#the power of storytelling

[agentrouka-blog]

What’s your favorite Sansa quote? 😈

I will not be tied down!!!!!!!!!!!

But randomly, as of today, and subject to change because there is so much to choose from:

At ten, gingerly, she eased herself over the edge of the cliff, poking with her toes until they found a place to rest. The castle walls loomed large above her, and for a moment she wanted nothing so much as to pull herself up and run back to her warm rooms in the Kitchen Keep. Be brave, she told herself. Be brave, like a lady in a song. (ASOS, Sansa V)

It kind of encapsulates what fiction represents and means in the context of Sansa's story. It's a form of spiritual and psychological nourishment that can influence reality because it provides inspiration and an ideal to live up to, if that cannot currently be found in the surrounding reality. It's an instrument of perseverance that Sansa, specifically and especially, wields really well.

[caffinedragon]

Guilt is part of Grief

Just finished Bellara's first companion quest and...ow.

Her story about how she lost her brother hit home for me because i lost my mother four years ago and still feel like it was my fault because i couldnt save her.

In october of 2020 my mom had a massive stroke that took the entirety of her left brain and a good chunk of her right with it.

It ultimately rendered her a vegtable and, according to her wishes, we let her pass away in peace instead of keeping her alive on life support.

Her story brought back memories of me desperatly trying to do whatever could be done to save her and the guilt i still carry for not being able to and...

What Rook says to her just...

"Guilt is a part of grief. You need to learn how to move past it or you'll drown."

I didnt expect to be crying over my keyboard today as a part of me i had not realized was broken healed but, here we are.

The power of storytelling never cease to amaze me.

Thank you for that, whoever wrote this.

I owe you a coffee.

[potato-topato]

Hello. I finished watching Trigun 98. I feel like a different person now. Gonna go cry in the shower and then live a better life. Love and Peace 🤞

[mxdwn]

Voices Silenced, Stories Told: Reflections On ‘Killers Of The Flower Moon’ And The Power Of Storytelling

https://movies.mxdwn.com/feature/voices-silenced-stories-told-reflections-on-killers-of-the-flower-moon-and-the-power-of-storytelling/

[meripehchanme]

https://www.meripehchan.me/myblogs/the-power-of-storytelling-enhance-your-reach-with-business-bio-platform/

Every brand has a unique story waiting to be told, and with storytelling, brands can elevate their brand to new heights. By crafting a captivating narrative, women entrepreneurs can connect with their audience, build trust, and increase brand awareness. And here with MeriPehchan, a dedicated business bio platform for women entrepreneurs, ready to be your voice. With MeriPehchan around, telling a brand story has never been easier or more effective.

[n1ightw1ng]

Like how boring is it for them to be like "from childhood Jason was born to be Reckless and Homicidal" and then in current canon he's just some guy who hangs out with the bats and doesn't kill or use guns or have a significant difference of opinion with any of them? So we remove the actual tragedy of Jason's death, or remove the tragedy from Jason's hands, since yknow the only thing that matters is that Bruce failed to "save" him from himself, and then Jason is not even a character with significant negative presence anymore. What is the point of any of it? I mean that sincerely, like... who gives a shit, then? If you can be evil from childhood and fated to die because you're poor and mean, and then immortalized in a more important character's story as the Mean and Bad Failure, and then you just get reduced to a vaguely bad-boy character who is as willing to cooperate and be obedient as everyone else (and in that I mean roughly as disobedient as everyone else, too, not significantly different in how often he argues or what opinions he argues with), then what . Is the Point. Of the Story.

[giantkillerjack]

Me: hm, I want something to put on the TV as background noise... Huh. Looks like YouTube is recommending something called The Last Unicorn. That's perfect, it's probably some old shitty animation that has aged poorly! I can watch it ironically!

Me, 2 hours later as the credits roll: *crying, cheering, buying the book, composing the songs*

Me, 2 weeks later: So I have compiled all of the quotes from the book that I think could make good tattoos, and also, HOW HAVE I NEVER LEARNED ABOUT HOW THE LAST UNICORN FUCKING SLAPS??? This gay-ass little fairytale fed my soul! Watered my crops! Transed my gender! Can't believe I heard of this story from youtube recommendations, of all places!!

[reality-detective]

Before he was president, Trump bought an estate in West Palm Beach, Florida. He put up an 80 foot flag pole and flew a 375 sq. ft. US flag on it.

The City Council told him that he could only have a 30 foot pole but he refused to take it down. They told him they would fine him $1250 a day until he took it down. He said fine, that's a chump change. When the fine reached $120,000 he went to the city council and made a deal. He said he would lower the flag to a 50 foot pole if he could donate the $120,000 to the Veterans Affairs, to which they agreed.

So he took down the 80 foot pole and a landscape company came in and built up a 30 foot hill where the pole was and then put up a 50 foot pole.

That's why ya gotta love this guy! �� 🇺🇲

[wardensantoineandevka]

Yeah, I think at the end of it. I get, understand, and agree that the narrative moment we're at is "Bells Hells, feeling they don't have the resources to fight Ludinus a second time today and still uncertain about the central question of what is to be done about the gods in Exandria, move toward Predathos in an attempt to control a situation they feel is inevitable. Imogen feels she has to make the choice to accept it into herself because Predathos is still moving toward her and the Ruidusborn, tragically boxing her into this because she feels she has no other meaningful choices." Great, amazing, I totally understand this, and it is a natural beat and one that coheres as a culmination of the campaign. It's actually a pretty great beat in summary.

