#4 / 5 on our way to hundo

[nemossubmarine]

DA RP Write-up #15.4

Our heroes’ adventures in time are coming to an end, or a beginning? No definitely an end. Let’s see how it goes!

We pick up where we left of, that is at the large cavern where the heart made out of people was ba-bumping. Our heroes are not sure what to do.

Boshara suggests magic, but Thomas disagrees. He says that our heroes can’t be certain where they’d be sent to, there’s a chance they’d end up in time where there isn’t a cavern and that would be bad.

Elspet would like to take a look at the hearts again, so Randy uses his grappling hook and in a pretty swell move, grapples two undead for inspection.

Elspet takes her first dip into autopsy-doing, and manages to do just fine.

Boshara isn’t doing so fine, she throws up again.

Elspet takes out the heart of one of the undead and takes out the pit inside its heart. As soon as she touches it, the pit starts sprouting small vines, that tangle around Elspet’s hand.

Upon Elspet’s request, Thomas uses his templar powers to de-magic the seed, which then lets go.

Thomas is rather worried about this turn of events, as he had left Konstantine alone to study the seeds. He feels must go back to check on him, Konstantine is his ward after all.

Our heroes are left alone at the ledge. Below them, the undead are suddenly becoming more active, starting to clamper towards them.

Our heroes each try to slow them down, but it’s clear they’ll soon be knee-deep in undead.

Humbert uses his sword’s special power and creates a bubble of magical energy, under which our heroes are safe from the undead.

While some of the undead try to attack the bubble, some simply wander off.

The bubble leaves a clear shot at the heart, and our heroes wonder if Alf’s electric arrow would be enough to clear it off. There’s only one way to find out.

Alf shoots so so good that he manages to shoot two electric arrows instead of one. This causes all the undead on the heart to drop off, all except one.

Elspet turns into a bird and she and Alf’s owl Haukka go to investigate the body.

It is a body of a man, dressed in fancy clothing, pierced through the heart with a stalactite, expect the stalactite is somehow fused into parts of his body. 

Haukka notices the golden necklace around the man’s neck, after all she has been trained to spot such things. That must be the time travel necklace. It looks like it’s half-stoned over as well.

While Elspet investigates, Randy decides to take care of the rest of the undead around them, before they get away. He pulls out his blood-magic weapons, let’s out a battle cry and rushes the group outside the bubble, knocking them back as he swings his weapons, hitting one, two, three! In few moments most of the undead are laid to rest, and though few feebly swing at Randy, they leave no mark. Randy chases some of the undead lumbering away down. In total he finished about 30 to 40 undead in only a handful of minutes.

When Randy returns to others, he and Boshara have a bit of an argument about it, as Boshara thinks Randy is being too much of a goody-two-shoes, which, according to her, the group has never been about. Randy says that he has learned some stuff from Humbert, which Boshara doesn’t buy.

Elspet reports back about the stuck necklace. Our heroes decide that now it’s time to try magic, but perhaps they should try to do it above the ground, not below it.

Alf manages to perfectly replicate their steps in the cellar and the caverns above the ground, leading them to the exact spot, below which the man and the necklace lay.

This time it is Elspet who uses magic to bring them back, she heals Randy and again time slows down and picks up and the fog raises.

Our heroes are in the fog, holding hands. Alf calls out to the darkness, and soon our heroes (all expect Randy) hear someone approaching.

The fog is suddenly pierced by a beam of light, carried by a figure who speaks to our heroes in a language they can’t understand, but which Boshara recognizes as Ancient Tevene.

The fog fades and our heroes realized that they are surrounded by Tevinter soldiers and in front of them is the man from the cave, the owner of the necklace, dressed in fantastic finery, half of his face a stone mask.

Our heroes are put into chains, and when Randy tries to resist, the man uses blood magic on him.

Chained, our heroes are taken to a Tevinter camp, where they are thrown into a pen with other slaves. Alf is separated from others and is put together with another elf at one corner.

Soon a person comes to ask about their names and Boshara communicates with her through writing. She introduces our heroes, and is very dismayed to find that the people are planning on keeping them as slaves, even when she tells her that she is a mage.

That only earns her some magic-suppressing handcuffs.

Finally she tells that she can speak the local language(s) (she can’t), and the woman tells she’ll go get someone.

Left alone, our heroes can get to know the other slaves, except they don’t speak neither old Nevarran nor old Tevene.

To their surprise they find that the elf speaks elven and dwarven.

She isn’t very fond of speaking with Boshara, her appearing human, but with Randy she chats willingly.

She tells that the magister in charge is name Tilano Amanti, that she was captured and the rest of her group killed.

Randy asks what year it is, and she says it’s 5328, which doesn’t say much.

Randy notes that she doesn’t look like she is well, and she says that she is fading and that “Arlathan burns”.

She also tells that she is basically immortal, but doesn’t know for how long.

Alf notices that the elf is toying with something in her hands, and gets Randy to ask to see it.

It’s a peach pit, and the elf tells that if she dies, she’ll make sure the humans will go down with her. It’s clear that she is behind the undead apparently in the future-past.

Randy asks her not to use it, but she says she can’t help it. It will activate if she dies, unless she can be freed to deactivate it.

The Tevinter people come back and Boshara tells them that she is from the future. Also she counts what the date would be according to the Tevinter count based on what she picked up around the camp and her sick math skills she learned from Fahim the qunari (callback!).

This catches the attention of the Tevene (more the time travel than the math), after all, magister Amanti owns a time travel necklace.

They ask if any of the others are mages, and Boshara tells that Elspet is, so the two of them are taken to meet magister Amanti in his tent.

Once there Boshara manages to convince that she is a descendant of the magister. Amanti is clearly rather self-conceited so Boshara plays to that. 

She tells she came back in time to learn about controlling the necklace from the very best, its creator.

Amanti agrees to teach her, but only if Boshara tells him of his and his family’s great future and Elspet takes a look at his face.

Meanwhile, Alf and Randy have cooked a plan. They ask the elf if Alf were to free her, if she could make the ground below them disappear as there’s a cavern below there. She says that can be arranged.

So Randy causes a distraction, he yells the maybe two words of Nevarran he knows and punches one of the Nevarran prisoners a bit too hard, but hard enough to cause a fight.

While everyone is distracted, Alf picks the lock of the elf’s chains and as she is freed, she starts casting.

In the tent, Elspet is looking at Amanti’s facial disfiguration. She concludes that this must be from an overuse of lyrium, and as far as she knows, there’s no cure.

She still however pretends to totally what she is doing, so she can be freed from her chains, which she is.

While she is healing, there’s angry Nevarran shouting and then rumbling like an avalanche.

Everyone exits the tent, and the outside world is in chaos; the elf has started pulling the earth itself into the cavern. She herself is riding the waves of ground, while everything else is unceremoniously being pulled down.

Boshara starts rushing towards Alf hoping to get her shackles off. Alf starts rushing towards Boshara.

Magister Amanti starts casting something, and with a single flick of his wrist, everyone still wearing chains have their arms sliced open and blood pouring out to fuel his spell.

While Magister Amanti is distracted, Elspet steals the necklace and turns into a bird just long enough to get to Alf and Boshara.

Randy rushes the magister, the two guards chasing Boshara try to slow him down, but he shrugs them off. Randy doesn’t quite manage to tackle the magister to the ground, but he does enough to disrupt the absolutely massive inferno he was casting.

Alf has freed Boshara, who takes the necklace from Elspet. The three of them run to Randy.

Boshara pretends to give the necklace to Magister Amanti, but before he can reclaim it, Elspet uses Mind Blast to clear off the people around them.

In the moment of peace they have, Boshara concentrates on home, and casts magic into the necklace.

There’s a lake now, and everyone (except Humbert) is feeling shorter than before. 

It seems that our heroes have not quite reached the right time. Boshara appears to be two years old, Elspet 5, Randy 7 and Alf 10. 

Humbert (~29 and looking mighty fine) fishes the little ones and their equipment out of the lake.

It seems that the hole the elf created has turned into a lake, and the surroundings are far less swampy than before.

This times Elspet tries to work the necklace, but it only takes them few years forward. Finally Elspet and Boshara both try, and they reach the current age.

The town of Meünzenbern has been transformed from a poor berry-picking village to a nice looking beach-village. Unfortunately this means that the deal our heroes made with Esteri in the past hasn’t happened, so they won’t be getting their wine. 

