#finally my bad cinderella posting will conclude <3< /div> Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[historicallyinaccuratejomarch]

JUNE 4 BAD CINDERELLA CLOSING DATE

[mishirak]

I've finally finished Nusantara Bermuda Triangle!!

I finished ALL the routes for Nusantara Bermuda Triangle and phew... What a ride for the antagonist route.

My favorite route to my least would be

1. Arya

my baby 😚I'm still a sucker for tsundere archetype, the mask, everything about him is like Ajinomoto, MSG, a flavor enhancer for romantic things to be more sweeter(saltier)

2. Antagonist

I love his character, his story route. If we get something special like... An epilogue/in the future/somewhere down the line type of thing where we get to see a romantic CG of them together(Something like Love and Deepspace how the LI remembers MC in their past lives) maybe, just maybe 🤏, he'll be in the no.1 spot

3. Guntur

Him and Kahlil are the ones I skipped the most(mostly because it's all the same, except for dialogue and event changes) but his is the most fun, more teasing towards the MC (Kahlil and even Arya is having fun with them at MC expenses)

4. Kahlil

Unfortunately his route is the least memorable for me 😞 in fact, by the end, in the epilogue, I don't think I know what is his wish. I most likely don't pay attention to it, my bad. I only remember the flower crown during the Autumn Village and his past life.

By all means, that doesn't mean Guntur and Kahlil's routes sucks, the fact that I skipped during them probably has an effect on my playthrough.

If you don't like/stand the Tsundere archetype, they're your get-go routes, they're fun and entertaining routes. Fluffy galore! I just happened to be a masochist and like getting jabbed by mean words at the heart.

(Post getting too long and talking about the antagonist routes, no major spoilers!!)

Antagonist's Ending Talk

I'm a bit sad with the ending, it really is an open ended ending and the fact that there were very few explicit romance interactions between you and him(that the mc is aware of *wink*) makes the good ending gut punching despite it being a good ending.

I get that The Goddess can't just "BAM! You've redeemed and now you can live your life with her!" The goddess has to work overtime for the super-mega-ultra good ending for us.

I fell asleep after getting the antagonist's good ending, I was going to stop at the bad ending but I was determined.

I dreamed about how we, the players, play the game again after getting the antagonist's good ending(maybe multiple times), he existed as the usual bachelor, like he's been reincarnated!

After that? I don't know, I black out. Probably the same as how the other routes go, I do love his harsh exterior towards MC, how he bullies her affectionately.

-Antagonist Talk Ends-

In general, for all 4 characters, I have to say the ending epilogue does feel a bit rushed. Despite being a family girl, we don't get to see her family reactions to the bachelors, how she's feeling afterwards. Maybe the latter is for us and how we conclude the story, but I feel like it would be nice seeing her feelings even if there's a chance we don't feel the same way.

I love the game regardless, especially Arya and Antagonist. If SweetChiel makes a DLC(especially for antagonist) like Cinderella Phenomenon: Evermore, I'll gladly buy it!

I've been a fan since her first otome VN, Nusantara: The Legend of Winged Ones, (Reksa my love) I look forward to SweetChiel's future projects!

I also have 2 comms of Arya to show off but I got sick...

[unimportant-ramblings]

Okay I'm finally done the Bridgerton books, here's my official ranking, a guide, a best and worst aggregate, a post so I don't forget these books in a month

The good ones

These books are all great and could easily be my favorite depending on my mood

The Viscount Who Loved Me (Anthony and Kate) the closest Bridgeton gets to enemies to lovers, with a compelling and funny hero and heroine. Best moment? Bees baby! Their wedding night! They're obsessed with each other and they hate it! That's my jam Worst moment? Kate loses a bit of personality after she gets married, the dick literally can't be that good.

When He Was Wicked (Francesca and Michael) in love with your best friends girl! this is the hot one! Also the saddest one! Francesca is the best Bridgerton sister by a lot. Best? Michael is doing the most in this book guys, also this book made me cry? Fran, love of my life Worst: it's sad. It's not the one I would pick if I want to turn off by brain, which is not bad! But it's a consideration

Romancing Mr. Bridgeton (Colin and Penelope) proving that friends to lovers can occasionally have rights. Best? The carriage scene/trophy husband Colin/etc they are crackling. Worst? Colin sulking about Pen's success. Also stop mentioning that Penelope is thinner now I hate-

The ones that are fine

Not bad! But not great

It's in His Kiss (Hyacinth and Gareth) this books is kind of a redo of The Duke and I? Gareth has a messy family secret and needs a Bridgeton to make it better. Hyacinth is much more interesting that Daphne, there's this almost heist thing going on? It's fun Best? Just generally Hyacinth is good fun, and they've got chemistry. She wears pants at one point. Worst? This book is in offensive to the extreme, it's just kind of dull.

