research in your writing. Here are some of the largest or most popular reasons:

You’re writing a story set in a different time period, and you want to be historically accurate.

One of your characters does or knows something you don’t know as much about.

You’re writing about a character who is a part of a community that you’re not in, and you want to be respectful.

You’re doing world-building and want to learn about different biomes and climates.

Bear in mind, these are just a few of the reasons that you might choose to do research - any reason to learn more about something is a valid one! Let’s break down how to do quality research for your writing.

Keep reading

that’s him... that’s the man who stole my heart and the top of my spotify wrapped 2020. (tamino amir for anyone wondering. u should listen to his music.)

slytherin house dynamics under snape hc

this was inspired by this post by fuocogo that stated that slytherins probably know sign language because they need to communicate with the creatures living in the Black Lake and that tickled my imagination. 

this will also focus on slytherin house specifically with snape as the head of house, because i like to think that after his own experiences he would have reformed a lot of what goes on inside, especially with him aligning to the light.

disclaimer: i haven’t reread the books in over a decade. i also don’t play any of the games so everything is really just based on how i remember the material i read, with some bits from the movies, as well as other hcs people have 

snape does not tolerate bullying and any slytherin caught will answer to him personally. draco gets away with it a lot because i feel like it’s either he does it where the teachers don’t/can’t see, or snape also makes a judgement call on the ones he does see (like the ones in potions where draco taunts the gryffindors). he will definitely not have tolerated draco calling hermione mudblood though, not even if it’s lucius’ son

he keeps strict tabs on his little snakes - he interviews first years personally and at the start of the year assigns each one an older student to act as both a guide (like a mentor) and a guard. he does not encourage slytherins to walk alone, and each slytherin is assigned to and responsible for another.

he doesn’t openly encourage inter-house friendships but also doesn’t say no to them either. he turns a blind eye when he sees any of his snakes consorting with ravenclaws for homework help or hufflepuffs for trading sweets, but it does grate on his nerves a bit when he sees them interacting with gryffindors in a friendly manner. he doesn’t stop them however

slytherins do not lie to their head of house. the older students are quick to tell the first years that snape always knows when they lie and it’s just not worth it

snape advocates for his snakes’ continued and expanded learning - he’s well-informed of their background before they attend hogwarts and assigns them learning materials with homework as first years to fill in gaps that they may lack. this is especially useful to the half-bloods and muggleborns who may not have had any magical exposure prior to hogwarts (not unlike himself). as they grow older he also keeps an eye on their likely strengths in different fields and suggests to them possible materials for advanced learning

knowing that a lot of his snakes are from pureblood, bigoted families who would rat out any suspicious anti-dark lord dealings within the house, he encourages them to duel once or twice a month, but with very strict house rules: (1) he always has to be there; (2) hexes and curses only, no Unforgiveables; (3) to not tell the other houses that they are doing such and; (4) to not use any of the more harmful hexes on any of their fellow students or teachers. as a side effect, slytherins are actually quite good at DADA because snape also sneaks in a lesson or two and he knows it’s these students that will need them the most

they have a distress signal (maybe a small item?) that the students can use to contact their head of house directly if they’re in trouble. students have been known to trigger it even during the hols, and snape always assists in the best way he can

he never addresses problems nor gives praise in public. everything is discussed in his office and is always strictly confidential

his snakes are used to the rule that ‘whatever happens in hogwarts, stays in hogwarts’ so even if they see snape at any of their parents’ parties or meetings, they either ignore him or only acknowledge him subtly

he has a potions cabinet that’s for slytherin use only - these contain the basic first-aid potions and other solutions that the students may need and that he or they can use within the safety of the house, away from prying eyes

any student showing budding interest in the dark arts will be mentored by snape personally (he’ll give them a hell of a time to subtly discourage them from continuing)

slytherins are loyal to snape because they know they can trust him and are safe with him

discussions about the dark lord are not forbidden, in fact they’re encouraged, but only within the house. it gives snape a chance to gauge where his snakes stand and an opportunity to change their mind should they be in treacherous waters

he watches every game, every contest where a slytherin is represented and makes sure to sit in a spot where his student would see him

any internal issues are resolved by him mocking up a trial court that comprises the entire house. students are given a chance to plead, defend, allege, bargain, and stand as the jury. he stands as the judge 

Some different thoughts on Eileen

- she hadn’t wanted children, but Tobias was insistent.

- Tobias’s family weren’t that keen on her, but with her own family gone she had no one else to help her through the difficult pregnancy.

- when Severus was born, she didn’t want to hold him. This wasn’t a new reaction for the midwife so she said she’d be back in the morning and “perhaps mum will be feeling more up to it.”

- when she arrived in the morning, she found an angry Tobias, a crying baby and a still disinterested mother.

- she sorted everything out and finally convinced Eileen to hold her baby, but couldn’t get her to breast feed, she was adamant she wanted to give him formula.

- as he grew older, his mother remained distant. She told him about Hogwarts and being magical, but didn’t like being bothered by his constant questions.

- she was never encouraging and showed little interest in his life. Severus learned to stop telling her about his achievements or about what happened at school.

- he spent his time wishing someone would tell him he was doing a good job and got his wish granted when Lucius Malfoy introduced him to Lord Voldemort.