Our heroes go to the local tavern and order some sweet coctails. THE END

That’s it! And since our heroes undid the time they spent with Konstantine by going back farther, the timeline’s not all that wonky too! Yay!

Next campaign, I’m still in charge, we’ll start reaping the seeds send down for sowing with Arkaitz, as our heroes go on a mother hunt! Exciting and scary

[emberinmyheart]

[ writing tips ]

( I am not the person who thought of all of these writing tips and ideas. Writing tips come from books such as Write Your Novel in a Month by Jeff Gerke, The First 50 Pages by Jeff Gerke, Writing Your Novel from Start to Finish by Joseph Bates and a tumblr account called @writingmastery . I do not take credit for any of this, this is just meant to help you.)

c h a r a c t e r s :

- making the characters

- what makes a good character/protagonist

- making the antagonist

- questions to ask about your protagonist

- things your protagonist must have

- supporting characters

p l o t :

- planning the plot

- theme

- outlines

d i a l o g u e :

- basic dialogue formatting

w r i t i n g s u g g e s t i o n s :

- how to get out of writer’s block

- how to get inspiration

[ c h a r a c t e r s ]

- making the characters -

1. Consider your character’s:

• Intelligence

• Natural gifts or talents

• Love language (how they express affection)

• Self-esteem

2. Consider your character’s physical traits, such as:

• Gender

• Age (at the time the story begins)

• Ethnicity

• Height

• Weight

• Hair style and color

• Eye color

• Complexion

• Teeth

• Eyesight

• Physical attraction

• Any deformities, handicaps or distinctive marks

• Facial hair (for male characters only)

• Clothing style (including sense of style)

• Accessories

• Jewelry

• Tattoos and / or piercings

• Contacts or glasses

or things such as:

• Hygiene

• Posture

• Vehicle they use (optional?)

because this can be a massive help when discovering a character’s personality. “How would your character’s personality be affected by the physical attributes you choose?” (Jeff Gerke, Pages 52, 53 & 54)

3. Consider your character’s background, such as their:

• Siblings — ages, names and relationship with hero

• Level of wealth or poverty

• Whether they lived in the city or the country

• Marital status of parents

• Culture

• Education

• Relationship with parent of the same gender

• Era

• Societal backdrop (war, famine, revolution)

• Country and region

• Parents — who are they? What do they do? What were their experiences with the hero in the past and present, and how have experiences with them molded the hero’s life? Are they alive? Are they dead? Rich? Poor? Alcoholic? Was the father a famous athlete the hero had to learn to be like, or never thought he could be like? Does this impact the hero’s relationship with their siblings, if they have any?

(Jeff Gerke, page 55)

- what makes a good character/protagonist -

1. Consider this for your protagonist/hero...

• The selfless hero. For example: “a single mother who works two jobs who works two jobs but still somehow manages to do homework with the kids and go out for ice cream once in a while, or a soldier who volunteers to stay behind to cover his buddies’ retreat, or the silent partner who lets someone else get the glory for the work that was actually shared.” (Jeff Gerke, page 36)

• The compassionate hero. “When someone reaches out in love towards another, it is considered a virtue. It follows that your reader will most likely resonate with a compassionate hero. Show them having mercy on someone when it was within their rights to condemn, or show them going through all kinds of trouble to get a crust of bread to eat, but then show them handing it over to someone who has even less than he does.” (Jeff Gerke, page 37)

• The generous hero. “We love the bighearted giver. Most of us wish we were in a position to be able to give like that, to support some person or cause we believe in. Show your hero secretly dropping a hundo into the subway musician’s tip jar or leaving a fifty dollar tip for the diner waitress or anonymously buying someone’s wares at auction to be sure he has money to live on.” (Jeff Gerke, 37)

• The charming hero. “If your character can make the reader laugh, you’ve got them. We all love charming, winsome people. They’re fun to be around. They make life a little less burdensome. Humor can be hard to write, so don’t stress if this isn’t the direction you want to go. But if you can create a protagonist that makes us smile, you have us.” (Jeff Gerke, 38)

• The sympathetic hero. One of the main ways to engage your reader is to make them relate and bond with your character until they’re attached. Characters can bring back your memories and trigger the release of feelings you’ve got pent up in your head and can help you navigate your own issues. “If you can cause your reader to feel sympathetic towards your protagonist, you’ve won. When you show that gaping hole of pain or loss, the reader leans in, rushing forward with compassion into that person’s life like air filling a vacuum. When we feel your hero’s loss or grieve with them as they fail once again to achieve a noble goal, we build an instant connection. Make us feel like this is someone who we would like who has just been dealt a terrible hand— but who nevertheless keeps trying— and you’ll have us.” (Jeff Gerke, 41)

• The unlikable hero. Some characters in best-selling books are unlikable characters, but they have something redeeming in them trying to get out. It’s the good that makes us tolerate them and even come to like them. Your heroes can be unlikable or have a lot of flaws, but they have to be somewhat likable enough for the hero to be attached to them and their story.

• The winsome hero. “One reason why readers can engage with these characters is that they find them endearing. They’re good souls, they make you laugh, and they’re gentle with others. Characters can be flamboyant and outrageous, but they’re delightful to be around. To make your reader attached to them in the first few pages, you’ll need to reveal this winsomeness to the readers somewhere in the first fifty pages.” (Jeff Gerke, 73)

• The smart hero. “Another way to make readers engage with your character is to make them smart, resourceful, clever or mentally agile. We value characters who can see straight through the smoke to the thing the smoke was meant to conceal. We delight in seeing a resourceful hero trying to climb to that pile of puzzles to tell us what they see from there.” (Jeff Gerke, 73)

“The way you can tell if characters are weak is by reading about fifty pages of a novel. If by then you can’t tell the characters apart aside for cosmetic things like gender, age, role, office, species, attitude or goofy accent, there’s a problem. If you could switch the names around in a dialogue scene and nothing seems out of the ordinary, the characters are weak. If the only difference between your characters is that one’s always mad and the other is always talking dirty, your book is doomed.” (Jeff Gerke)

- making the antagonist -

What does a antagonist need to become a good villain?

A good antagonist, or villain, usually has to:

• Be strong. “A strong villain makes for a strong hero. When a hero overcomes a weak villain, they’re not going to seem very epic to the reader. But have them overcome a galaxy-destroying psychopath with an army of flesh-eating undead giants under their command, and you might just have yourself a hero of legend.”

• Make the hero go through several stakes. When you look back at all of the notes you’ve made for your story so far, you may have a clear idea of what the stakes are. What might be the “OR-ELSE” stakes you can set for your book? According to Jeff Gerke (a very useful source for writing tips), “the stakes can be related to a goal, a relationship, safety or anything else. They can be objectively large (if the hero fails, Earth will be destroyed) or small (if the hero fails, the team won’t win the first game of the season), so long they are important to the hero— and thus the reader”. (Jeff Gerke, page 79)

- questions to ask about your protagonist -

When creating and rounding out your protagonist, there are some questions you must ask yourself first:

1. Who is your protagonist? “The events in your novel are only meaningful for the reader in terms of how and why they’re meaningful for a protagonist. The protagonist is the lens through what we see, and interpret, everything in the book.” (Joseph Bates, page 22)

2. What does your protagonist want, and why is it important to them? “A protagonist must have a clear goal in the book, as well as a clear motivation for wanting to achieve it... not just what they’re after, but why they’re after it, so that the reader feels a sense of personal stakes.” (Joseph Bates, page 22)

3. What stands in the way of the protagonist? “Which is to say, what conflicts will the protagonist face? As with motivation, these conflicts will sometimes be external, plot-level conflicts and at other times, personal ones.” (Joseph Bates, page 22)

4. What familiar genres or tropes are suggested by premise, and how will your novel both play with or against those expectations? “Every story idea will automatically get you thinking of certain genres the story borrows from. Finding ways to make these tropes seem new and unexpected will be much more enjoyable for you to write and for your reader to read.” (Joseph Bates, 23)

5. How does the world of the novel that your protagonist is in— its setting, rules, everything related to the book’s tone— help reveal or illuminate the protagonist’s quest? “A story’s world helps build a reader’s understanding of the character’s quest, meant to find a understanding of motivation, conflict and stakes. World-building is often one of the first aspects that’ll pop into our heads when we think of a new novel idea, and it’s very easy to get stuck into the world-building stage. But the world can only come into sharp focus when we see it as an extension of the character and conflict. We don’t build a world and then drop a character into it. We build the world according to our understanding of story and character.” (Joseph Bates, 23)

