"Not That Kind Of Tragedy And You Know It. Trying To Get Close To Me Means Trouble For The Both Of Us,

I just reada really good fic but halfway through I realized "oh shit this is really familiar.... didn't I write something like this once?" And as I kept reading I kept predicting what happened next and the further I went the more convinced I was that they'd ripped off my story-

like, copied the ENTIRE plot and re-written it, just better than I had? The characters were more fleshed-out than mine were, and the POV was more interesting, and the pace made more sense- but it was MY STORY?

So close to the end I was like "holy shit.. do I message them? Ask if my story inspired theirs? Should I be angry? Flattered?" Cause their tags and description didn't mention me AT ALL, which, sure, it's fanfiction to begin with, but if you're using my work than at least credit me as inspo, right? Just to be courteous?

But I get to the end of the final chapter, and it's not finished, and I'm kind of disappointed cause I never finished my story and I was really immersed in their version now and had been looking forwards to seeing how they tied up my loose ends- so I scroll to the bottom to leave a comment, and.

It's MY URL.

IT WAS MY STORY THE WHOLE TIME.

THE ONE *I WROTE*.

In *2013*.

And FORGOT ABOUT

BECAUSE I WAS SO INSECURE ABOUT MY SLOPPY, SHALLOW, AMETEUR WRITING

And I'm just sitting here now staring into space thinking about every shitty story I've ever written now like

IT WAS ALL GOOD?

IT WAS GOOD THIS WHOLE DAMN TIME??

I'M A GOOD WRITER?????

Day X

"Alright class, welcome to your first day of Melee 101! Now a lot of you are probably wondering why this class is mandatory. After all, you're here to learn magic, not hand-to-hand combat. The thing is, though, you can't rely on magic. In certain fields, it works unpredictably, necessitating use of other methods.

"In this room, there is a field which nullifies all magic. Go ahead, try it."

The students all tried, quickly getting frustrated. Dale twirled a knife between his fingers for a few moments until only the most determined of students were still trying.

"You can stop now. I think my point has been proven. Magic, in this room, is nullified. Now! Let's say you're out adventuring and you come across a dungeon. Before you know it, you're surrounded by kobolds. Dozens of them. They have little spears, no longer than your arm, and they don't seem particularly hostile. What do you do?"

A student raised her hand.

"Aris."

"Shoot fire at them! Burn the spears!"

"Great choice! But say you try that and it doesn't work.

You teach at a magic school, but you do not teach any magic. In fact, you are not even a mage. Yet your classes are among the few that every student has to take, no matter what kind of magic they are studying.

You, a retired villian by choice, have just received new about your grandchild, a hero, being falsely accused of crimes he didn't commit causing you to demonstrate why you retired.

Day VI

You felt stiff and sore. Well that would make sense. You've been dead for a while. You look up and there, in the collarbone is a name: Dennis. You looked over yourself. You were... whole? You had skin. You felt normal, aside from the stiffness.

Dennis silently offered you your cloak and staff, which you put on. You pooled your mana together. It felt smaller than it used to be. You pulled with all your might and felt an explosion of power which made you stumble back a step. You imbued Dennis with a bit more power and he visibly straightened.

Where you had laid was dug up and on a stone lying at the end it read, in several languages, as inscribed several times over, "Here lies The Death ringer, owner of a thousand souls. His rebirth will result in untold casualties."

You caressed Dennis skull and gave him a hug. It wasn't particularly soft, but it was comforting to hug someone familiar. When you finally stepped back, you ran your fingers along the engraved name.

"What happened to the others?" you asked.

"Those who didn't fall when you died were hacked to pieces or pulverized. I was the last one. It was the resurrection spell you cast upon me that is how we are as we are." You smiled.

"Thank you." You started walking toward the moon. It was a waxing gibbous. After a while, you noticed it had risen, so you were travelling east. You stopped and looked up. The stars were dazzling. Dennis stopped about a pace and a half behind you. You started walking again and didn't stop until you arrived at the first set of houses. You felt an absurd amount of corpses under the ground, the majority of them human.

You, a necromancer, were always fond of your skeleton minions. Even going as far as to make each one a personalized name tag. Then you were cut down by those blasted heroes, only to one day reopen your eyes and see an Elder Lich looming over you with a very faded name tag.

𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

a flying towards

"You can't believe that you will actually make a difference. You're just one person."

"And a snowflake is just one. And a pebble is just one. But a pebble thrown leads to a rock, a stone, a boulder. A snowflake can easily be the difference between a snow mound and an avalanche. Y'see, it's not about one. One is often too little. It's about one more. One more rock, one more snowflake, one more drop, one more person.

Writing Prompt #2948

"You don't believe you can actually make a difference. You're one person."

"The funny thing is that when just one person starts to act, you find a whole lot more than one person who feels the same way. Maybe I don't get anything done myself. Maybe I'm wasting my time. But I'm willing to try."

The defiant Whumpee didn’t care if they died. For a long time they didn’t, at least. It made living in hell easier. Then the Whumpers went and found themselves another hapless victim.

So what? It wasn’t the Whumpee’s responsibility to take care of fresh meat. They could’ve cared less.

But then the Thing had to go on and look up to them with those big, watery eyes. Speak with that trembly little voice, “Did I do something wrong? What’d I do to end up here?”

The Whumpee didn’t care about dying. But now they’re gonna live to protect this new captive, even if it’s the last thing they do.

