#Story circle

[mtg-cards-hourly]

Story Circle

Artist: Alan Pollack TCG Player Link Scryfall Link EDHREC Link

[djwaglmuffin]

Dan Harmon's Story Circle: Yea or Nay?

[sketchworks-labs]

The Harmon Story Circle. This is just a streamlined version of Joseph Campbell’s Monomyth aka The Hero’s Journey.

The basic premise is that there the same story structure for every (European) story, particularly Ancient Greek ones. This later shows up in other European stories. It also appears in other cultural stories, but that was never really the focus.

This story structure is often taught in American schools as a way to design heroic stories.

But as a templates for many myths, hence monomyth, it’s awfully specific.

Dan Harmon, creator of Community and Rick & Morty, popularized a streamlined version. The Story Circle works for any protagonist (not just heroes) and can even be used for mundane stories (not just adventures).

[jowensauthor]

Story Circle (via Story Empire)

Story Circle

[danglovely]

Look, I'm no creative writer (though I think I'm an excellent analytical writer). That said, I have never thought Harmon's story circle was all that good of a writing tool. I've heard him explain it and I've tried to look at the things he's written in the context of it, and it doesn't even seem like he uses it himself.

It's actually a tough thing to say, because I think it's inarguable that he's an excellent writer. Sarah Silverman understood that and still fired him for being impossible to work with.

[savanir]

DP x DC prompt [3]

during one of the final psych evals at Arkham right before he gets to be released, the whole thing wrapped up so tidy, just a little relapse which involved a robbery. Getting sent back to Arkham, but he got to stay at the asylum so long that he no longer has to serve a prison sentence, score!

But during that eval his overseeing psychiatrist recommended him to have a change of scenery, some fresh non polluted air.

Riddler was rather convinced the guy was making this recommendation to everyone in Arkham in their own weird way to convince them to just leave Gotham and become someone else's problem. should he notify Batman about it somehow? nah, it’ll be more interesting to see how this is gonna turn out in the long run.

But can he leave the state? Can he even leave the city? he never really bothered to look into it, at least not legally, up until now if he felt he needed to leave for one of his plans he just did it.

Turns out he can, it’s a whole hassle and a half though, first a judge and then a probation officer and he’s pretty sure both were like “what the hell is this psychiatrist guy thinking!?” but at the same time, shrink probably knows what he’s doing (WRONG) so he’s allowed to go visit out of state family or whatever.

he had to wear this nice ankle monitor though, Wayne Enterprises™ tech, not overly bulky but still very present. real fancy, and a fun extra challenge heh.

now as for a good reason to leave New Jersey he’s going to need distant relatives, and he finds some, great grandpa walker also has a son, who had a son who had a daughter Madeline, who married some guy Jack Fenton, and she lives somewhere out in the boonies Illinois. great he’ll visit her.

far enough away in all sense of the word that there is no way she knows anything about him. it would be best to call her first though, be polite about it.

“hello, you have reached Fenton works, this is Maddie speaking” 

“Riddle me this-” ah whoops, habit, oh whatever, “we don’t share parents, but certainly a part of your life, from laughter to strife. Who am I?”

there is a pause …  he’s going to be a bit disappointed if she hangs up if he’s honest.

“cousins~” comes the cheery reply.

“correct! the name is Edward Nygma, we are distantly related you and I and well-”

“oh you simply must come visit!” 

well this was rather easy, perhaps a little too easy, but she lives in the midwest so maybe just going with whatever some guy says over the phone is normal there? stranger danger not really a thing in a small town where everyone knows everyone?

things start to make a little more sense once he gets there and he’s starting to think some things might run in the family. like a preference for the colour green and weird hyperfixations and genius bordering on insanity. Though that remains to be seen, Jack does not seem like a very bright light after his very enthusiastic welcome.

their kids however are observant and sharp. young Jasmine is wasting no time trying to psychoanalyze him. and the boy, Danny, he had not really meant to and he swears he’s sticking with calling the kid Danny so he wouldn’t seem overly familiar, but he might have called him little bird a couple times now.

but that’s all whatever, he’s playing nice here. and he doesn’t even have to worry about his eccentricities tripping him up because this place is insane.

There actually is a local teen vigilante active but he seems about as loved as he’s disliked. and the ghost boy’s enemies are basically all his own kind, which another crazy thing to now know about. ghost. they are real actually, how is Gotham not completely overrun? and how do they even work? and where do they keep coming from?

Edward might be getting a little sidetracked here. He had fully intended to sneakily get his next big game plan underway all the way out here, ankle monitor be damned. but he hasn’t made any progress at all.

Instead he’s been listening to Madeline and Jack to maybe figure out what the deal is with these ectoplasmic entities, he has to know, at this point he might go crazier if he doesn’t. 