6. What personal, everyday questions or problems arise within the premise that you connect with and will explore over the course of the novel? “This is something that you’ll likely have to discover in the process of writing, not necessarily something you’ll likely know from the start, but it’s the everyday that allows the reader to connect with the protagonist and see something of themselves in the protagonist’s plight. As the everyday questions or problems begin to show themselves and repeat in the book, you’ll see themes emerge, which will help support and structure in the book.” (Joseph Bates, 23)

7. What is your character’s internal motivation; What do they really want? “Again, this might particularly be a question to ask of a flat protagonist, the result of a main character who seems motivated by nothing but plot-level or external circumstances; remember that your hero is also a person, like you or me, and consider what we’d feel in a similar situation. But don’t forget that even minor characters have motivations, and lives, and even arcs, of their own.” (Joseph Bates, 42)

8. How might you locate a character’s internal motivation and conflict if these may seem absent? “If your character’s motivation seems purely external, perhaps as part of their obligation as a job— if you’re writing a detective novel, and the character has simply taken on a new case— try to consider what it is about the change personally, that informs their professional work, how it influences their ability to do the job, or speaks to the reason they entered the profession in the first place. Also consider how this particular job is different from yesterday’s job, or tomorrow’s, or last year’s. Presumably part of what makes this job or case different that is personally different, there’s something personally at stake. How might that be the case?” (Joseph Bates, 43)

9. Are you playing both with and against type? “No character is 100% good or evil, kindhearted or callous, capable or clueless, so consider not only how to set up our expectation of character, but also how to subvert that expectation, how to complicate our view of a character.” (Joseph Bates, 43)

10. How is the heart of the character, the motivation, evident in a work you admire? “Consider this with any novel or work that means something to you, no matter the genre. Try looking back at the main character you find compelling and play armchair psychologist a bit, looking at how the external and internal motivation and conflict play with, or pay off of, each other.” (Joseph Bates, 43)

- things your protagonist must have -

1. A protagonist must be active and questioning. “The protagonist can’t merely be acted upon in your novel. Your protagonist has to engage the world instead of observing it. Too many beginning novelists tend to trade character development for world building. Once you fully grasp your character’s want, and why they want it, you can set them down a path of actively pursuing it.” (Joseph Bates, 36)

2. Your protagonist must evoke a connection with the reader. A reader’s relationship to a protagonist is generally one of sympathy, empathy or it’s because the reader sees their own life in the protagonist’s life. “In other words, we see something of our own lives, experiences and struggles related to the protagonist.” (Joseph Bates, 37)

3. The character must be connected to everything in the story. All those other aspects in the story are connected to the reader, too. The character should be bound to those other elements of the story. Theme, mood, description should all be focused through the prism of character. For some reason, readers want to see our characters be punished, destroyed and wounded, but these things aren’t as satisfying until they’re rewarded and end up triumphant in the end.

4. Tell us what the character (protagonist) wants. It is critical to know what a character wants from the start of the book. The character may not know what they want, but the readers and audience must have that information in order to read more of the story. Maybe, for example, she wants revenge, or freedom from oppression, or their child returned to them, or true love, or anything else that can be seen as a motivation— the reader must know what the character’s motivations are as well, because the readers need to know how far your character has come, what stakes are on the table and what obstacles are between them and their final path.

5. You must prove that your protagonist is worth your audience’s time.

- supporting characters -

1. Supporting characters either help or hinder the protagonist in meeting their goals. Some supporting characters can even end up being villains. “For example, some of the most well-meaning people in our lives try to help, and claim to have our best interests at heart, yet their well-meaning help sometimes ends up hurting. Likewise, people who stand in our way, even those who actively oppose us, can end up pushing us to do or be better. They have motivations of their own, and most supporting characters try to be helpful, but ends up complicating what the other characters are trying to do.” (Joseph Bates, 41)

[ p l o t ]

- planning the plot -

Your hero’s inner journey should have several stages.

These are some things you need to remember when planning out the plot of your story:

1. The hero must start with a problem. A inner journey starts with the hero’s problem. What is wrong in the character’s life? For example, “self-centeredness is often the “sin” chosen for heroes in modern stories. The hero is stuck on themselves, and this selfishness causes no end of problems for them. It deprives them of the life they could have if they weren’t so impressed with themselves. Other popular character problems are bitterness, ambition, pride and a desire for vengeance and/or vindication. But the primary problem that all heroes have is fear. Any from the array of fears and anxieties can propel your hero through a wonderful character arc. Fear of being hurt, or abandonment, or failure, or disappointing others, or loss, or being alone, or losing control, and of meaninglessness, not to mention neurotic fears (arachnophobia, agoraphobia, etc.), anger (which is fear in disguise) and depression (fear and anger turned inwards).” (Jeff Gerke, page 61)

2. The plot is about how the hero must notice their issues, wrestle with their issues and finally deal with their issues. It’s the hero’s chance to change themselves into a better person, from start to finish. “The plot is the stage upon which your hero undergoes their inner journey. Whatever the two forces battling it out inside your hero’s heart are, they’re probably invisible. When you’re thinking of plot structure, your starting point is your hero’s inner journey. Whatever it is they’re dealing with on the inside, that’s what the whole plot will be about.” (Jeff Gerke, page 87)

3. There are several stages in a plot. Examples of this would be events such as: we meet our protagonist, we see the location where the place is going to take place, we understand the protagonist’s goals, and we meet the villain. Beginning, middle and end are good starts for understanding the concepts.

4. In order for the hero to be shown the error of their ways, the author must show them a better alternative, first. Usually, the positive alternative future is the opposite of the negative possible future. What would be a healthy outcome for your hero?

5. There is always going to be an inciting incident in your character’s life. Something unwelcome is going to crash into your hero’s dysfunctional life— this is the inciting incident. Without it, your hero would keep plodding along towards their unhappy ending and go towards the ending you don’t want them to go. The inciting incident doesn’t have to be negative, although it usually is— sometimes, it can be a good thing that changes the character’s life completely. Of course, the character could see it as a blessing, but not while it’s happening. The inciting incident could be something that the character does welcome, but it ends up taking them to places they didn’t want to go. For it to work in the novel, the inciting incident must be powerful and must take the hero on their inner journey throughout the entire book. Our hero won’t immediately embrace the change, or else there would be no inner journey. They have to reject it at first.

6. Your character must have their own, inner journey. “In fiction, a inner journey starts off with a character in need of a significant change in their current life. The journey will then lead the protagonist directly to their moment of truth, which is the moment where the protagonist realizes they’re out of balance and must decide whether they’re going to stay with the imbalance or make the change that will reveal to them what their true self should be.” (Jeff Gerke, page 126)

7. There must be a escalation in the story. “The escalation happens between the inciting event and the moment of truth. This is the internal struggle in which the hero tries to hold onto their old, unbalanced way of living, while the new alternative begins presenting itself as a way back into love. During the escalation, your hero will be pushed and pressed and knocked about because they refuse to embrace the change that will result in their inner healing.” (Jeff Gerke, page 127)

8. You have to combine all of these aspects of the hero’s inner journey together to make the reader truly attached to the story. The cycle that all of these stages go through is starting off with the hero’s unbalanced situation. After the unbalanced situation, which is the hero’s initial condition, there is the inciting event, which is the one event that crashes into the hero’s life that leads to their moment of truth. Between the inciting event and the moment of truth is the escalation.

9. After all of these stages, your hero must have their final state. At the end of every journey, your hero must rest and face the result of her consequential decisions. The final state isn’t whether your hero won or lost, it’s the condition of your hero now that their inner journey is over. However, if your hero chose the wrong way, then the final state is something that is not peaceful or the right way to go. The final state will be good or bad, depending on the hero’s choices.