On the Way to the Wedding (Gregory and Lucy) le grande finale, lots of references to other books. Lucy is a nerd and Gregory has not read any of the Bridgerton books. Best? Kate is there :) Worst? BORING

The Duke and I (Daphne and Simon) le grande beginning! A kind of lackluster start but you gotta start somewhere. You can picture how pretty everything is in the show so that's a plus. Best? Fake dating got them again Worst? You know what's worst :/

The ones that are bad

I know I'm burning bridges here, this is my personal taste, but, I mean, is it surprising that these are the 2 in the show that have the most not hetro implications?

An Offer from a Gentleman (Benedict and Sophie) the Cinderella story. Sophie (imo) is the most boring heroine and Benedict lacks either Anthony's burden and angst or Colin's humor and self assurance. He's boring and a dick. Best? Violet and Sophie have a really cute mother daughter relationship, legit made me emotional. I like Cinderella too I mean I'm not heartless Worst? Benedict and Sophie have the worst sex scene in the series.

To Sir Philip, With Love (Eloise and Philip) look, Quinn seemed to want to change things up a bit after the whistledown arc concluded. Both Eloise and Francesca's books take place far from the London season (the county somewhere I don't remember for this one, Scotland for whww) dealing with heavier themes (depression and being a step parent here, miscarriage and grief in whww) both have non standard courtships even for this series. For me, when he was wicked is wholly successful, and to Sir Philip with love fails. Eloise and Philip have very little chemistry, Philip is supposed to be our manly man but not in a hot way ladies! It's not like he's a wild mountain man, he's an intellectual who just treats people poorly. Best? When the brothers come. Which says a lot about our couple tbh. I also liked benophie better here. Worst? Everything about how they treat Marina. I just hate Philip tbh.

So my ranking is 2 6 4 7 8 1 3 5 please send me all the reasons I am wrong besties

[teganberry]

The Disney Princess Dilemma

Kingdom Hearts 3 has been a game filled with massive highs and devastating emotional lows. And while the game is both a critical and financial success for Square Enix, the opinions of dedicated fans have been rather divided. Overall the game is an amazing piece of entertainment, but there is one aspect of the narrative that most fans seem to agree is the game’s biggest flaw, the rather weak portrayal of it’s female characters, in particular Kairi.

Now before I dive in any deeper I want to make a few things clear. Kairi is one of my favourite characters in the Kingdom Hearts series, and has been since I first got into the series well over 15 years ago. As such this post is intended as a character study and discussion, not an excuses to bash on Kairi’s character or Nomura’s ability as a writer. I adore Kairi and I’ve got far too much respect for Nomura as a creative to so thoughtlessly throw hate around. Secondly, while I will be referring to certain character’s as being “Princes” and “Princesses”, shipping has got nothing to do with this, they are simply Disney character archetypes I want to explore. There is no hidden agenda here, just an honest discussion. Alrighty, this is going to be a long one, let’s jump in!

As it stands we have no idea what the future plot of the Kingdom Hearts series holds, the only person who does know is Nomura. Perhaps everything we’ve seen so far is all part of a bigger master plan that will one day blow all our collective minds away. But until then when it comes to the problem surrounding Kairi’s portrayal in Kingdom Hearts 3, the best way we can find the answers for where things potentially went wrong is to look back.

Since I completed the game and begun to see many of the complaints surrounding Nomura’s writing of Kairi, I begun to wonder how had it all come to this. A lot of people have concluded the main issue is that Nomura just doesn’t like Kairi anymore and he no longer knows what to do with her. Personally I don’t think that’s the case. If Nomura really was tired of her and she wasn’t working into his long term plans then he would have written her out of the plot a long time ago. But he didn’t. Kairi has continued to make significant appearances in a majority of the titles in the series. She has been front and centre in the promotional material for Kingdom Hearts 3, a great deal of the the game’s opening was focused on her, (even more so than Aqua which really surprised me), and the ending of the game seemingly sets Kairi right at the heart of whatever is about to come next in Sora’s journey. So then what went wrong? If Nomura doesn’t hate Kairi and isn’t bored with her then why was she relegated once again to the role of the damsel in distress? Well I believe it all comes back to her original role in the Kingdom Hearts series, Kairi is Square Enix’s Disney Princess.

