#lessons for life and storytelling

[freebooter4ever]

[wildsaltair]

Ranting in the tags isn’t enough so I’m going to say one more time that just because Maximus isn’t morally gray doesn’t mean he isn’t complex

[clarisse-doodles]

Cass + ballet 🩰 (ft. supportive siblings and good dad Bruce)

I love the idea of Cass enjoying dance. It's an outlet that allows her to express herself without words, and I think she would enjoy the highly technical aspect of ballet combined with its storytelling and emotional side. and as a former dancer I always have fun imagining my fav characters do ballet :)

[pattytacuri]

tired

I’m tired of this version of myself who has to continually save herself who has to perk herself up and get over her own bullshit who wonders if all of this sacrifice and suffering will one day be worth it

10/20/22

[queenielacy]

Both Drew and Roman got caught up with their obsessions and it cost them

[femmefatalevibe]

Aspiring Writers Guide: Part II

Tips For Writing Fiction:

Study your subject and the primary motivations, desires, insecurities, and fatal flaws that would plague the characters within the chosen setting/plot. Consider your narrative's culture and structure its "norms." How do your characters navigate these settings – conform, rebel, lead, follow? Structure your plot points around dilemmas, successes, and tensions that the reader would expect to occur within the plot you've set up.

Develop characters that you illustrate how they are a "product of their environment." Allow readers to get inside the characters' minds. Ideally, each character struggles with their own "moral dilemma" that they contemplate or attempt to work through over the course of the story. Build tension through plot points that provide contrast between characters with different "moral" scripts to undercover something deeper about each character and the fabric of their "society."

Embrace the "ugliness" inside of each character's mind – the deep or unprovoked thoughts that others relate to, but outside of a literary context, wouldn't dare to say out loud. Use show, not tell to display their flaws, triumphs, and other natural ebbs/flows that come with existing.

Have a plan for writing, but let the work finish itself, depending on how the characters develop themselves

Use descriptions, not observations to set the stage. Evoke and show provoked emotions, not describe the characters' feelings directly

Tips For Non-Fiction Writing:

Dive deep into a subject of interest, and consider its history, trends, and innovations. What conclusions or new perspectives can you articulate from this information?

Develop a multi-layered "thesis" to organize your ideas and clarify your POV. How do these interpretations help us come to unique and a deeper understanding of previous studies, research, anecdotes, and developments within this field of interest?

Begin your story on an unexpected or controversial note. Consider using a personal story or historical "fun fact" to draw the reader into the piece. Introducing your story with a personal story, question, or seemingly deviant question can easily hook your audience.

Give them a chance to ponder your new insights or thought-provoking ideas while reading your story. Use personal stories and research study findings to give authority to your story. Extract the main takeaways from these anecdotes, and use them to offer questions about the situations, dilemmas, or overall subject matter to your audience.

Be clear about your structure and how you organize your points. Ensure there's a logical flow between paragraphs, grafs, and sections (or chapters).

Don't forget to evoke emotion through your language and word choice. Allow your humanity to come through, use clever, relevant, humor. Make the audience feel like they're entering an educational fantasy land where the "storylines" envelop your mind as much as they do the page.

[slowdrippingnoise]

i like rose actually hes full of Concepts. i like how leon could easily remind him of peony and of himself (personality, talented champion / older brother, beloved golden child) and i like how bede could also remind him of them/what his remark about seeing himself in bede could mean if taken as truth (ignored child, desperate to prove his worth / uncompromising confidence, needs to feel in control, perfectionistic) so he gives them both important roles to keep them around. very normal very well adjusted good job man.

swsh should have had 500 more lines of major npc dialogue. also leon and marnie should have talked about the whole being a symbolic king/princess thing. or she could talk to hop about it and he could talk about how he thinks leon feels about it which could be interesting also. even more economic fuckery talk i know its a sports thing but leon's Sponsor Cape drives me a little nuts. catch him between his own hopes/the needs of the league/rose's ideas specifically. he's been champion since he was like 10 right. something like that. im going back in time sneaking into the swsh writers room and taping up a big poster of N Harmonia. how soon we forget Boy King Prime. also pokespe was right rose should just be Objectively Correct about the impending energy crisis, his problem is that he tries to solve everything by himself by manipulating everyone around him, and is cool with putting the whole region in danger if he thinks it will Solve The Problem. his problem isnt being pro-nuclear power his problem is he thinks like a king. ideal swsh is anti-monarchy as well as anti-monopoly it would make more sense.