He’s making Jasmine promise him not to get her doctorate in Gotham, he’s going back and forth with space riddles with Danny.

so yeah the whole thing kinda just became a vacation, maybe the psychiatrist had the right idea after all? hmm nah, probably not. but this is fun. He’s thinking about recommending this place to some of the others.

It's different enough to get the vacation feel, but enough crazy shit happens to make it all feel like home.

it is not until Maddie wants to talk with him about potentially switching the position of godfather of Danny to him rather than some weird rich friend of theirs that Edward realizes he might have lost the plot somewhere

Apparently the little bird basically begged them with a powerpoint presentation on how he likes Edward so much more than that Vladimir guy. 

And honestly, the fellow sounds like a Dracula Lutho so even if it’s kinda sad Edward can understand why he’d be considered a better option. Even if the guy has more money and a huge company that makes him said money. And it’s not like the Fentons know about his Riddler activities.

Thinking it over, Edward does think that Danny would like Gotham and Wayne has that space program thing right? The kid is definitely smart enough for that (Nygma certified), and yeah Edward does quite like their space themed back and forth. So, fuck it, why not, what is the worst that could happen?

He doubts Maddie and Jack are gonna kick it any time soon anyway out here in the boonies, it’s just a title thing, a stamp of approval or something.

he should have known he was going to eat those words later… he had this whole beautifully elaborate trap set up for the whole Batclan, and he was just getting to the good part when his phone went off.

Had to put the whole thing on pause cause that particular contact wasn’t gonna get ignored. He did promise to be available.

If the whole thing he had planned now went tits up he could at the very least laugh later at the reactions of the bats as he told them to “hold up one second, I have to take this.” while they were all in various perilous positions. 

Sadly he did have to go, he had a very distressed godson to pick up.

[dear-ao3]

every time i dont believe in myself i remember that one time i emailed nearly every person at my college begging and pleading my case for them to fix my financial aid after they changed systems and stiffed me of a solid 10,000 dollars because i could not afford school if they didnt give me back the money and managed to get back the money plus a few hundred dollars extra two days before i was leaving the country to study abroad

[puppyeared]

littlest furth shop

@laikascomet

[thatone-highlighter]

I love you albums. I love you songs connected by similar themes. I love you listening to songs in a specific order picked by the artist. I love you reoccurring motifs throughout the same album. I love you album covers. I love you albums with extended editions. I love you songs that reference each other.

[icetwinkluck]

actually writing full screenplays has made me realize I have a quite predictable story style :

person a is struggling in an unconventional way

person b wants them to do X thing to solve the struggle (has ulterior motives)

person a follows along because they have no other option even if the plan is bad/unclear

person a regrets decision/struggles with the plan even though it's moving forward

person a confronts person b/person c (who acts as an obstacle) in cruel self effacing way

escape/recovery

what they gained from experience

the joke is that this follows the dan harmon story circle

[claraoswalds]

It's racist, my dear, to be blunt. People come from outside, they think we're all witches and druids. For God's sake, child, you walked into a piece of string!

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Market based mistakes.

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[thebramblewood]

What are the odds Lilith attempts to claw out Helena's eyes next?

Previous / Next

Lilith: [incoherent screeching]

Vlad: [cries out in agony]

[hisses in pain] Stupid girl! You must return to your senses, child. I warned you. The dark gift won’t take if you drain him to death. Why can you not just listen?

Lilith: [deranged rasp] Your hideous droning voice puts me to sleep, old man.

Vlad: [muttering] I’d sooner leave him for dead, but I fear you’d never let me rest. Feed him now, before he fades. Understand from this point he’s your burden — and yours alone.

-

[The end of the final entry in Lilith’s diary]

I was certain our blood ties would overcome my monstrous instincts in that crucial moment. How pitifully mistaken I was. And the old man decided I should learn that lesson the hard way so he could intervene, call himself a hero, and make me bow to his infinite wisdom — as though I owe him my obedience for this great favor he’s done. But I’ll only suffer his tedious lectures until I can turn them against him. I shall play nice and plot in secret. I’ve promised Caleb then we’ll never have to see him again. He has a fortune squirreled away in these walls, and I intend to find it. But I must keep these thoughts buried. I shall burn these pages as well as sear their contents from my mind.

-

Lilith: I thought I destroyed this old thing decades ago. He was in a wretched state at the time, but of course he managed to pluck it from the flames. Sentimental bastard.

[acourtofquestions]

“If you were to ask me what Throne of Glass is about…

I’d say it’s about the epic journey of a teenage assassin in a corrupt kingdom.

But if you were to ask me on a deeper level, I’d say…

It’s about how small acts of kindness can change the outcome of the world.

Money to a barmaid, waiting an extra minute to shoot, a warning in a competition, a cloak in a cold dungeon, a message on a wall, sharing your lavender soap.”