One thing we have to keep in mind whenever you consider the development of a Kingdom Hearts game is that Disney is always at the heart of development process. Not just in the creation of the Disney worlds, but in how the original characters are designed, how they act, and how the overall story progresses. Kingdom Hearts is this weirdly impossible mix of JRPG and Disney storytelling that somehow works to create an utterly amazing greater whole. As such each character by design, especially in the case of the original Kingdom Hearts, can be seen as fitting into a number of well known Disney archetypes.

Most classic Disney films have three main character types the plot centres around, the Prince/Hero, the Villain, and the Princess. As the first game in the series, the developers wanted to make sure every aspect of the game was filled with that beloved Disney Magic. We see that Sora, Riku and Kairi were all purposefully written to embody these three classic archetypes. Sora is the daring Prince, he’s our hero and the one we know will save the day no matter what. Likewise Riku comes to embody the role of the Villain, as we constantly see him attempt to get in Sora’s way and undermine his journey. Now before any RIku fans jump down my throat, Riku obviously isn’t the true villain of the game as he also embodies that age old JRPG role of the rival to Sora’s hero. So we always knew Riku would be redeemed by the game’s end, but that doesn’t change the fact that for a time Riku was one of the bad guys. That of course means Kairi is the Princess, but not just any princess, she is purposefully written to embody the traits of a classic Disney Princess.

In Kingdom Hearts lore the original seven Princess of Hearts were comprised of Snow White, Aurora, Cinderella, Jasmine, Belle, Alice and Kairi. The Disney Princess are all very recognisable, and considering they are now the 7th highest grossing media franchise of all time (I’m not kidding! They make more money then the entire Harry Potter/Wizarding World franchise), it makes sense to see them grouped together in Kingdom Hearts. In comparison, at the time Kairi was a brand new character that the player knew very little about, and had never been associated with the Princesses before. So in order for her inclusion as a Princess of Heart in the narrative to work, Nomura needed to develop her character in such a way that the player would see and accept her as essentially a new Disney Princess. The best way to accomplish this then, with perhaps the exception of Alice in Wonderland, was to have Kairi’s role in the game unfold in a similar manner to what we often see occur in the other Princesses’ films, the often helpless Princess being captured or tormented by the villain, then eventually saved by the Prince. That’s why every time we see Kairi’s lifeless body throughout the entire game we can’t help thinking of Sleepy Beauty, because that’s exactly what Nomura want’s us to see. The game directly draws on the plot of Sleeping Beauty, Kairi embodies the sleeping Aurora, Sora is Prince Phillip charging forth with enchanted sword in hand, while Riku is being manipulated by the central villain of Sleepy Beauty herself, Malificent. Nomura’s narrative cements the subliminal suggestions in our minds and archives his goal, Kairi becomes a new kind of Disney Princess.

The narrative of having Kairi saved by Sora worked quite well in the original Kingdom Hearts, because the overall intention of that game was to create an experience reminiscent of the classic Disney films everyone grew up on. And while she was relegated to the role of damsel in destress for a large portion of the story, Kairi does get her moment to shine and show us that there’s more to being a princess than simply waiting to be rescued. Kairi represents the inner strength that balances out Sora and Riku’s outward power. Its a theme that has come to be associated with her character throughout all the main entries in the series.

So what was next for Kairi? Well as it turns out more of the same it seems. Kairi unfortunately finds herself being kidnapped by the villains once again in Kingdom Hearts 2, likely due to Nomura again wanting to make it clear that Kairi is the Princess of this story. But first lets take a look at the development of Kairi’s design over the course of the series. While initially being presented as a rather normal teenage girl in the first game, during the development of Kingdom Hearts 2 there was a conscious push to make Kairi even more Princess like than she had been in previous games. Her hair is longer, she wears a pretty pink dress now rather than shorts and tank tops, and her overall appearance is much more elegant and mature. In a cast interview with Kairi’s then english voice actress, Hayden Panettiere, it’s mentioned that she was often asked to raise her voice a few octaves to make Kairi sound more like a Princess. Kairi’s physical Princess evolution is pushed even further in Kingdom Hearts 3 when she is given a new battle dress and a hair cut that is somewhat reminiscent of Snow White. While this new outfit does appear hardier then her previous design, unlike her fellow Guardians Kairi does not wear any form of gloves or gauntlets to protect her hands, instead only wearing a few bracelets. Comparing her Kingdom Hearts 3 outfit to that of Sora and Riku’s does bring into question it’s overall practicality, but she is a Princess and the design makes that very clear visually.