The 5 Stages of Grief-- I Mean of Plotting a Book

(And a masterlist of blog posts that help along the way)

All plotting styles are different and these are just the 5 stages that I go through and think are most common.

I will be updating this with links as new posts are published, so bookmark this post if you find it helpful!

1. That little idea

The little idea can come from literally anything. That’s the beautiful thing about a creative mind. The idea is also usually very, very tiny at first. It’s a character or a setting or a bare-bones plot or a prompt. But it’s an idea!

Prompts Masterpost Using an Image as Inspiration

2. A bigger idea!

This is where you flesh out the little idea. I braindump (i.e. writing down every little idea I have pertaining to the story, including plot points) during this time. This is also a good place to figure out the central idea/question/themes, and important characters.

The Ten Genres 50 Character Name Ideas OC Names of the Day #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 How to Make a Story File (w/ template)

3. Setting the stage

Now is the time to flesh out your worldbuilding, characters, arcs, and relationships.

How to Make a Story File (w/ template) When You Have a Large Cast of Characters The Anti-Villain: A Study in Motivation My Personal Character Files: The 6 Box Method (w/ template) Some Worldbuilding Categories ½ Some Worldbuilding Categories 2/2 Worldbuilding in Detail Vol. I: Flora and Fauna Worldbuilding in Detail Vol. II: Religion 7 Worldbuilding Tips Little Quirks and Habits for Your OC Words to Describe Dress of a Character (Semi) Master List of Character Motivations

4. The Worst Puzzle Known to Man

Now you’ve got to start arranging the plot points you have into a cohesive-ish order. I find this is also the time I get tired or bored of my story, so I’ve included my post about beating writer’s block. Because, as we know, it can happen well before you even start writing. 

Tips of Writer’s Block 5 Better Ways to End Your Story Raising Stakes

5. 5 Seconds to Launch

A working outline should be ready for you to work from now. You’ve ordered the plot points, filled in the gaps, your characters and their relationships are ready to go. While I have a “working title” from the get-go, this is when I settle on the final title.

5 Ways to Find Your Novel Title Gillian Flynn: A Closer Look at Two-Word Titling Some Titling Formats and Examples

Reminder: I will be updating this with links as new posts are published, so bookmark this post if you find it helpful! Please let me know if any links are incorrect!

Some Snape Headcanons: Substance Use

Snape has been chain-smoking since he was a teen.

He used to steal his mum’s cigarettes and he and Lily would go smoke by the river the summers they were 14 and 15. Those were some of his last good days with her, when he felt like the two of them were still really best friends. It wasn’t like that at school anymore.

While Snape is a professor he makes sure that very few people at Hogwarts know about his smoking habit. It wouldn’t do to have the students find out about that little vice. Dumbledore knows of course, but that man knows everything, and Minerva thinks she knows because she had caught him as a student and won’t be convinced that he quit. She doesn’t have any proof though. 

Madame Hooch knows because she stumbled on him one day in the out-of-the-way alcove which used to be her old smoke break spot. Even though she doesn’t smoke anymore, she still goes there to think sometimes. They bump into each other there every few month and hang out in companionable silence. 

Snape prides himself on the fact that in nearly two decades of illicit smoking, Filch has yet to catch him.

Smoke breaks in between teaching classes is one of the few indulgences he allows himself and probably the only way he stays sane.

Snape doesn’t drink – the smell brings back bad memories and he knows that there is alcoholism in his genes. Best not risk it. 

He is, however, adept at making it seem like he drinks and has pretended to be drunk at Lucius’ parties before. It’s a useful skill for a spy to have, and he does nothing to discourage the reputation of being somebody who occasionally drinks.

For Christmas, his colleagues usually gift him expensive alcohol since that is the “nice” gift you get somebody when you don’t know what else to get them. He surreptitiously re-gifts some of it to the Malfoys, or even back to his colleagues if it’s been long enough that they won’t remember where they last saw the bottle. Even so, there’s still a huge stash of unopened bottles hidden in his office. He hopes that whoever takes the office after him will be pleasantly surprised. 

Snape drinks an obscene amount of coffee. On top of being a bit of an insomniac he is not a morning person. Minerva sees him gulping his third cup of coffee at breakfast where he hasn’t eaten anything but half a piece of toast and wonders how he isn’t dead yet.

During the beginning of his teaching career Snape abused Dreamless Sleep. There may have been an accidental overdose or two, and a few less accidental ones. 

A problem with Dreamless Sleep is that taking it for a prolonged time wreaks havoc on the brain and causes hallucinations, because suppressing REM sleep isn’t actually great for one’s health. Snape could tell he was losing it and forced himself to go through withdrawal before his colleagues caught on and staged an intervention. 

He relapsed once or twice in the years since, but it never got as serious as it did in that first year after Lily died. 

He settled on experimenting to create a less risky and more potent version of the potion and got used to the nightmares again. After all, he’d had them nearly his whole life, and they hadn’t killed him yet.

Snape’s encounter with Nagini left him with long-term damage and chronic pain. They gave him some very good drugs at St. Mungo’s, but didn’t tell him what to do for the pain once he left. He’s a potions master, he supposes. He should be able to figure it out.

Here, @josiecarioca​, as promised!