The frustrating thing ultimately feels to be the execution, because it constantly feels like the story is meandering from beat to beat after an incredibly long series of meanderings over the course of the campaign. It's ultimately fine the characters feel uncertain, but the storytelling itself feels uncertain as well about what it is doing and that is less fine. Every decision is made with a sort of timid "I suppose that's the thing to do, I don't really know" at the table level without a very clear sense of what they're moving toward narratively, and that's really more of the problem. It's undercutting what is otherwise a really great direction.

Decisions don't feel like they have teeth because the storytelling is so hesitant about whether it's the right direction to take, so the needed feeling of stakes, inevitability, tragedy, suffocating circumstance don't exist in the way they should to give what's happening the needed sense of clarity. It feels like we're all moving through a bog in a not fun way because the story itself isn't sure what it's moving toward even in a sense of vibes or structurally. moving confidently and toward a tragedy in a sense of trapping the characters and cornering them would've done wonders, but instead it kinda has the feeling of trying to unroll a carpet dramatically and it just kinda slowly stops. Like, it's a slow drift down a lazy river instead of feeling dragged out with the tide.

It is a really great beat to have Imogen accepting Predathos because she feels she doesn't have any other choice in the series of pressures occurring right now. But, the pressure doesn't really feel like it exists because it all feels disconnected from the moment or too gently / abstractly applied or too slow to be framed, and the inevitability aspect doesn't feel like it's quite standing because narrative inevitability comes from momentum and strong storytelling intent and purpose, and it's never felt like this campaign has had that. The storytelling is hesitant and uncertain, so the tragedy doesn't quite come through on experience of the moment, even when it does come through in summary.

And that's more the frustrating thing. It's a good beat executed a little too uncertainly. The choice itself for the character is a good one, but it — like much of the campaign — feels like it lacks a storyteller trust in the narrative or trust in the choice itself to make it really feel satisfying as an execution. I genuinely wonder if that's ultimately what I'm bouncing off of, the fact that it doesn't feel like the table is trusting in the narrative or trusting the choices they're making for the story or trusting in themselves and each other to carry through the story they’re telling, so the intentionality and purpose feel off and it's stripping a great beat of its power by making it feel hesitant at a narrative mechanics level.

[loredrinker]

I'd like to take a moment to appreciate the word vhenan.

From a media and fiction perspective, it’s brilliant.

Think about "As you wish." What immediately comes to mind?

That is vhenan. Character and relationship branding packaged in one word.

It’s a recognizable shorthand for Solas and Lavellan’s story (romanced Lavellan). And while it may be known only within the DA community, it carries enough narrative weight and presence that rarely is there any ambiguity on who you are referring to. (Even many non-Solasmancers I've interacted with know immediately the reference.)

It is also a word that is layered:

A storytelling tool that heightens drama and emotional impact.

A word filled with emotions - confession, intimacy, despair, devotion, pain and love.

And a word that evokes the entire narrative of Solas and Lavellan.

Such a simple word.

[otaku553]

Need to write a 4000 word essay and take a neurobio final before I’m done with the term and both are due Thursday so we’re going back to the procrastination doodles again

[anetherealpoetess]

shipping discourse is so crucial because it encourages people to examine and re-examine their perceptions of female characters. when we actively think about why a ship feels comfortable or uncomfortable, we are less likely to be swayed by patriarchal notions of womanhood disguised as progressive ideals within fandoms.

female-dominated spaces, like many fandoms, are growing more conservative in tone, especially around complex female characters, and there is a growing discomfort with heroines attracted to villains. this trend parallels the conservative impulse to judge a person's morality based on their reading preferences. (a bad, bad thing.)

we are seeing a huge shift towards puritanical ideals of female purity (check out the trad-wifers on tiktok), and it is a rot seeping into fandoms. we have to keep shipping discourse alive. we have to keep talking about female characters and their complicated relationships with themselves, but also with other characters, including their attraction to morally-grey or outright villainous characters. keep asking people to examine and re-examine their perceptions of womanhood. keep them thinking.

we cannot let our fandoms reduce complex female characters and their relationships to simple moral statements. this approach creates a pipeline to conservative radicalisation, where the only shipping discourse allowed is through a tiny patriarchal lens. fandoms are spaces were we should explore, brainstorm, and celebrate female complexity, resisting the urge to flatten characters and their relationships into 'good' or 'bad' based on narrow conservative ideas of female purity.

[helenvader]

These two stills nicely show the passage of time during Sauron's goo phase. Stalactites and stalagmites do not grow exactly quickly.

It's only after the shot in the second still that Blobron devours the poor rat.

It means he was a black puddle for a very long time before he turned into a spaghetti monster, crawled out of the cave, had a sled adventure, was run over by a carriage and turned into Halbrand... possibly not of the Southlands. :-)

It's a lovely example of "show don't tell."

[sauronism]

s2ep3 // s2ep6. a storytelling through appearance.

sauron appear before celebrimbor in a simple garment with little intricacies and a circlet that represent halo above his unkempt hair. a humble yet modest approach to his bearing. a common depiction of an angel. despite this, the white robe sauron wore is tainted. signifying his hidden corruption.

once he took control of eregion, and hold the title of a lordship, only then he appear in embellished robe and styled hair. the circlet no longer there. the color of his robe is fully black, as gold ordained his clothing. a design representing the pollution and the greediness of his desire to possess middle-earth. he is no longer hiding behind the role of an emissary. he is now, sauron, ruling eregion behind celebrimbor.

[sword-wielding-sapphic]

Luke Arnold comparing Silver pulling a gun on Flint to "putting down the family dog" is kinda funny considering that the other ending is literally 'it's ok sweetie, he's not dead, he went to live on a farm'