For the sake of character development and future plot progression it makes sense to bring Kairi’s role as a Princess of Heart to the forefront, as it would soon come to play an even greater part in Kingdom Hearts lore. Having been born with a heart of pure light makes Kairi very unlike any other character in the series. But it seems in order to press upon the player that yes indeed Kairi is a Princess, In Kingdom Hearts 2 Nomura fell back on the old Princess needing to be saved by the Prince plot device in order to drive that home. Thankfully though things are changed up a bit this time around. Kairi is sick of waiting around, and whenever she gets the chance to strike out on her own to find her friends, both before and after being kidnapped, she does so without hesitation. She’s even given a Keyblade and is finally able to fight for herself this time! Hurray! Overall it isn’t great that Nomura chose to make Kairi the old school Disney damsel in distress again, but despite this we do see determination and growth in her character. Perhaps not as much as we see in Sora and Riku, but there is development none the less and by the end most fans were excited to see how she would continue to grow as a character in future instalments.

For a good while it did seem that Nomura was hinting at Kairi taking on a much bigger role in the highly anticipated Kingdom Hearts 3. It was revealed in Dream Drop Distance that Yen Sid intended for her to be trained as a Keyblade Wielder, ensuring she would become one of the Guardians of Light and take part in the second Keyblade War. And as I mentioned previously, Kairi was quite often front and centre in most of Kingdom Hearts 3’s marketing material. Her line “This time, I’ll protect you” was constantly used throughout said marketing for the game. It all looked promising for Kairi! But then we all know what happened.

Now before we jump into Kingdom Hearts 3 itself let’s take a step back to the years following the release of Kingdom Hearts 2, and consider what was happening over at Disney Animation at the time. After nearly a decade of creating films that were mostly considered not up to scratch, Disney decided to go back to their most tried and true formula for creating successful animated films, adapting fairytales, specifically Princess movies. While this was the most sensible choice to make, Disney were also keenly aware that their older brand of Disney Princess film would likely no longer appeal to a modern audience. Today young girls want to look up to brave, strong and charismatic heroines who aren’t afraid to carve out their own path in life. Watching a movie about a Princess waiting to be saved just wasn’t going to cut it anymore. So Disney adapted and ever since then we’ve been introduced to an all new kind of Disney Princess, Tiana, Rapunzel, Elsa, Anna and Moana, Princesses who are the hero of their own stories.

This is what audiences have come to expect of the Princesses, to stand proudly on their own two feet, no longer being relegated to position the damsel in distress. So when it was announced that Tangled and Frozen would be brand new worlds in Kingdom Hearts 3 it set an exception in the minds of fans. Here we had two beloved Disney films that feature strong and brave Princesses as the central characters. It only makes sense then that we should expect the same strength to flow through to the wonderful ladies of Kingdom Hearts. But that didn’t happen. Instead nothing really changed for any of them, and instead of pushing Kairi to grow into the modern Princess we all want her to be, Nomura held her back.

Now the question we need to ask here is why? Why did Nomura choose to not follow the new Disney trend when he has stuck so closely to their lead in the past? I suppose the only person who can truly answer that question is the man himself. But lets try and think about this logically, as I can see two likely reasons why this occurred. The first is the fact that overall Square Enix and many other gaming companies still don’t do a great job when it comes to writing realistic and truly relatable female characters. Not to say there are none, but it is still a prevalent problem none the less. Case and point Lunafreya from Final Fantasy XV. The fact that in order to get a true understanding of Lunafreya as a character and her true feelings, we’re going to have to read a novel that acts as an alternate happy ending to the original game says a lot. But I’m getting off topic here! The track record for the development of female characters in games isn’t great, that’s not an excuse and game companies really need to start doing better, but it is a possible explanation for why the plot of Kingdom Hearts 3 unfolded the way it did.

The second and more likely reason to have Kairi play the Princess in distress to Sora’s hero once again was probably due to time constraints. AAA video game production is a massive undertaking with very strict deadlines. As a result developers are often forced to sacrifice interesting story elements and mechanics in order to make sure that a game is able to reach said deadlines in a solid and workable condition. Final Fantasy XV is again an excellent example of this and what can go wrong. In the time since the game’s release it has more or less been confirmed that due to the incredibly strained production of the game a vast majority of story content was cut out, and the game was left in a rather obvious unfinished state narrative wise. We know that the engine swap during the development of Kingdom Hearts 3 from the Luminous to the Unreal engine had a big impact on the game’s development time, and pushed it’s final release date back significantly. So it goes without saying that things would have been cut in order to make up for lost time. The fact Nomura has confirmed that we will be receiving DLC fleshing out Xion’s role in Kingdom Hearts 3 more or less confirms this. At the end of the day Square Enix is a business and sometimes sacrifices need to be made in order to ensure a product can be developed properly and efficiently.