[obsidianquill]

A man lived a life full of trials, always striving to do good despite the hardships he faced. He gave to the poor, helped the weak, and spoke kindly to all. Yet, misfortune followed him relentlessly, illness, loss, and betrayal became his companions. Despite this, he held fast to his virtue.

One day, after a particularly cruel turn of fate, the man died. Upon his passing, he found himself standing before a radiant figure seated beneath a grand tree...the Buddha.

The man, overwhelmed by curiosity and frustration, fell to his knees and asked, "Why do the good suffer, while those who are cruel thrive? I devoted my life to goodness and yet was met with nothing but sorrow. Why is this world so unfair?"

The Buddha gazed at him with a serene smile and replied, "Tell me, why do you believe the world owes fairness to the good?"

The man hesitated. "Is it not the purpose of goodness to be rewarded? To bring harmony and joy?"

The Buddha nodded gently. "That is the hope of many. But consider this: the world operates on a vast web of causes and conditions. Suffering and joy arise not as a reward or punishment, but as the ripples of actions stretching across lifetimes. Do you plant a seed today and expect the fruit to ripen immediately?"

The man shook his head. "No, but then what is the purpose of doing good if it brings no relief from suffering?"

The Buddha pointed to a river flowing nearby. "Look at this river. It carries everything: clear waters, debris, even filth. Yet it flows onward, undeterred. Goodness is like the river. It is not bound by the rewards it seeks or the trials it endures. It flows because it must."

The man remained silent, pondering the words. Finally, he asked, "But what of those who harm others and thrive? Should they not face justice?"

The Buddha's eyes twinkled with compassion. "Justice is not bound by the clock of this life. Actions have consequences, but those consequences may unfold in ways beyond your understanding. Your task was never to control the world or demand fairness, but to live with integrity. The good you sow may not bloom for you but will nurture the world."

The man sighed, his heart heavy yet lighter than before. "So, there is no answer to suffering?"

"There is," the Buddha said, "but it is not one that seeks fairness or blame. It is the understanding that suffering is part of life, and by accepting this truth, you rise above it. The question is not why you suffered, but how you transformed through it."

With these words, the man felt a profound peace washing over him. The Buddha smiled once more and said, "Now, return. Live again, and do so with this understanding."

[postscript-mc]

Either I have it all, or nothing at all.

No more psychological warfare over half-hearted love bombs.

I’ve fought too hard, for too long. On the frontlines, it hit me—"You’re no longer a battle I choose."

I couldn’t care less missing out on winning glories. Red flags aren’t challenges to conquer, nor dreams to chase.

In the middle where it's safest, risks still at play. So I'm waving the white flag ㅡ taking the loss.

To combat or to surrender, my heart will always be brave and strong. For pain and vulnerability are inevitable but lead to something truly valuable.

[owl-bear-in-flight]

Terry Pratchett and I used to joke that we talk about "going to meet our maker," and if we kill characters in our fiction, then maybe one day there'd be a knock at the door and we'd open the door, and there would be some of our characters looking up at us sadly saying, "Why did I have to suffer and die?" And you'd want to say, "For the entertainment and enlightenment of other people." And they'd look up at us and they'd go, "Is that enough?" You know it has to be enough.

-Neil Gaiman (in his MasterClass on The Art of Storytelling)

[freebooter4ever]

oh my goodness lupita??!?!? D:

[filmcourage]

3 Things That Helped Me Become A Hollywood Screenwriter - Sammy Horowitz

Watch the video interview on YouTube here.