- theme -

1. Brainstorm a dozen ways to show off primary, secondary and opposite facets of your theme, and see how many of them you can elegantly work into those opening spreads. “You don’t have to cram them all in— you’ve got over three hundred pages to explore your theme, after all— but be sure you’ve begun planting those seeds early on. Such things make rereading a novel especially fun, because the second time, knowing where the book is going, you see things the author was doing to set us up for it, though we couldn’t see them the first time. Imagine it being like a film— in the early section of the film, the filmmakers would plan so many things that would have come to importance later. It’s a testimony to their prowess as storytellers that they were giving us the theme from the outset.” (Jeff Gerke, 207)

- outlines -

1. Outline your story with a beginning, middle and an end. “Each should have an emotional arc for your characters. I’m not talking about a synopsis of what happens, but more of what do they (the key characters) feel when it’s happening. This doesn’t mean that you have to know everything that is going to happen, but you need an arc. Point A leads to point B, then to point C. One thing people forget to do when they outline is define emotional growth, and therefore they forget that the story must include the emotional arc.”

2. Character outlines. “Who is the hero? Who is the heroine? Why do they fit your hero and help them be a better hero? Or vice versa? It is often the hero that helps the heroine and helps her find her way to the other side of a battle. Thus, he becomes a hero for her. Knowing your characters helps shape their responses and the external conflict.”

[ d i a l o g u e ]

- basic dialogue formatting -

There are different types of formatting, such as:

1. Dialogue silos. “In dialogue scenes, keep a character’s words and actions in the same paragraph. The reader understands that, when you change to a new paragraph, a new person is talking. The paragraphs take turns in line with the characters taking turns as they exchange lines of dialogue. Let each paragraph in a dialogue be a little character silo into which only words and actions from that character may be placed.” (Jeff Gerke, pages 138 & 139)

2. Beats. Beats are tools to manage the pacing of your scenes and to tether the scene to the setting. Just as you have to include rests in music, so you have to write beats into your novel, and you have to use beats of varying lengths to create those pauses for the readers. When you want something to proceed without a pause, take out all the words that come first. Without beats, your dialogue scenes are rushed and clumsy, and they become detached to the setting. Beats show us what’s happening in the setting of the scene. They give us the viewpoint character’s thoughts and perceptions, too. A beat implies a pause— if you want to imply a long pause, write a long beat. Short beats equal short pauses. (Jeff Gerke, page 25 & 27)

[ w r i t i n g s u g g e s t i o n s ]

- how to get out of writer’s block -

1. Have a word count goal each day. If you want to write more often than usual, you can set up a goal to write 1,666 words a day or more, depending on how much you want to challenge yourself.

2. Write wherever you go. Having a notebook or a iPad will come in handy when your mind starts wandering to scenes that you might forget later. You can take notes in your notebook or iPad (or any other device you can write or type your ideas down on), email them to yourself and then copy and paste when you get home.

3. Make multiple backups. When your notebook, iPad (or the thing you write down on) crashes or anything that makes you unable to use it, you may need to make backups so you can write on other things. Save it everywhere, or at least on three backups so that you can write whenever, wherever without a problem.

4. Use a timer. Time yourself, and then write down as many ideas or words as you can. See if this helps your inspiration and ideas grow into more complex ideas, and if it does, continue to use it. Surprisingly, most people tend to write faster when they’re being rushed. See if this relates to you, and if not, there are always other solutions.

5. If a scene isn’t working, delete it. Sometimes, a scene is much less forced if you simply let it drag you in the direction that it’s most likely to go. Just keep moving forward, instead of procrastinating by deciding what to write next!

6. Take breaks. Even though you have no time to lose, take a break if you need to. Step away from the phone and do something mindless. Sometimes, the gears in your head overwork themselves, pushing you too far down the rabbit hole, which is why you need to take a break every now and then to get rid of these little moments so you’re not tugging at the strands of your hair in agony when you get to a dead end.

[kittyslashers]

What the fuck did you just fucking say about me, you little bitch. I’ll have you know my name is Billy, and I woke up this morning 5:30 sharp to the smell of wet pussy. I was getting a blowjob from two bitches (Shit was SO Cash), one was trying to fit my humongous 3 pound balls in her mouth while the other was choking halfway on my 18 and 3\8 inch dick. She started to squirt hard, she was convulsing and having 6 orgasms at the same time. I gave it to them and they were on the floor squirting like motherfucking fountains. Must have come about a quart of sperm and compressed air. Imagine your best orgasm, then multiply it by 35. I had to go to base camp so I front-flipped from my 14th floor barracks into my valet parked 2012 Ferrari (I got connexions). Pushed my shit to about 4 hundo (mph, mind you) and I was at base camp in no time. When I entered, I became a top sniper and was granted access to the entire arsenal of the USMC. I learned how to kill someone in over 700 different ways and was assigned to be the leader of a squad that will kill 300 terrorists using gorilla warfare tactics. Also did 6000 push-ups, 8000 sit-ups and bench-pressed 30 plates in 16 minutes. After basic training, I met a network of secret spies who will help me trace your IP address, while eating gold plated sushi and 15,000 $ champagne. My unit got the rest of the day off and I became captain of our base’s football team and starter of the basketball team. I got straight A’s on the military entrance exams and received more awards. Meanwhile, you were jacking off to pictures on Facebook and naked drawn Japanese people. Went back in the Lambo to my barracks and now I am getting ready to go to sleep. I am going to graduate at the top of my class in the Navy Seals tomorrow and I want to look pretty much perfect for it. Don’t be a stranger and remember, I did more in one day than you will your entire life.

Tumblweeds with Joseph Gordon-Levitt

We got into the weeds with actor and filmmaker Joseph Gordon-Levitt (@hitrecordjoe) about HITRECORD Class Projects, creating a character based on himself for Mr. Corman, and memories from the making of 10 Things I Hate About You and Inception.

Questions from: @pcedamercn, @pleasepleasepleaseme, @scoobysnack, and ~Anonymous~

[austinpanda]

Dad Letter 062621

Scheduled for delivery 8:00 AM EST Sunday

27 June, 2021

Dear Dad--

Summer has reached Old Town, and we’re having highs in the 80s on some days! Still love it here. The days are still 20 hours long, which is driving me nuts a bit--it gets light before 4:00 a.m. now--but the days will get shorter now that the solstice has occurred and summer has officially started. It’s still disconcerting to wake up and see broad daylight and it’s still only 5:00 a.m.

This morning was spent going to the grocery store to get the things we forgot during yesterday’s big trip to the grocery store. We shopped together yesterday, something we don’t do very often since Covid, and I spent about a hundo ($100) on groceries, only to get home and find out we’d forgotten all the dairy; we were out of milk and half and half. That felt kind of stupid. And, to increase the stupid quotient, Zach feels like he’s getting sick, so this morning’s (FUCK MY LIFE I FORGOT TRASH BAGS) trip was solo, and fortunately, it went without incident. Except for the goddamn trash bags. If I go again, it’ll be four trips to the store in four days. (Curses! I hate inefficiency!)

Obviously, if that’s the biggest thing I have to tell you about, it hasn’t been an eventful week. I had another short work week, during a time when I wish the work week were longer, and did an unimpressive job trying to learn and execute the new audit I’m learning. The good news is, as of the last day I was there, I finally got to finish making the notes I need to get through the audit. Now I believe it will be easier. I believe my boss fell victim to one of the classic smart people blunders: Smart people sometimes suck at knowing which things are confusing to a new person, or else, as is more the case with me, someone who is new to the process. I don’t think he wanted me to make such comprehensive notes, for fear it would only make things more time-consuming and confusing. That makes logical sense, but it’s exactly wrong, because: kangaroo. Remember the movie Arrival?

She wants to use a white board to communicate with the aliens, but the army guy thinks it’ll take longer to learn to speak with the aliens if she involves reading and writing too, but she says, “Kangaroo.” And the point is, she tells the story of Captain So-and-so who, in 17 hundred and whatever, landed in Australia. He led a party into the country, and they found the aboriginal people, and asked what were those animals that hop around and keep their babies in pouches? And the aborigines said, “Kangaroo.” It wasn’t until later that the sailors learned “kangaroo” means “I don’t understand.” Her point was that she needed the white board to avoid misinterpretations, otherwise everything would take longer. And that’s what I did with my notes at work. They’re long, and comprehensive, and it took a while to make them, but with them, you can do the audit by yourself. Otherwise, it’s just too complex and confusing for a new person to do alone. I win, damnit.