There is every possibility that Nomura had planned a number of different ways for Kairi to develop and grow as a protagonist in Kingdom Hearts 3 before her tragic death occurred, perhaps even fighting back as much as she could before being captured. But the problem lies in just how many loose ends needed to be tied up in the game with the limited development time they had. So much attention need to be paid to as many characters as possible to wrap everything up that you run the risk of the game becoming bloated, or things feeling rushed and unfinished. I’m not saying it was the right choice to cut out Kairi’s potential character growth, but we can see why it was easier for Nomura to fall back on having her be easily kidnapped again to move that part of the plot forward as quickly as possible so the momentum didn’t slow down. She is a Princess after all, right? Well no, that reasoning isn’t an excuse anymore, audiences expect far more from the Princesses and its time for Square Enix to follow Disney’s lead.

So what can be done? If the reason Kairi is being held back is due to her role as a Princess then can it be fixed? The simple answer is yes, it can. Disney have already clearly laid out what they now expect of female heroines and Princesses in their films. With the less than positive critical response to the development of the female protagonists in Kingdom Hearts 3, Square would be crazy not to jump at the chance to give fans what we want to see. Nomura clearly understood what it meant for a character to be a Disney Princess during the development of Kingdom Hearts 1, and I’m sure he’s very aware that audience expectations have changed. What needs to be done now is for Square to take that step forward alongside Disney and allow Kairi move on from her role as a Classic Princess and finally grow into a Modern Disney Princess, not simply fall back on old writing habits out of convenience. By voicing our opinions in an honest and constructive manner on social media platforms such as Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram ect. Square Enix and Nomura will hear us. We need only tell them that not only do we want to see more from Kairi, but that we want her to stand proudly as one of the new Princesses of Heart alongside Elsa, Anna and Rapunzel, a positive embodiment of the new bread of Disney Hero.

[bern33chaser]

11 Writing Exercises to Inspire You and Strengthen Your Writing

Whether you’re writing just for fun, for school, or with professional goals in mind, these exercises can all help you to improve your writing. Some will give you inspiration, others will help you avoid editing as you write, and many of them will help you pay closer attention to your word choices.

I hope you’ll enjoy giving them a go!

#1: Cover Your Screen While You Write

If you find yourself doing more editing than actual writing, then try covering up (or, on a laptop, turning down) your screen while you draft.

If, like me, you can touch-type – try closing your eyes instead. I find it surprisingly relaxing! (Though I tend to stop every sentence or two to make sure I’ve hit the keys I thought I was hitting…)

At first, it might seem odd not to be able to see the words that you’re typing – but you might well find that you write faster and express your thoughts more freely this way.

#2: Set a Daily Writing Goal and Track Your Progress

Writing, as most other crafts, only gets better with practice. If you want to improve, therefore, you will need to write pretty much every single day.

The best strategy to achieve this objective is to set a goal of how many words you want to write per day, and then to track your progress over time. A simple notebook or spreadsheet should be enough for you to record your daily statistics.

The Prolifiko blog has a great piece with more tips to set writing goals and resolutions and to make sure you achieve them.

#3: Use a Writing Prompt to Get You Going

If you want to write, but you don’t know what you want to write, try using a writing prompt. This could be anything from a story scenario (“write about someone who gets caught in a lie”) to a blog post title (“Ten Things I Wish I Could Tell My 15-Year-Old Self”).

Here are a couple of sources of prompts to keep you busy for a while:

25 creative writing prompts, a list of prompts you can use to start writing a simple story or even a novel.

365 Creative Writing Prompts, from Think Written – a mixed bag of prompts, with some for stories and some for poems; many would also work for blogging.

Even if you’re working on a longer piece, like a novel, prompts can be helpful. A line of dialogue, for instance, might give you just the inspiration you need for your next scene.

#4: Don’t Start at the Beginning … Start at the End

There’s no writing rule that says you need to begin at the beginning. In fact, many writers find it more effective to start at the end.

You can do this in a couple of different ways:

Start your story (or blog post, etc) close to the chronological end – e.g. you might begin with “As I stared down the mountain, I couldn’t believe I was actually here…” You can then jump back in time and narrate the events that led up to that point.

