#being mainly focus on the denouements

[afterthegreatunknown]

a long, complicated denouement headcanon, featuring the sbg

Despite their ‘100%’ identical appearance in TPP/the ASOUE period, the Denouement triplets weren’t 100% identical. Dewey, Ernest, and Frank did not like being mistaken for one another when they were children, partly because the adults thought it ‘cute’ they dress identical. By their pre-teen years, they begun to differentiate from one another, and by the time they became young adults, were 100% no longer identical. Did that stop anyone from mistaking them for the wrong brother? Nope. But they (reluctantly) accepted it as it is.

(It’s ‘100%’ identical because there is one [1] thing that prevents them from truly being 100% identical.)

After an incident that had Dewey almost dying by a fire-starter, the Denouements realize that to keep their family and the newly built Hotel Denouement safe, they had to be identical once again. Fearing also for Dewey’s life, they hatched a plan that they didn’t want to do, but knew was necessary to allow them to be secretly neutral a la Olivia Caliban under the Madame Lulu persona at Caligari Carnival (the organization didn’t grant them permission to be neutral).

The Denouements ended up faking Dewey’s death in an unrelated VFD accident, and have Ernest and Frank fake their own family schism. Ernest ‘joins’ the fire-starters, while Frank remaining ‘loyal’ to the fire-fighters. With the two brothers now on opposite sides yet still running the Hotel Denouement together, both sides end up treading carefully with their actions. As such, the Denouement triplets achieve the goal of neutrality underneath almost everyone’s noses (some are in on the ruse).

So, by ASOUE, they’re ‘100%’ identical. But in the past, they weren’t, yet sometimes still got mistaken for one another despite making it easy. What were those attempts? Who are those that can 100% tell the brothers apart, mostly pre-canon? Who can’t 100% tell the brothers apart, pre-canon (and maybe during canon itself)?

100% can tell the Denouement triplets apart:

Raymond ‘Q’ Quagmire: As their [adopted] cousin, Raymond discovered a speaking quirk the Denouements triplets individually have. Dewey speaks in a steady pace that isn’t too polite or formal; it’s in between. Ernest speaks slightly faster on the casual/friendly side. Frank speaks slightly slower, more directly + formal, and is the sole Denouement to throw in a cuss word in conversation if given the chance/angry (sometimes minor, sometimes major).

(This speaking quirk is the one [1] thing that prevents them from being 100% identical by the ASOUE period.)

Joan Quagmire, nee Morstan, and her triplet sisters Alex and Lindsey: The sisters picked up the speaking quirk after their first meeting with the Denouements. The sisters also discovered how each Denouement triplet -at least Ernest and Frank- use a different dominate hand. Ernest is right-handed, while Frank is left-handed. Dewey while ambidextrous, is more likely to use his right hand than left. So if Joan, Alex, or Lindsey are interacting with either Dewey and/or Ernest but don’t know who it exactly and they’re using their right hand for something, the speaking quirk is their guide.

(By the ASOUE period, Ernest and Frank successfully taught themselves to use their other hand. Frank had the harder time though.)

The Snicket Siblings: The Snicket siblings, not long after picking up on the speaking quirk, discovered the Denouement style their three (3) hairstyles differently. Their first style -short hair with bangs- has Dewey leaving his bangs alone, Ernest sweeps his bangs more towards the right, and Frank sweeps his bangs more to the left. Their second style - hair down to their neck nickname ‘the Mane’- their ends are all different; one of Dewey’s ends goes down  while the other ends flips upward, both of Ernest’s ends flip up, while both of Frank’s ends goes down. Their third style is the ‘growing out’ stage between hairstyle one and two; Dewey never tucks and runs a hand through his hair, Ernest tucks and runs a hand via his right hand, and Frank tucks and runs a hand via his left hand.

(By the ASOUE period, it was agreed via Dewey’s insistence that they rotate one another in a cycle, to keep it lively. During the period of TPP, all three brothers were in their ‘Mane’ phrase, copying Ernest’s style.)

Bertrand: After picking up on the speaking quirk, Bertrand discovered the Denouements react differently regarding hugs and handshakes. Dewey accepts and gives them out with glee. Ernest is always shock when receiving them and ends them quick; he also rarely initiates them but when he does, he does it in a friendly/casual matter. Frank reluctantly accepts and gives them out. Frank is also the sole Denouement willing to tackle/throw someone to the ground if they’re very suspicious, VFD member or not.