So I’m looking forward to going back to work tomorrow for another unfortunately short work week, in part because I now have the tools I need to do the job, and also because I’ve decided to listen to my boss, who said I really don’t need to take so much work home with me. He actually doesn’t like how much time I’m spending in my off hours obsessing about this stupid new complicated audit. I’m not always sure how to respond to that, the accusation that I’m needlessly worrying too much about something. I like to think I do the exact right amount of worrying about everything. But he seems firm in his conviction that I need to lighten the hell up, so I’m considering actually trying to. I’m going to cease obsessing about this stupid audit, I’ll just keep doing it as well as I can until I’ve mastered it, and I’ll try not to let it make me frustrated to the point where I want to kick my computer all the way into the sun.

I’ve learned a new casino term! It’s a term for a certain type of bad behavior that the casino will generally want to keep its eye on, something called fast feeding. Fast feeding is a way of laundering money. You feed a bunch of “dirty” cash into a slot machine, gamble for five minutes, and tell the machine to give you a voucher for the extra money you fed into the machine. Then you take the voucher to the casino’s cage (its bank) and ask them to cash it out. And just like that, you turned your pile of dirty money into a pile of their clean money. The problem with that is, it’s really, really easy to spot. You don’t even need people, your computers can alert you, “Hey, this potential asshole just fast-fed a bunch of cash into a slot machine, played for eight minutes, and then requested a voucher to cash out. Malfeasance!” (I assume the part where it shouts, “Malfeasance!” is equally as necessary as all the other steps.) So that’s fast feeding. As casino revenue auditors, we are officially against that.

Zach’s mom got us this decorative garden thing that’s like a little wooden tray you can fill up with wild critter chow, and now we’ve become an epicenter of little critter activity in our neighborhood. We fill this thing with a wild mammal mix of sunflower seeds and peanuts and dried corn kernels, and all kinds of cute little furry shits come up to eat from it. This has created one problem, which is that all this is occurring in the grassy space where I keep my car parked. And when I worked for Progressive, I set up a lot of claims for, “Rodents made a nest in my car’s wiring, chewed the wiring to pieces, and now the car is a paperweight.” So I don’t want any adorable little critters setting up house in the vital organs of my car. Also, there’s the concern that we’re going to drive over something cute and squash it. So now whenever we get into the car, we slam the door a couple of times, and kick the sides lightly, just to flush out any animals that might be taking a nap in the shade of my engine. And for God’s sake, don’t come inside; that’s where murder by kittycat awaits.

On the subject of animals, I just learned something that blew my mind about bats, so now it will be your misfortune to have to learn something about bats. It’s one of those, “Behold, the power of evolution/God,” kinda things. There are these bats called mustache bats. I will include a picture. They are not cute, and they don’t have a mustache, which left me feeling a bit screwed, but there you have it. Anyway, bats use echolocation to find food. And one way to look for lots of food at once is to scan lots of frequencies, by sending out a “cheep” that starts low, and goes up in pitch. That brings back lots of echo information, but it brings back too much echo information. What if bats could just use one frequency of “cheep” and just be really good at hearing that one frequency?

Well, these little shits can do that. They send out a cheep in one frequency, and they have just the right bone structure in the ear to make them super good at hearing the echoes that come back at that frequency. “But,” you may ask, “What about the doppler shift? These are sound waves. As the bat’s flying, and its speed changes, the cheeps that come back are going to be constantly changing in frequency because of the doppler shift, and it won’t hear them.” Well, the little shits apparently thought of that, too. What researchers figured out was that the bats just change the pitch of their cheeps to compensate for changes in how fast they’re flying. That blew my damn mind. The bats are great at hearing a certain frequency to catch food, but when they fly faster or slower, the sound leaves that sweet spot frequency, so they just adjust the frequency of the cheeps to compensate. *mind explodes*

And how did they figure this out? They put the bats on a little swing and gave them a push. Then they simply made a graph of the bat’s speed, and superimposed over it a graph showing the bat’s chirp frequency, the two mirror each other perfectly. Bat speeds up, and the frequency of its cheeps reduces. Bat slows down, cheeps go higher. (Except for the part when the swing goes backwards. Then, the cheeps don’t correspond with diddly poo, because bats don’t ever fly backwards, so the whole thing doesn’t work when they’re going backwards.)

Isn’t science just grand? Little bat swings. I’ll have more news next Sunday, and all my love to you both!

[mmjjbbaannkkss]

2020 March 8-14 Dod yn ôl at fy nghoed.

While the covid-19 is odd, it doesn’t scare me, there’s even a possibility that training until your immune system is low, for four years, and being around many viroids, that just taking a rest week, and eating the oranges nobody is buying, will be enough. Long post. I’m going to go to the gym to see if it’s open in a few days from now, but generally speaking, it’s time for a break. 

Yesterday, two days ago, I somehow jammed my outer wrist, and it’s an injury that can cause serious af problems later on; the ball of my left foot keeps getting cramps, after getting new shoes the ankle and perhaps posture improved, but it’s another worry; and my back, obliques, traps, all in knots, so the next phase of training is just walking and stretching and reading books outside. In the fresh air, in the park, laying down in the forest and inheriting what it has to offer. Playing outdoors builds immunity, the microbes and extremophiles we share with the planet will steer our evolution, this might just be an upgrade to the next immunity level on the way to Mars, and you can get the vaccine at PHARMACY when it’s ready. If you’re not already healthy. 

It was sad to see people with masks that don’t work buying things they don’t want, which is why I park across the pond at the supermarket Christmas eve and laff at them, today went to buy eggs, and panic buying had cans and tp empty, even tho like i keep telling the lefties, capitalism doesn’t stop just because the demand goes up, and they keep panicking anyway, site to store, distribution centers to home, wait in line, etc. All you’re doing is driving the price up.on yourself. I literally have libertarian prepper amounts of food, so this is rather Sodom and Gomorrah territory, and why I study the logics, the stoics, and the zenists. I do have to worry about mom’s cats, but again, capitalism isn’t stopping, i’d bet manufacturers are popping corks before the next quarter starts. 

Isometrics, outdoor cardio if you’re urban, calisthenics, are perfect options if you’re still aversive. I’m going to finally do my taijiquan, walk in the mornings, stretch outside, read books, actually enjoy my tea, and meditate. Food reduction is mandatory when not exercising, your calorie intake/expenditure, caloric deficit measures. I’m going into a cut, and so you don’t have to, meditate for hours on end. Eat small, meditate on my emotions and senses, controlling my metabolism with my mind, confronting how perceptions and emotions control me and resolving my fears of social anxiety, especially now. I’ll be sure to post my cutting diets and my carb-less fever dreams of the chocolate cake from Portal 2.

My ancestors lived on muddy rivers in homes dug right into the earth, this virus isn’t exactly neighboring raiders or attackers after our knee-high mud paradise. Wuhan closed it’s last makeshift hospitals. Be logical, don’t get emotional, or get emotional in a preworkout-fuled rampage IG story and fight locals for the crown of TP mountain. 

No I don’t want you to transmit, yes I want you, to look up the symptoms, and compare them to other viroid symptoms, yes you should look at the physicality of those getting it, and those who aren’t. Some of you may need perspective before causing fear. It’s been suggested to practice “social distancing” and my inner child is ROFL at the idea that I’m not already. I’ve been doing the Vulcan salute for 20 years, and now everybody tryna jack my steeze. I’m taking a week off, or more idk what the gym plans to do, and it only took a global crisis to trigger it. It’ll also allow time to see if I present any symptoms while not spreading disease. Practice hygiene and some civility will follow. LLAP

Celebrations Held at Wuhan’s Makeshift Hospitals After City Closes Them Down https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJLC1WInVzQ 

PS I’m going to post regular updates proving i’m not sick, not disproving that I’m not freaking out right before the zombie apocalypse, but just to post and inform to entertain your time, if i can figure out how to talk to the camera again, it always feels rehearsed so be kind.