[reflectionsofshadow]

I often miss how simple life was as a kid

Makes me see just how complicated we as people have made our lives

From romantic relationships to family drama

All this is self inflicted

We may not see it

We may deny it

But if one is brutally honest with themselves,

As a child you had only attracted a positive mindset

Even if it’s subliminally so,

You paid no attention to how much

your mom and dad were fighting

Basically as a kid the only thing you had in mind was

Your favourite cartoons

The excitement of getting a new toy

Playing after school with your friends

That wasn’t even stress,

It was a life worth living

And with all that said

All I can say is,

Welcome to the real world

[pattytacuri]

bullshit

It’s time to say goodbye to the notion of love I know I’ve said this mores times than I can count but this time I really mean it lately I prefer my life of solitude the one where I’m my own hero, my own savior And I don’t wait on anyone to validate my worth it’s so calm, it’s so peaceful it’s actually bullshit the romantic girl in me can’t be cured

12/6/23

[the--days]

so it's like this.

you're young and you're scared and you're trapped in the feywild (happens to the best of us) with the love of your life. You're a half-elf and she's a fullblooded elf but you don't think about it very much because you're barely surviving day to day. And you get offered a deal to get yourself home again, and you take it. And the price of your freedom is that you leave her still trapped there, alone.

And then five years pass. And you age a century in that time, and you grow, and you change, and you find her again, and you're still in love, and you meet people, and you lose people, and you love them too, and you learn, and you start wanting a future again, and caring again, taking care of yourself, taking care of other people--

and after all of that, at the end of things, you find out the man responsible for all of the misery in your short, sad life has cast a spell which gives him complete control and ownership of you- mind, body, and soul (again. this happens to the best of us). And you are given the choice to stay under his thrall, and live a thousand years-- or to age and die, like humans do, and to be free of him.

And the love of your life is there, and you're married now, and she's still a full blooded elf, and you're still a half-elf, and you think about what that means a lot more than you used to.

And still, after everything you've learned-- you choose your freedom. You choose leaving her behind.

[femmefatalevibe]

(writer anon!) I really like to write fiction, but I'm also interested in writing nonfiction to broaden my skills, if this helps.

Hi love! I'm not a professional fiction writer/author, but my first mentor was one (high school English teacher), so I'll share some of the fiction writing tips I still remember (hopefully correctly lol) that I didn't mention in my original, general writing post:

Tips For Writing Fiction:

Study your subject and the primary motivations, desires, insecurities, and fatal flaws that would plague the characters within the chosen setting/plot. Consider your narrative's culture and structure its "norms." How do your characters navigate these settings – conform, rebel, lead, follow? Structure your plot points around dilemmas, successes, and tensions that the reader would expect to occur within the plot you've set up.

Develop characters that you illustrate how they are a "product of their environment." Allow readers to get inside the characters' minds. Ideally, each character struggles with their own "moral dilemma" that they contemplate or attempt to work through over the course of the story. Build tension through plot points that provide contrast between characters with different "moral" scripts to undercover something deeper about each character and the fabric of their "society."

Embrace the "ugliness" inside of each character's mind – the deep or unprovoked thoughts that others relate to, but outside of a literary context, wouldn't dare to say out loud. Use show, not tell to display their flaws, triumphs, and other natural ebbs/flows that come with existing.

Have a plan for writing, but let the work finish itself, depending on how the characters develop themselves

Use descriptions, not observations to set the stage. Evoke and show provoked emotions, not describe the characters' feelings directly

Tips For Non-Fiction Writing:

Dive deep into a subject of interest, and consider its history, trends, and innovations. What conclusions or new perspectives can you articulate from this information?

Develop a multi-layered "thesis" to organize your ideas and clarify your POV. How do these interpretations help us come to unique and a deeper understanding of previous studies, research, anecdotes, and developments within this field of interest?

Begin your story on an unexpected or controversial note. Consider using a personal story or historical "fun fact" to draw the reader into the piece. Introducing your story with a personal story, question, or seemingly deviant question can easily hook your audience.

Give them a chance to ponder your new insights or thought-provoking ideas while reading your story. Use personal stories and research study findings to give authority to your story. Extract the main takeaways from these anecdotes, and use them to offer questions about the situations, dilemmas, or overall subject matter to your audience.

Be clear about your structure and how you organize your points. Ensure there's a logical flow between paragraphs, grafs, and sections (or chapters).

Don't forget to evoke emotion through your language and word choice. Allow your humanity to come through, use clever, relevant, humor. Make the audience feel like they're entering an educational fantasy land where the "storylines" envelop your mind as much as they do the page.

Hope this helps! x