(By the ASOUE period, Ernest and Frank managed to act like Dewey regarding hugs and handshakes. Frank also managed to stop tackling/throwing people to the ground, making others do it in his place, like the waitress in TPP who threw that man on the floor after he asked for sugar.)

Beatrice: After picking up on the speaking quirk and hair quirk, Beatrice discovered the Denouements wear different colors socks, even if they’re all dress identically for reasons. Dewey wears blue socks, Ernest wears green socks, and Frank wears red socks. Beatrice also learned another 100% sure way to tell them apart if all three are in a matching suit and tie (they don’t wear bowties) with matching socks; Dewey always has his tie properly on, Ernest’s tie is slightly loosen, and Frank for whatever reason is missing a cuff link, or has one unbuttoned cuff.

(By the ASOUE period, the Denouements decided to wear white socks only. Ernest and Frank also decided to copy Dewey’s dressing habit. Ernest constantly fights the urge to loosen up his tie. Frank quickly adapted to wearing both cuff links/have buttoned cuffs.)

Can 100% tell apart the Denouement triplets. HOWEVER...

R: R learned the Denouement triplets dressing quirk of different color socks, taking weeks to figure out which color each triplet associated with. However, when it comes to a matching suit and tie with matching socks, R for some reason, thinks Dewey is missing the cuff link/has the one unbuttoned cuff, Ernest has the tie properly on, and Frank has the slightly loosen time. R discovers she got this particular quirk wrong post-canon, after an accidental meeting with the sole Denouement triplet survivor.

Monty: Monty learned of the Denouement triplets hair quirks for hairstyle one and two after several rapid conversations with each brother in under an hour. However, Monty never did figure out the quirk for their third hairstyle, and so he keeps quiet on who he thinks he’s talking too to avoid trouble. In Monty’s defense, he rarely interacts with the Denouements when they’re growing out their hair; Monty has the odd luck of interacting with them with either short hair with bangs or with ‘the Mane’.

Widdershins: Widdershins picked up on the Denouements’ speaking quirk after a few years of interactions. However, Widdershins can be trick into thinking he’s talking to the wrong brother. The only Denouements who does the tricking is Ernest, but that’s only in the month of April. Widdershins is mainly trick by his associates who also can 100% tell the brothers apart due to them wanting to prank the Denouements, or are angry at the Denouements and are using Widdershins as their stand-in.

Can 100% tell apart Ernest and Frank, but throw in Dewey...

Gregor and Hector + Josephine: The three discovered that Ernest is right-handed and Frank is left-handed. Because Dewey is ambidextrous with a leaning of using his right-handed, they will make the mistake of thinking Dewey is Ernest, and vice versa until correct, which in that case, they’ll apologize to both. At least Hector and Josephine. Gregor will apologize to Dewey, but not Ernest. Ernest has no idea why he never gets the apology.

Miranda and Olivia: The two Calibans discovered together that Ernest is a bit of a motor-mouth, and Frank is a bit of a slow talker. Dewey’s steady, polite pace has him getting mistaken as Frank by the two. In their defense, they don’t interact much with the Denouements, so they will apologize when corrected. Olivia does it more so, especially to Dewey.

Can 100% tell apart Dewey and Ernest, but throw in Frank...

N (Nestor) Caliban: Like his sisters, N. discovered that Ernest is a bit of a motor mouth. However, his discovery was made when Ernest was with Dewey. As such, Frank’s slightly slow speaking matter is mistaken at times by N. as Dewey trying to get his point across. N. usually realizes he’s wrong after thirty seconds, apologize, and continue on with the conservation.

Haruki: Haruki, because of all the coffee drinks Ernest partakes in with him and Larry, knows the man’s quirks. But Haruki doesn’t know the quirks of Dewey and Frank, for Haruki rarely visits the Hotel Denouement. As such, whenever Haruki runs into Dewey or Frank at a party or meeting, he avoids saying their name or says ‘Denouement’ when talking to one of them.

Can 100% tell apart Dewey and Frank, but throw in Ernest...