>workouts/notes

Week 6 (mixed: heavy neg & fst pos)

#31 Heavy Push  

Treadmill 5 > Shldr Press *6/1030507090 > Lat Raise *6/10*4,15? > Hoist *6/35*3,50*3 > Chest press *6/507090110130150170- > Dips *8/6/666/66 > Pec Deck *8/100*3,115130145160175- > Smith Bench *6/100*3,150-1 > Tricep Machine *8/b mñn v e/prolly, 304560 > Pullover Press *8/50506060 > Twist *8/506070 > Treadmill 12, stairs 25-, 5

Shldrs wanted 20 more nice place tho, lat raise cld better but not sure if by cable or db; hoist idk if improved but feels better, where started doing double sets bc pwo, chest press finish low glycemic, dips above avg doubled ended bricked up biceps, smith bench should've pumped bricked hundo instead of 150, was a challenging final rep; pec deck finally in range reps worth repeating, quizás the pwo, a little warm; triceps would've been better at cables, pullover PR if I did them right; still weak left obliques, maybe I'll take up rock golf at the lake; 

Singularity's entire new album >>>>> https://youtu.be/eyirbcaGbC8 

A few days without legumes feels fine; we are the masses that can't park straight until mid May; 

½ L, 4 eggs, c rice; ½ L, sammich; veggie straws, gym, pwo ½ L, ½ L lite, ½ L water, done; veggie straws; 

#32 Lite Pull  

Treadmill 15 > Palms-In pulldown *7/7085100*3120*2 > DB 1-Arm Row *7/15202530355065 > Wide Lat pulldown *7/30*2,50*5 > Pulldown/over *7/30*3; > Shrug *7/60*3,100*3,150? > Row *7/100*7 > Delt Deck *7/15202530354250 > Preacher Curl *7/5050656580809595105105- > Straight Bar Curl *7/20303030404040- > 1-arm cable curl *7/15*3,20*3,25- > Treadmill 5

Chaz Cardigan, Not Okay

Defrosting windows. ½ L 30g whey; 4 eggs, 2 potato toast, ½ L+; 4 eggs, 2 potato toast; gym, 1 L pwo, veggie straws; c rice, 4 eggs; ½ c cottage cheese, mandarin, 2 bread, spinach artichoke dip, cheese, ½ L 30g whey;

#33 Heavy Legs 

Treadmill   15 > Mule *6/5050707090110130 > Horizon Press *6/1030507090110130150170190210- > Deadlift supine curl *6/60*5- > Hack Squat *6/x > Leg Ext *6/1030507090-1 > Leg Curl *8/305070 > Heel Raise *8/30507090110 > Side Bends *8/(2)152535506580100? > Chair Crunch *8/7590105120135 > Press crunch *8/ > Stairs 25, treadmill 5/2;

Bad session, mule stress, horizon press possible PR, deadlift/curl better, skipped hacks b/c possibly last week didn’t mend before retrain window //drove to officeplace for errand across shopping centers 5 min// leg ext better form maybe better reps, leg curl better depth, heel raise worse/cold, side bends PR get some, chair crunch improve better form, would like to do slower crunches, muscle confusion, almost press crunch, but was there way too long, circa packed start, weird wrist…

My right wrist or forearm has become stiff, inflexible at first, might have slept right palm left face and hyperextended it, idk so much, 

Everyone washing their hands, wiping down equipment, not jumping in front of me, brodin wut 

Svartport, Orbit Culture; After gym, grocery store, home, had crockpot chicken mediteraneano, ½ cup rice, ¼ L 15g whey, fell asleep; woke, ate a piece of cheese and another ¼ L, watched a show, back to sleep; however, none-not-theless, i’d only had breakfast and ½ L liquids before gymming, by the time i got home i was past hangry and into cold; 

C rice, ¼ lb gr beef, ½ L 30g whey; ¼ L 20g whey, $1 cashews, gym, 1 L +pwo, 1L electrolytes; chicken mediterraneo, rice; muffin and milk, slice of cheese; 

#34 Lite Push  c/lb/x >> FST 

Treadmill warmup > Shoulder Press *7/10303005507070 > Bb Raise *7/20*7 > Plate Lat Raise *7/10*7 > Incl BB Bench *7/60*7 > Chest press *7/50*3,70*3,90*3,110*3 > Crossover *7/20*7,25*7 > Pec Deck *7/100*7 > Pullover *7/x > Tri-bar tricep *7/15153030454560607575 > Twist *7/507090/x > Stairmill 25, treadmill 5/2

C rice, 4 eggs, ½ L 30g whey; 2 mandarins, ¼ L creatine/aminos, 1L pwo lite, 2 mandarins, ¼ L creatine, done; 1 country biscuit, ½ cup cottage cheese; ¾ med chicken bacon ranch pizza; piece of cheese

#35 Slow Pull   > Treadmill warm-up 15 > Lat Pulldown *6/305070 > Low Row *6/100*5 > High Row *6/35506580100- > Chin Up Palms In *6/666- > Facepull *6/202530355065 > Shrug *8/100*3,150*2- > EZ Curl *8/203030505050 > Cbl Curl 1-Arm *8/15152020 > Preacher 1-Arm *8/15153030454560-60-1 > Twist *8/ > Stairs 25, treadmill 5/2

Cup of rice, 4 eggs, 1/2L 30g whey; fries and 2 cups coffee; Angus burger; pause, 

#36 FST Legs > /halt

[debusenpai]

What the fuck did you just fucking say about me, you little bitch. I’ll have you know my name is John, and I woke up this morning 5:30 sharp to the smell of wet pussy. I was getting a blowjob from two bitches (Shit was SO Cash), one was trying to fit my humongous 3 pound balls in her mouth while the other was choking halfway on my 18 and 3\8 inch dick. She started to squirt hard, she was convulsing and having 6 orgasms at the same time. I gave it to them and they were on the floor squirting like motherfucking fountains. Must have come about a quart of sperm and compressed air. Imagine your best orgasm, then multiply it by 35. I had to go to base camp so I front-flipped from my 14th floor barracks into my valet parked 2012 Ferrari (I got connexions). Pushed my shit to about 4 hundo (mph, mind you) and I was at base camp in no time. When I entered, I became a top sniper and was granted access to the entire arsenal of the USMC. I learned how to kill someone in over 700 different ways and was assigned to be the leader of a squad that will kill 300 terrorists using gorilla warfare tactics. Also did 6000 push-ups, 8000 sit-ups and bench-pressed 30 plates in 16 minutes. After basic training, I met a network of secret spies who will help me trace your IP address, while eating gold plated sushi and 15,000 $ champagne. My unit got the rest of the day off and I became captain of our base’s football team and starter of the basketball team. I got straight A’s on the military entrance exams and received more awards. Meanwhile, you were jacking off to pictures on Facebook and naked drawn Japanese people. Went back in the Lambo to my barracks and now I am getting ready to go to sleep. I am going to graduate at the top of my class in the Navy Seals tomorrow and I want to look pretty much perfect for it. Don’t be a stranger and remember, I did more in one day than you will your entire life.

I’m feeling attacked right now. Why you gotta call me out like this OTL

[jezabelpoiesis]