Write the end of your blog post (or story, etc) first. Once you’ve written your concluding paragraphs or final scenes, you’ll know what you’re leading up to. If you prefer not to write it out in full, you could make notes.

#5: Rewrite a Masterpiece or a Famous Story

Choose a famous masterpiece or classic novel (like Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice or Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet) and write your own version.

This is a great exercise because you can do it at almost any level: you could write a short story for children, or you could write a whole novel or screenplay. (Bridget Jones’s Diary, for instance, borrowed heavily from Pride and Prejudice; the children’s movie Gnomeo and Juliet is based, as you might guess, on Romeo and Juliet.)

You can do this with fairytales, too, like the story of Cinderella or Little Red Riding Hood. You might decide to bring the stories into the modern world – or you might switch to a completely different genre, like a Western version of Little Red Riding Hood or a sci-fi version of Cinderella.

Hopefully, you’ll think of some interesting ways to present an old story in a new way – great practice for avoiding clichés and stereotypes in your own writing.

#6: Create a Found Poem from Your Spam Folder

A “found poem” is one created from text that already exists – and some writers enjoy repurposing spam emails for this!

Check your spam folder. I’m sure that, like mine, it’s full of emails with some strange wording and dubious promises like:

I did not need to find a winning product. he gave it to me…

Just drinking 1 cup of this delicious hot beverage in the morning sets you up to burn more fat than 45 exhausting minutes on the treadmill.

Hello %E-mail_address%, I know your very love Engineer Jobs and want have T-Shirt for Engineer Jobs.

It is vital to have a telephone system that has all the specific functions

(All of these are taken verbatim from my own spam folder…)

Could you pick out a few lines (they don’t have to be consecutive ones) to create your own found poem? Feel free to add some words if needed. There are some wonderfully odd examples here.

#7: Write Something Inspired By a Piece of Writing, Music or Art

Inspiration can come in all sorts of ways – but if you’re struggling to find an idea, try turning to other people’s creative works. In my blogging, I’ve often been inspired by other people’s post structures, by an idea of theirs that I want to take further – or even by something they’ve written that I disagree with.

You can use music and art in a similar way: they can be particularly potent sources of ideas for stories. If you have a favourite song or artist, what in their work speaks to you? How could you craft a story using some of those themes or thoughts? Alternatively, look through some photos of artworks, and choose one or more to use as the basis for a story.

#8: Interview Your Novel’s Characters

This is a fun exercise that a lot of writers use to dig into who their characters are: the character interview. You can work through a pre-set list of questions, or you can come up with your own in advance, or you can just start typing and go with the flow!

You might do this essentially like a character questionnaire or checklist, or you might want to write it more like a mini-story, with you as the author inviting your character to sit down and talk.

Depending on the sort of fiction you write, the setting for your interview could be almost anything – perhaps you’re enjoying a casual chat over coffee and cake with your character, or maybe you’re interviewing them as a journalist, or even in court. Or, if you’re into rather darker fiction, you might be conducting an interrogation…

However you do this, it’s a great exercise to have fun with, and you might discover a whole backstory to your character that you’d never thought about before.

#9: Use the Alphabet

This is a fun exercise that can work for almost any type of writing: craft a piece where each sentence starts with the next letter of the alphabet. Here’s the start of one to show you what I mean:

At six o’clock, Josie woke up. Before she’d even opened her eyes, she knew what had woken her: she could hear it, just like she’d heard it every Friday morning for months. Cliff, her neighbour, was out in his garden. Despite all the times she’d gone round and asked him, through gritted teeth, to please wait until at least seven, he was mowing the blasted lawn again.

“Excuse me!” she called, over the fence. For a moment, she thought he hadn’t heard her over the sound of the mower.

(Yes, it’s tricky once you get to X! You might find this list helpful, or you might choose to use a sentence-starting word that merely contains an X.)

#10: Write with a Sentence Length Limit in Place

Can you limit every sentence you write to ten words? (Or fewer!) This might be tricky. It’s a great exercise for bloggers and online marketers, though. Short snappy sentences and paragraphs work well online.

You might want to draft as normal, then edit ruthlessly. Or you could count the words as you type. Whatever works for you!

(Yes, the sentences in this section are ten words max…)

#11: Write Without Using Any Adverbs

This is a common exercise advised for fiction writers: write a whole scene without using a single adverb.

Adverbs are words that modify verbs, adjectives and adverbs. They often (though not always) end with –ly.

Here are a few sentences with the adverbs indicated in bold:

The girl walked quickly to school. (“Quickly” is modifying the verb “walked”.)