The Sebald Siblings: The reason why Sally and Gustav can’t tell Ernest apart from Dewey and Frank is because they interact with Ernest the least. Every quirk known for Dewey and Frank, the Sebalds know. It’s just Ernest’s quirks they lacking knowledge of. They’re as such, apologizing constantly.

Can 100% tell Ernest and Frank apart, but they don’t think Dewey exists (because they got the luck of never interacting with Dewey properly):

Ike: Ike discovered the sock quirk by accident, and the dominate hand quirk after observations. One of the two SBG fire-fighter members to think Dewey as non-existent, sort of. Ike thinks Dewey was a brother to Frank and Ernest (in that order because Ike assumes Frank is older due to his demeanor), but died after choking on an avocado pit. Attempts to tell Ike the truth about Dewey never happen due to Ernest finding it hilarious to stop anyone from telling Ike (this is why Gregor never apologizes to Ernest).

Larry: Larry is the other SBG fire-fighter members to think Dewey as non-existent, sort of. He too, thinks Dewey was a brother who died after choking on an avocado pit, and also not told the truth due to Ernest finding it hilarious to stop anyone from telling Larry. Larry learned on his own very quickly Ernest and Frank have different hairstyles after accidentally getting coffee with Frank once. Larry does learn Dewey is, or was, real, post-canon, and promptly punches the sole surviving Denouement triplet in the stomach for making him [Larry] thinking Dewey died by other means.

Olaf: After interacting with Ernest and Frank after so many years, especially Ernest, Olaf picked up on their hair quirk. Regarding Dewey, Olaf thinks of him as their dead brother who didn’t survive childbirth that comes to ‘life’ every April Fool’s Day. Attempts to tell Olaf the truth are always interrupted by outsiders, before attempts just stop happening.

Esme: Esme picked up on their hair quirk after an accidental night out with Frank (best night Esme ever had). Regarding Dewey, Esme thinks that Dewey was their brother who died as a child in the same fire that also killed their parents, and goes with the ‘joke’ every April Fool’s Day that brings Dewey back to ‘life’. Attempts to tell Esme the truth never happened.

[Regarding the matter of Dewey faking their death and his funeral, which would reveal to the four that Dewey is a real person, they were all conveniently out of the City and Land of Districts at the time of it happening. On the matter of Ernest ‘joining’ the fire-starters while Frank ‘stays’ loyal to the fire-fighters, their return had them learning of a family schism that drove the brothers apart, and weren’t given more information about it.]

100% can’t tell Ernest and Frank apart, and has no idea Dewey exists.

Jerome: Not part of the SBG or VFD, but his association with Beatrice and the Snickets (mainly Jacques) puts him on the list. Jerome, try as he might with Beatrice’s help, he just can’t tell Ernest and Frank apart. Jerome managed it twice, but they were lucky guesses due to Frank swearing. Jerome didn’t get better even after learning of VFD during the ASOUE period.

Charles: Not officially part of VFD, but because he offer his services and has knowledge of VFD and its working, he gets put on the list. Charles, to avoid embarrassment on being wrong, refers to Ernest and Frank as ‘Denouement’, even in less formal settings. This actually works to Charles’ favor, for either one will always say, “Please, call me [X].”

Fernald: Not part of the SBG, but he is a lump member. Fernald legit can’t tell Ernest and Frank apart, even with help from his stepfather (before he became a stepfather). And Fernald didn’t get better after joining the fire-starters. Fernald as such, keeps quiet and hopes others like Olaf or Esme, will recognize they’re talking to Ernest, before jumping into the conversation himself.

100% can’t tell the Denouement triplets apart and doesn’t bother to make the attempt to learn their quirks:

Georgina Orwell: Because Georgina doesn’t see herself as part of the SBG and never makes the attempt to associate/interact with them as if she is, this is chalked up to rare interactions between them. The Denouements rarely are in need her services, and Georgina rarely goes to their hotel (she prefers the Preludio). When they do interact (usually in a meeting or party), Georgina takes the polite route and calls them ‘Denouement’.

Bonus: A lump OSG member who 100% can tell the Denouement triplets apart, but pretends otherwise:

Adeline Montgomery, Monty’s older sister: Adeline is four years older than Monty. When the schism broke out, Adeline being ten and Monty being six pushed her into being lump with the OSG. Adeline can tell the Denouement triplets apart by their hair quirk. The reason she pretends not to is because she feels bad that Monty, who also uses the hair quirk, still makes mistakes, so she makes herself worse in comparison.