Poiesis.8k.com my 1995 website

https://web.archive.org/web/20071102052753/http://www.poiesis.8k.com:80/ ----- How To Be Good| 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12Or        bad or strong Or WEAK............To Be Among The Trees.... ---- en silencio, la grandeza del ser se embellece y apasiona por lo que en vano al alma no enamora. 1.1.07            ¿Qué llevo y qué te dejo? ¿Qué doy y cómo soy y qué me quedo? si nadie ya responde es quizás por el seco ruido del monte y la ciudad que se deja invadir de gente que no ama, que pasea y luego por la noche se esconde. 02.06.02                                                                                                                                                          Poiesis| 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13|                                  @2000-2007                                                                                                                                                                   ----- Hola| 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13| Fotos | Cry the tears and the tears of the others but full of pain will your eyes be, cry until you smile again cause it can happend that one day love your hands will hold again. -------- | Domenicas del Campo | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12| 13   TOMO LO SERENO, LO REFRESCO.    TOMO LO SIMPLE, LO CONCENTRO.  TOMO LO CERCANO, SE ALEJA.       TOMO LO CIERTO Y LO SIN CAUSA.      TOMO LA SOMBRA QUE ME SALVA. TOMO SIN VER  LO DE SU ALMA.             TOMO LO MISMO,  TOMO LO DEMAS Y LO DE MENOS. TOMO LOS SORBOS  MUY DEPRISA. DEJARME IR COMO    UNA HIERBA QUE CRECE VERDE Y FUERTE POR TODO  EL CAMPO. ASI SERIA MUCHAS, TODAS JUNTAS. DE MI TODAS SERIAN LA QUE VOS ELIJAS TE MIRO FIJAMENTE  COMO TAMBIEN DE VOS ME ALEJOME QUEDO FIJA   EN COSAS COMO ESAS.      j.c.       beljeza@hotmail.com   ---- 1    | 2 |    Afuera de la Noche | 4 | 5    | 6 | 7    | 8 | 9 | 10    | 11 | 12 | 13  DESDE  EL  SILLON CON   LA  CASA   MEDIA   DORMIDA                                                                  A LUZ SEMI APAGADA Y SEMINOCHE    TODAS  LAS HORAS QUE LLEVO  DESPIERTA  SE ENCUENTRAN  EN MIS OJOS   EN COMO LOS DEJE  QUIETOS O LOS MUEVA   ---- there will be other places       where I will place the magic the good things I can give. the lights are getting close to us, to our road, so get closer to me   on my way back to the sky.use the rain to wash my soul, and forget   the vicious world, but please remember me. More than this I may not tell, I've been in all those places but found no relief My world of hours is running to the depths and therefore I'm learning how to breath....    email:beljeza@hotmail.comJezabel Cohen   ---- Poiesis II   Ha de ser hoy mi muerte y sin llegar a atajarla ha de venir sola la guerra; El silencio ya es costumbre de las suertes. Han de ser hoy las heridas veloces,   hay una mano abierta entre tantas, ha de tener una flor verde, hay detenidas cientos de alas. Ha de acabarse hoy el dia y ha de sangrar el muerto en su siesta.  ---- 6 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Random Dreams | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12| 13 Un sueño, que se    salva de serloOtro más que queda    intacto; puro. Nadie te sueña Sueño que quedás    en el encierro  O asomando en las horas    de la tarde Quisiera adivinarte solamente    Para no tener que tocar     Tu seno de sueño Así tal vez a nadie le toques Y seas algo eterno . Comprendiendo que el navegar tuyo va por  ríos y el aguardar mío va por mares y por lluvias, atraso mi regresoComo cuando el viento permanecía agitado, como cuando estrellarse era fatal y delicado, como cuando sumergirse en un preciso  caminar se transformaba en un permanente caudal de sensación.Así, como cuando la noche se olvidó de vos, como cuando los hombres recordaron lo tentador del universo.       Como cuando el disfraz embellecía al cuerpo, como cuando la tormenta era oculta y era tuya. Como cuando conservar los sueños era como regresar.           Seamos          más soñadores con quienes están cerca; y con los          que no están seamos sus sueños    understanding that your sailing goes by rivers and mine by seas and rains, my return, I delay. Like when the wind remained anxious, like when crashing   was fatal and delicate, like when to submerge in a precise walk was transformed into a permanent volume of sensation.   Thus, like when the night forgot you, like when men remembered the tempters of the universe. Like when the disguise embellished the body, like when the storm was hidden and was yours. Like when to conserve the dreams was like returning. Let's be more dreamers  with those who are close;   and with those who are not let's be their dreams. j.c beljeza@hotmail.com 2001 --- 7 callar    es como ocultarse o defenderse    de tanta inmensidad vacía cuando    vivimos llenando nuestros ojos    de ella1|    2 | 3    | 4 | 5 | 6    | 7 | 8 | 9    | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13   to be silent is like hiding or defending ourselves from the empty inmensity that sorround us while we live filling our eyes with it.          beljeza@hotmail.com.28-09-1997.    j.c.  ---- en la luna 1|    2 | 3    | 4 | 5 | 6    | 7 | en la luna | 9 | 10    | 11 | 12 | 13 Una lágrima cae de tu ojo Y las salpicas. Tratando de hablar en el llanto (nadie te comprende) y mojas su cuerpo que es tan sensible a cada movimiento y ruido que tu haces Como un paisaje cambia, pero no por el pasar del día o de la noche; su singular señal esta abierta entre el cielo, el árbol, la piedra, la hoja, y el trago de agua que te moja. Y no alivia ningun beso lo duro de tu mirada. Quisiera a tí también adivinar, para no tocar el seno de aquello que te despierta y distrae de tu dormir tranquilo. Tal vez acerque así mi corazón y aleje aquello que me lleva. 11-4-03 No quieres escuchar Se te acabaron las horas No tienes más tiempo Estas muerto. No tienes más cambios Ya nada te sorprende No lloras No ríes No sueñas Entonces no piensas. Te han tirado flores Por encima Como a una muerte. Cuando el sol Sale te duermes Y mueres de nuevo. Esa es tu vida Y no te culpes. Desnudo sos igual A otros hombres, Que solos No son nada Y todos juntos Están solos. 05-01-03 Ahora heroicamente los hombres Se reparten campos Ahora un solo grito No se oye El rezo de servir. Que solos se lamentan los que piden Ahora ya los campos no son fértiles No puedo detener ya nada. 3-4-03   Se algo ya que nada no podrás elegir ; se quien quieras algo alegre, verde o gris. Al pie del manzano todos descansamos, Pero solo uno, despierta. Tal vez aquel que viaja sin un sueño O el que ya sin sueños decide no vivir O no morir. Ver el mar entonces, nos entrena para estrellarnos en las noches Con la inmensidad del universo Y sus tres lunas, o las que sean. Deja que sea una luz La que te lleve o te devuelva. 23-05-00 Se va alineando el principio Si puedes mirarme en los ojos Eso ya es un comienzo Puedes verlo dentro de mí Considerando que es lo que menos seguro tengo, a parte de los celos de una noche, reconozco lo convencida que soy con mí contorno no te acuso sino me conoces en mis sueños, aprendí a soportarme mis sonidos, lo unico que quería era dormir sin ruidos y cuando me levante estaba todo en llamas, todo, solamente corrí hasta llegar a desaparecer del unico sueño profundo que tenía, pero todos ya se habían ido; En cambio intente quedarme a regresar los momentos pero tambíen, habían desvanecido con ustedes. Me sente a esperarlos y nunca mas volví cuando ví que era el final. 95 ----- si en lo que queda de la luz, se fuera mi tristeza y se apagara para siempre en un silencio oscuro, las lágrimas se endurecerían en el tiempo y el tiempo seguiría recto su camino, dejando rastros y sombras de mi alma apenas perceptibles en las horas que amenacen a mi pena llorar sola y no conmigo 1.9-05-1994/ 05:25 am . ----- en el aire el oler las flores me ha despertado en suenos,   el cruzar ciudades me ha hecho mas bella,  el amar me da pureza,   pero heme aqui, en soledad y trizteza hasta volverme blanca, tan blanca. ---- en el suelo EN  EL SUELO CAES DURANTE EL DÍAEstoy  por entender todo lo que me falta y en eso vas también vos.Hoy  ya sé como serán los días que vendránparte  lo haremos separados, parte juntosjuntos  - separadamente ---- en el agua                                                                                 el miedo que me das arrastra penas,     arrastra lento un viento helado.     me hundo en la tierra y en el agua floto.                 y ries de dia, y de noche caes,     no sabes lo que quieres y lo quieres ahora, y lo destruyes, y no lo retienes, lo quiebras, no lo pruebas tampoco lo presientes, y no lo serenas, lo secas y rompes, lo deshaces, y no lo intuyes y no lo sigues, lo vigilas, y lo contagias y quemas, y lo abrazas y no lo sanas y lo soplas, lo agitas y sofocas, y alejas, y desconoces, y no cuidas, y lo celas, y no piensas, y no sos simple y no sos libre, te reprimes, te humillas, te despiertas hundida en una pena, te hundes en un llanto, te haces los ojos tristes, te haces la vida menos llena.beljeza@hotmail.com,jezabel-    17-05-2004 --- parada like the body of my soul, go on straight and read your mourn -------> take a break take your head ----> ----> rest ----> go right but not to left but not depth not too blind not to sell -----> not to leave not to kill -----> not too fake go left but not to say that if I left was only for the best. 3.3.2008 <---S.O.S.--->