Slowly, the fairly tall man stood.  (“Slowly” is modifying the verb “stood”, and “fairly” is modifying the adjective “tall”)

On the bus, the baby cried dismayingly loudly. (“Dismayingly” is modifying the adverb “loudly”, and “loudly” is modifying the verb “cried”.)

Writing without adverbs forces you to write crisper, clearer (and shorter!) sentences, which often have more impact. In particular, you’ll find yourself choosing stronger verbs.

All of these sentences could replace “The girl walked quickly to school” – and each has a slightly different nuance:

The girl strode to school.

The girl hurried to school.

The girl power-walked to school.

Of course, adverbs aren’t bad in themselves – so I don’t recommend avoiding them in all your writing! This exercise can help you, though, to be more aware of when you’re using adverbs unnecessarily.

—

Pick one of the above exercises to try out during your writing time this week. (If you’re feeling up for it, pick two and combine them – how about rewriting a classic without using any adverbs?) Have fun!

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Original post: 11 Writing Exercises to Inspire You and Strengthen Your Writing from Daily Writing Tips https://www.dailywritingtips.com/11-writing-exercises/

[packernet]

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Green Bay Packers 2017 draft picks in 1 play

It finally happened ladies and gentlemen, the 2017 NFL draft has officially concluded. As we all brace for the most painful 3 months of the NFL dead season, let’s take a moment to get to know the newest Green Bay Packers. In an attempt to present something you’ve already seen dozens of times in a new way, we’ll use 1 play to summarize each player drafted.

Kevin King: King of the Boundary

We’ve all seen this highlight at least a billion times. Part of me wanted to find a new clip so as to not not seem too boring or lazy but the more I think about it, there is no better representation of what Kevin King offers the Packers than this play.

In 2016 , Kevin King allowed exactly 0 touchdowns. You know why? The guy is 6’3 and runs a 4.3 40. If you want to beat him you have a shot with underneath throws but beating him deep or trying to throw a fade in the endzone is going to result in a bad day for you. King is a monster on the outside and is exactly what the Packers needed.

With the addition of Davon House the Packers now have two big corners to handle outside duty which allows Gunter to strictly operate as the number three outside guy. The rest of the 5’11 corners are free to play toward the middle where athleticism is more important than raw size and power.

 Josh Jones: The Ballistic Missile

To me, the Josh Jones pick was the epitome of a Ted Thompson pick. You’re texting your friends back and forth wondering who the pick will be. Roughly 45 names have been batted back and forth on top of the 10 or so the gentleman on TV list as the best remaining. The reaction following the pick is, “A safety? Why a safety? ….And who is Josh Jones??”

But as time goes on and you watch the player, it becomes clear why Jones was drafted and you start to wonder why the guy wasn’t in the first round conversation. As far as why a safety, for those wondering, Jones isn’t a depth pick. The Packers employ a ton of 3 safety looks in their dime package in which Burnett lines up as a linebacker. With Hyde gone, Kentrell Brice is now the third safety. No disrespect to Brice but this was a need pick, not a luxury one.

I don’t mean to imply with the clip that Jones can’t cover but the thing that excites me about Jones is what you see above. He is a heat seeking missile that destroys his target on impact. With his 4.41 speed, Jones can close with lightning quickness. Add in that he’s 220 pounds and the guy is a wrecking ball.

We don’t yet know how the roster will shake out but if you were to ask me how I would do it, Jones would take over for Morgan Burnett in the dime situation, playing as the inside linebacker. His range and power would make any attempt to throw underneath a waste and would also allow Ha Ha and Burnett to rove over the top. It gets me excited just thinking about it.

Montravius Adams: Mount Travius

The Packers top brass made the comment that they were shocked to see Adams available when they were picking which tells me they feel they got a steal. I tend to agree

I love the video above because it represents two things about the player that I think are important. The first is his elite speed and athleticism that allows him to get up field and fast. Of all the 300 plus pound defensive lineman, only 4 were able to run the 40 in under 5.00 seconds.

Eddie Vanderdoes: 4.99 Larry Ogunjobi: 4.98 Charles Walker: 4.96 Montravius Adams: 4.88

It’s really not even close. The Packers love athleticism and they got perhaps the best combination of size and speed in the defensive lineman class.

The second thing I love about the video is it highlights his ability to make plays. It sounds like boring analysis but so many defensive lineman have the strength to push people around but when it comes time to bring down the runner or quarterback, they fall short. They can’t disengage the blocker, wrap up the runner, and make a play. Adams is fantastic at not only winning the point of attack but moving the blocker out of the way and making the play when it counts.