#asoue #a series of unfortunate events #denouement triplets #dewey denouement #ernest denouement #frank denouement #book verse #headcanons #sugar bowl gen #sugar bowl generation #being mainly focus on the denouements #not going to make the attempt to tag everyone

[perpetual-stories]

Story Structures for your Next WIP

hello, hello. this post will be mostly for my notes. this is something I need in to be reminded of for my business, but it can also be very useful and beneficial for you guys as well.

everything in life has structure and storytelling is no different, so let’s dive right in :)

First off let’s just review what a story structure is :

a story is the backbone of the story, the skeleton if you will. It hold the entire story together.

the structure in which you choose your story will effectively determine how you create drama and depending on the structure you choose it should help you align your story and sequence it with the conflict, climax, and resolution.

1. Freytag's Pyramid

this first story structure i will be talking about was named after 19th century German novelist and playwright.

it is a five point structure that is based off classical Greek tragedies such as Sophocles, Aeschylus and Euripedes.

Freytag's Pyramid structure consists of:

Introduction: the status quo has been established and an inciting incident occurs.

Rise or rising action: the protagonist will search and try to achieve their goal, heightening the stakes,

Climax: the protagonist can no longer go back, the point of no return if you will.

Return or fall: after the climax of the story, tension builds and the story inevitably heads towards...

Catastrophe: the main character has reached their lowest point and their greatest fears have come into fruition.

this structure is used less and less nowadays in modern storytelling mainly due to readers lack of appetite for tragic narratives.

2. The Hero's Journey

the hero's journey is a very well known and popular form of storytelling.

it is very popular in modern stories such as Star Wars, and movies in the MCU.

although the hero's journey was inspired by Joseph Campbell's concept, a Disney executive Christopher Vogler has created a simplified version:

The Ordinary World: The hero's everyday routine and life is established.

The Call of Adventure: the inciting incident.

Refusal of the Call: the hero / protagonist is hesitant or reluctant to take on the challenges.

Meeting the Mentor: the hero meets someone who will help them and prepare them for the dangers ahead.

Crossing the First Threshold: first steps out of the comfort zone are taken.

Tests, Allie, Enemies: new challenges occur, and maybe new friends or enemies.

Approach to the Inmost Cave: hero approaches goal.

The Ordeal: the hero faces their biggest challenge.

Reward (Seizing the Sword): the hero manages to get ahold of what they were after.

The Road Back: they realize that their goal was not the final hurdle, but may have actually caused a bigger problem than before.

Resurrection: a final challenge, testing them on everything they've learned.

Return with the Elixir: after succeeding they return to their old life.

the hero's journey can be applied to any genre of fiction.

3. Three Act Structure:

this structure splits the story into the 'beginning, middle and end' but with in-depth components for each act.

Act 1: Setup:

exposition: the status quo or the ordinary life is established.

inciting incident: an event sets the whole story into motion.

plot point one: the main character decided to take on the challenge head on and she crosses the threshold and the story is now progressing forward.

Act 2: Confrontation:

rising action: the stakes are clearer and the hero has started to become familiar with the new world and begins to encounter enemies, allies and tests.

midpoint: an event that derails the protagonists mission.

plot point two: the hero is tested and fails, and begins to doubt themselves.

Act 3: Resolution:

pre-climax: the hero must chose between acting or failing.

climax: they fights against the antagonist or danger one last time, but will they succeed?

Denouement: loose ends are tied up and the reader discovers the consequences of the climax, and return to ordinary life.

4. Dan Harmon's Story Circle

it surprised me to know the creator of Rick and Morty had their own variation of Campbell's hero's journey.

the benefit of Harmon's approach is that is focuses on the main character's arc.

it makes sense that he has such a successful structure, after all the show has multiple seasons, five or six seasons? i don't know not a fan of the show.

the character is in their comfort zone: also known as the status quo or ordinary life.

they want something: this is a longing and it can be brought forth by an inciting incident.

the character enters and unfamiliar situation: they must take action and do something new to pursue what they want.

adapt to it: of course there are challenges, there is struggle and begin to succeed.

they get what they want: often a false victory.

a heavy price is paid: a realization of what they wanted isn't what they needed.

back to the good old ways: they return to their familiar situation yet with a new truth.

having changed: was it for the better or worse?

i might actually make a operate post going more in depth about dan harmon's story circle.