The station closed and people are dying like birds in the air sad and no hunger. No shadows, no rails, no trains that arrive or departure. The faces of my soul belongs to a red blood color that smells like a trap and like anger to be part of. The dogs don't walk and no one runs the park 1.3.2008 La estaci�n cerr� y hay gente que  muere como aves por el aire, tristes, sin hambre. No hay sombras, no hay rieles, ni trenes que arrivan o parten. Las caras de mi alma pertenecen al color rojo sangre que huele a trampa y a bronca de ser parte. No salen ni los perros y nadie corre por el parque. 1.3.08 Se algo ya que nada no podrás elegir ; se quien quieras algo alegre, verde o gris. Al pie del manzano todos descansamos, Pero solo uno, despierta. Tal vez aquel que viaja sin un sueño O el que ya sin sueños decide no vivir O no morir. Ver el mar entonces, nos entrena para estrellarnos en las noches con la inmensidad del universo Y sus tres lunas, o las que sean. Deja que sea una luz La que te lleve o te devuelva. 23-05-00 Mis horas igual al coraz�n que llevo. Estando enamorada creo en �rboles que est�n llenos de ramas, porque cantan. Igual con las olas y con la noche del mar. Si el coraz�n separa al viento de la mar, un  �ngel vuela y me toma de la mano, Si el coraz�n se para en una noche donde el brillo nada leve sobre el mar, todo lo que fuimos flotar� siempre en el agua. 26.2.2008 Adentro sepan que mi fortuna no se encuentra Adentro sueltan cardos las selvas de mi sangre. As� como no nos vemos, tampoco nos sentimos. D�jame abrazar tu vientre y cubrir de calor mis manos d�jalas que cuando hablan van a abrazar el alma tuya. 9.2.08/ 16.2.95 ha bajado toda la noche por la misma escalera ha dormido en ella he so�ado una vez con ella y no logro recordarla suelen regresar algunas veces, sus mejores gestos pero no como ahora. Ella duerme y conserva una piel serena ha bajado, toda la escalera y por la misma descansa. sospecho que aunque esten quietas sus piernas soportan largos senderos. ella duerme en formas imprecisas. Ha querido conjugar en su cuerpo cientos de verdades y crearlas yo no digo en vano que una noche a solas conviene dormirla o atravesarla con dignidad. he despertado sin restos de olvido y estoy dejando que la ma�ana tome vertiginosa su ascenso. 1.6.1995 after you cry a little,  you laugh so silent and that is so good. the words as us, have the spirits of the ghosts, are light, when far and close, and in the air, they are whispers to the ears, after love, please love. if you want to clean your soul, here I'll keep it away from careless love, but after love. 06.1.08   Is almost dark now, when hours fall I try to play with time, one cannot wait so long to see the light,for it's the day that makes it all so bright.But darkness holds a strange shine,that even if I thought I want it bright,  light comes from below and it goes down,is almost dark down here. 25.1.08    

                                        @2000-2008                                                                                                                                                        

             https://web.archive.org/web/20050210095006/http://poiesis.8k.com:80/fotos.htm

         beljeza@hotmail.com

cien        cantos pueden separarnos

pero        no más que lo que hemos estado;

cien        selvas caminamos

y        sin embargo seguimos siendo lo que eramos

Corramos        fuerte, saquemos lo que queda.

Tanto        será el esfuerzo que durará

Toda        la vida.

Tanta        será la vida

que        tomaré hasta un poco prestada.

[ralphmorgan-blog1]

iPhone 8 Costs More Than A Transatlantic Flight, So You Better Start Saving

The long-awaited release of Apple's iPhone 8 was finally, finally announced on Tuesday, Sept. 12. Apple held its annual keynote event at the Steve Jobs Theatre at Apple Park in Cupertino, California, and all of our questions were answered. Key among those questions was how much, exactly, the new versions of the beloved iPhone will cost, and as it turns out, the iPhone 8 will cost more than a transatlantic flight. So I hope you've been saving up.

After much speculation and way too many rumors to count, we have the real word from Apple CEO Tim Cook on the topic that matters most: How much is this thing actually gonna cost us anyways? Three phones were announced during the Sept. 12 conference; most importantly, we got the expected iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus. So, do you want to know how much they cost? I hope you're ready for these numbers. We'll do it like a bandage, just rip all the information out at once, together:

The iPhone 8 will start at $699, and the iPhone 8 Plus will cost you $799.

, OK fam, we made it through that. Take a deep breath and let's consider what those prices actually mean. If I wanted to take a nonstop flight from New York to Stockholm, Sweden, I could very easily get one for under that first $699 price tag. So there's your big existential question: Would you rather travel to Europe or get the new iPhone?

But then, more importantly, what will a trip to Europe matter if your Instagrams won't be as beautiful as possible without the newest iPhone? If you take a trip and your pictures suck, did it even matter?

People on Twitter had some thoughts about Apple's pricing.

Everybody wanting to see the new Iphone 8 from Apple but once the price shows up on the screen #AppleEvent http://pic.twitter.com/UOWMSuar1R

— Luis Rodriguez (@nerdround) September 12, 2017

Me still giving Apple my money after complaining about the Iphone price. http://pic.twitter.com/pXlwf1Gslc

— Trump's Baby Mama✨ (@theblackkj) September 12, 2017

My reaction after looking at the iPhone 8 price.#AppleEvent http://pic.twitter.com/N8CSMChdpM

— Sunil Shetty (@sunil_ss7) September 12, 2017

when you get your hopes up about getting the iPhone X for christmas but you look at the price tag.. #AppleEvent http://pic.twitter.com/33mLU3oJ2j

— m. (@justmalizzle) September 12, 2017

Me after look the price of the new iphone. #AppleEvent http://pic.twitter.com/hzSgX9KPZp

— Jose (@NICKISPURPOSE) September 12, 2017

Meanwhile, some people considered the possible positive implications for their wallets of the new iPhone coming out… namely, that the older models might now cost less.

Can somebody tell me the estimated price of iPhone 8? I want to estimate the price of iPhone 5 when it decreases #AppleEvent http://pic.twitter.com/yUVMwTVSAN

— Mel (@Jerminah_Belle) September 12, 2017

I am waiting for iPhone 8 to release, so price of iPhone 5 to get down & finally I can afford iPhone 4

— Ibrahim (@I_Karofi) September 12, 2017

One helpful tweeter wants to remind you that you do not, in fact, have to drop a couple hundos on the newest iPhone release.

Stay calm tonight, Twitter. When they reveal the price of the iPhone X, take a breath and remember you're not legally obliged to buy one.

— Damien Owens (@OwensDamien) September 12, 2017

But if you  still interested in getting the iPhone 8 or iPhone 8 Plus after seeing its price tag, there are some pretty neat perks coming with the new models.

The iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus will have super durable glass on both the front and back of it and they will come in silver, space gray, and gold. Meanwhile, the newest version of the 10-year-old necessity will be water and dust resistant, which, like, THANK YOU, APPLE. FINALLY!

And, of course, speaking of things that, like, matter, the camera will be much improved and the speaker will be louder than in old versions. So you can finally, finally, finally play your new favorite song out of your iPhone speakers at a little get together without having to resort to the old “drop it in a cup” ploy to try and make it loud enough for everyone to hear. Yay!

Holy. The new iPhone 8's camera's going to be insane. http://pic.twitter.com/mU6ap77S7h

— Ronak Kallianpur (@ronakkallianpur) September 12, 2017

iPhone 8 AND iPhone 8 PLUS BABY -New big chip -New big display that is mega strong -New louder speaker -You will want it http://pic.twitter.com/idqgoEHYAr

— BuzzFeed Tech (@fwd) September 12, 2017

Those new features got you interested enough to drop all that cash on the iPhone 8 or iPhone 8 Plus?

Introducing the iPhone 8. #AppleEvent http://pic.twitter.com/VoH4zlktgW

— Apple Events (@AppleEventos) September 12, 2017

Alright, go ahead, you got some real luxury funding there! At this point, you're probably wondering  you can get your hands on the new iPhone.

Well, pre-orders for the iPhone 8s will begin Sept. 15 and the new phones will go on sale Sept. 22. So it won't even be that long until you get to test out your investment and decide if it was worth it!

iPhone 8 not good enough for you?

Apple's iPhone X brag slide — we'll soon have analysis of how it compares to iPhone 8 and 7. Here's our liveblog: https://t.co/5YOyoz8d3r http://pic.twitter.com/gIxfbe21T1

— Wilson Rothman (@wjrothman) September 12, 2017

I mean, wow, OK, cool for you. But there  one more option. On Tuesday, Apple also announced the release of iPhone X, a totally new phone for the iPhone's tenth anniversary. The iPhone X has a whole host of new features, including the long-rumored facial recognition system, super cameras, wireless charging, and a glass and stainless steel design. Happy spending!

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