Vince Biegel: Clay Jr.

Bottom line, Vince Biegel is Clay Matthews. I’m not sure why Clay Matthews’ value is now worth a 4th round pick but let’s just look at this real quick.

Vince: 6’3 246, 4.67 40, 21 bench, 33.5 vert, 118 broad, 6.92 3 cone 0.33 sacks per game in senior year (4 in 12 games)

Clay:  6’3 240, 4.67 40, 23 bench, 35.5 vert, 121 broad, 6.90 3 cone 0.35 sacks per game in senior year (4.5 in 13 games)

They are the exact same person. Add to the fact that they both have a high motor, maximum effort, and glorious hair… I’m telling you, same person.

Here’s your clip, enjoy.

Jamaal Williams: The Brawler

I love Ty Montgomery but the one thing that is clearly lacking with the loss of Eddie Lacy is a bruiser. The Packers went out and got three. We’ll see who makes the final roster but the idea of the Packers being able to pound defenses over and over and over with a stable of thumpers has to get you excited.

None are more exciting than Jamaal Williams who is an absolute brawler that looks for contact. He put it this way.

“I like to bruise and pound people a lot. I feel like I’m a grinder, a workhorse. As the game gets in the third and fourth quarter, I’m getting stronger and stronger and trying to wear defenses down. That’s how I like to play but at the same time I feel like I have the ability to make big runs and get to the end zone anytime too.”

Have you ever seen something so awesome it gave you chills and the chills were so intense your eyes watered a little? I found the little doozy below and that was exactly what happened to me. Notice at the end how he waves at the tackler to come get him and runs into the contact. It’s the 4th quarter by the way. I really really like this guy.

DeAngelo Yancey: The Golden Eagle

A guy that runs a 4.53 40 time but manages to rack up 19.4 yards per carry is unusual. In Yancey case, being 6’2 220 pounds, you might assume he gets a lot of yards after the catch. Watching the guy play, however, it seems all his big plays are down the field where he manages to get behind the DB’s.

The Packers mentioned he plays much faster than his 40 and that certainly seems to be the case.

Aaron Jones: The Bullet Ant

Aaron Jones as compared to Jamaal Williams is the small shifty guy of the bunch. Don’t let that fool you, the guy is a banger. Yes he’s 5’9. Ask me if I care.

Again, we’ll see how the final roster shakes out but winning in the 4th quarter just got a lot easier.

Kofi Amichia: The Bull

The Packers drafted an offensive tackle in the middle rounds who will be converted to guard. The only question left is, how long before he goes to the pro bowl?

Amichia having played tackle has the athleticism to pull and get to the next level in the NFL but is, at heart, a mauler.

Below, Amichia is the left tackle number 75.

The AAC isn’t the toughest conference in the country but Amichia dominated everyone in front of him. I’m excited about him, especially since, at this point in time, he’s depth.

Devante Mays: Pinball Wizard

Our third and final banger is Eddie Lacy reincarnate. At 5’11, 230 pounds, Mays is dimensionally the same player.

To make things sweeter, Mays ran a 4.5 40 (Lacy ran it in 4.64) and has a 420 pound bench press (22 reps at 225) which drew some comparisons to 3rd round pick, D’Onta Foreman.

The big concern with Mays is his 1 full year playing running back followed by an injury that kept him out of most of his senior year. The small sample size and injury concerns likely dropped him to the 7th. Outside of that, Mays was a 3rd round pick this year.

Malachi Dupre: Cinderella Man

Hopefully Dupre never finds out the name I gave him but it works. Like the movie, Dupre was once considered one of the best but inexplicable (in my mind anyway) fell to the 7th round. The name is also a compliment because it implies that I expect him to rise to the top once again…. I’m sorry Malachi.

It’s hard to see what’s happening above but it appears to be a ball that hits the intended receiver in the leg and Dupre catches the deflection.

It seems like a weird highlight but my take away from Dupre is that his strength is his ability to make the plays in front of him. He isn’t super tall, he’s less than 200 pounds, he ran a 4.52, and thanks to a poor quarterback, his stats aren’t fantastic.

Still, when the ball is in the air, my money is on Dupre. His ability to adjust and make the play no matter the situation has to get you excited, especially for a receiver that will have Mr. Improvisation, Aaron Rodgers, as his quarterback.

Similar to Geronimo Allison, there is nothing about him that makes you think he would make a good receiver, yet whenever he was on the field he just seemed to make plays. That’s how I see Dupre as a Packer.