So i had an idea where a [insert smart character here] after time is unable to tell truth and lies apart. Imagine; Before the smartest person in the group And after, character that questions everything, unsure of what is with or against them. just a random idea, please consider it

considered. loved at first sight. GODDD i hope i did this justice I think its such a brilliant idea

also thanks for letting me use this prompt to procasinate on studying <2

Leader hurdles through the base, everything blurring around him. He stumbles into the infirmary, almost running through Medic.

Medic's exhausted eyes meet his.

"Where are they?" Leader can barely say the words, breathless, slipping out between the gaps in his teeth.

Medic adjusts the lapels of their jacket, the movement automatic—a nervous habit. "You know, they're still confused." Their voice drops an octave and Leader can hear the sympathy, "Maybe you shouldn't go in."

Leader ignores it. His heart threatens to rip a raw-edged hole right through his chest, right then and there. "You didn't restrain them, right?"

"I should," says Medic, quietly. "They're..." they hesitate, gaze probing Leader's panicked expression. Then they sigh, "Listen, whatever you two used to have? It's gone. They're damaged."

"Yeah, but you can fix it. They're brilliant, they'll recover." It's a desperate grab at relief. At hope.

Medic just gestures towards the room. "I don't think I can fix what they did up there."

Hands trembling, Leader turns abruptly and lets the door swing open.

The windowless room is filled with warm light. A mug of something warm sits on the desk.

And Hero, in a t-shirt and shorts, paces the room. New, raw-rimmed stitches cross their bare arms. Medic fixed everything physical.

Leader can't help it. He stares. There's a long, drawn-out second where he recalls the confident Hero of before. With curling red hair and bright eyes, freckled and grinning.

Then there's this scattered, empty person in the room with him.

They’re pacing.

No—counting. Footsteps matching breathing.

“Two-three-four,” they whisper. “Two-three-four. If I keep counting, it doesn’t stop; if I stop, it’ll come back, and they’ll—”

“Hey,” he says, gentle, swallowing down stinging tears. Do you remember me?

Leader's voice tears Hero out of their mind.

They flinch so violently-- scrambling-- grey eyes vacant-- they hit the wall.

“Don’t do that,” they gasp. “Don’t—”

“I'm not doing anything,” he rushes to reassure them, too fast, too helpless. Oh god. "It's just me"

Their hands go to their ears. “They said that too.”

A beat of silence stretches, thick and aching.

Leader doesn’t breathe.

Hero sinks to a crouch in the corner, rocking just slightly, fingers digging into their scalp. Dry strands of hair fall over their hands as they dig. Still counting, still whispering numbers. Like if they keep going, they can hold the world together.

“Don’t believe them,” they mumble. “It’s a test. It’s always a test.”

Oh god.

What have they done to you?

is “villain” the best word to use in a scene description or a dialogue prompt between characters?

since I came across this poll and gave my little opinion on the matter there, I thought I would make a separate post about it too.

now what I’m not gonna do is tell my fellow writers what to do or what not to do. however, if I may, I hope you’ll allow me to give you my advice.

writers — especially those who write about superheroes, fantasy, etc — you may have used the word “villain” in your works before, and you may have thought nothing of the word itself; I mean, it fits best, right? a bad guy in a story where characters have superpowers is a villain.

I mean that’s the word for it. because for us, these are fictional works about fictional characters.

but…

for those characters in your work, the world you created for them are real for them. I mean… your characters don’t know they are fictional characters in a fictional world, correct? (unless you specifically write a story in which the characters know they’re fictional characters in a fictional world).

therefore you might want to ask yourself how realistic it is for these characters — who have no idea they are fictional characters and think they are real people — to call bad people “villains”

how realistic it is for us — real people — to call real-life criminals “villains”

what are the chances of us reading the news with the headline “two villains caught and in custody after a robbery attempt”?

the word “villain” just… doesn’t sound realistic in real world.

ask yourself how realistic you want your stories to be, as a writer who created a world in which the characters don’t know they are fictional.

how realistic it is for your characters (who think they are real people) to say, “there’s a villain around. we have to go.”

for your characters, they aren’t fictional characters, they are real. and these fictional worlds are real for them. if we’re not calling real-life criminals villains because they are real people to us. would your characters call someone who were real to them villains because they were bad?

now ask yourself how realistic you want your stories to be, as a writer — of course, a story where characters have superpowers or the one where characters live in a fantasy world aren’t so “realistic” for us, but if, as a writer, you want your readers to feel as though they live in that world you created while they read your work, you might not want to subtly remind them they’re reading a fictional work by directly referring to the bad guys as “villains”.

the key to professionally writing a story is that you make your readers forget they are reading a fictional story.

the key to professionally writing a story is that you make your readers feel as though they actually live in that world you create and are a part of that story.

there’s a reason most (if not all) superhero movies we see don’t include a scene where the hero refers to the bad guy as “a villain”. and that reason is that, for these characters, what happens in the movie is real to them. and also because the studios want their audience — us — to feel as though we actually live in that world. they don’t want to keep reminding us that “hey, this is a movie, it’s not real” by having the hero call the bad guy villain.

reminder: the world you create are real for those characters, and it should feel real for your readers to.

words to use instead of “villain”

murderer

monster

bad people / bad person

killer

son of a bitch

dick

cunt

dickhead

convicted

abuser

prick

dangerous (person / people)

predator

rapist

violent (person / people / man)

manipulator

traitor

unreliable

liar

troublemaker

troubled

unstable

corrupted

psychopath

capable of horrible, violent things