5. Fichtean Curve:

the fichtean curve places the main character in a series of obstacles in order to achieve their goal.

this structure encourages writers to write a story packed with tension and mini-crises to keep the reader engaged.

The Rising Action

the story must start with an inciting indecent.

then a series of crisis arise.

there are often four crises.

2. The Climax:

3. Falling Action

this type of story telling structure goes very well with flash-back structured story as well as in theatre.

6. Save the Cat Beat Sheet:

this is another variation of a three act structure created by screenwriter Blake Snyder, and is praised widely by champion storytellers.

Structure for Save the Cat is as follows: (the numbers in the brackets are for the number of pages required, assuming you're writing a 110 page screenplay)

Opening Image [1]: The first shot of the film. If you’re starting a novel, this would be an opening paragraph or scene that sucks readers into the world of your story.

Set-up [1-10]. Establishing the ‘ordinary world’ of your protagonist. What does he want? What is he missing out on?

Theme Stated [5]. During the setup, hint at what your story is really about — the truth that your protagonist will discover by the end.

Catalyst [12]. The inciting incident!

Debate [12-25]. The hero refuses the call to adventure. He tries to avoid the conflict before they are forced into action.

Break into Two [25]. The protagonist makes an active choice and the journey begins in earnest.

B Story [30]. A subplot kicks in. Often romantic in nature, the protagonist’s subplot should serve to highlight the theme.

The Promise of the Premise [30-55]. Often called the ‘fun and games’ stage, this is usually a highly entertaining section where the writer delivers the goods. If you promised an exciting detective story, we’d see the detective in action. If you promised a goofy story of people falling in love, let’s go on some charmingly awkward dates.

Midpoint [55]. A plot twist occurs that ups the stakes and makes the hero’s goal harder to achieve — or makes them focus on a new, more important goal.

Bad Guys Close In [55-75]. The tension ratchets up. The hero’s obstacles become greater, his plan falls apart, and he is on the back foot.

All is Lost [75]. The hero hits rock bottom. He loses everything he’s gained so far, and things are looking bleak. The hero is overpowered by the villain; a mentor dies; our lovebirds have an argument and break up.

Dark Night of the Soul [75-85-ish]. Having just lost everything, the hero shambles around the city in a minor-key musical montage before discovering some “new information” that reveals exactly what he needs to do if he wants to take another crack at success. (This new information is often delivered through the B-Story)

Break into Three [85]. Armed with this new information, our protagonist decides to try once more!

Finale [85-110]. The hero confronts the antagonist or whatever the source of the primary conflict is. The truth that eluded him at the start of the story (established in step three and accentuated by the B Story) is now clear, allowing him to resolve their story.

Final Image [110]. A final moment or scene that crystallizes how the character has changed. It’s a reflection, in some way, of the opening image.

(all information regarding the save the cat beat sheet was copy and pasted directly from reedsy!)

7. Seven Point Story Structure:

this structure encourages writers to start with the at the end, with the resolution, and work their way back to the starting point.

this structure is about dramatic changes from beginning to end

The Hook. Draw readers in by explaining the protagonist’s current situation. Their state of being at the beginning of the novel should be in direct contrast to what it will be at the end of the novel.

Plot Point 1. Whether it’s a person, an idea, an inciting incident, or something else — there should be a "Call to Adventure" of sorts that sets the narrative and character development in motion.

Pinch Point 1. Things can’t be all sunshine and roses for your protagonist. Something should go wrong here that applies pressure to the main character, forcing them to step up and solve the problem.

Midpoint. A “Turning Point” wherein the main character changes from a passive force to an active force in the story. Whatever the narrative’s main conflict is, the protagonist decides to start meeting it head-on.

Pinch Point 2. The second pinch point involves another blow to the protagonist — things go even more awry than they did during the first pinch point. This might involve the passing of a mentor, the failure of a plan, the reveal of a traitor, etc.

Plot Point 2. After the calamity of Pinch Point 2, the protagonist learns that they’ve actually had the key to solving the conflict the whole time.

Resolution. The story’s primary conflict is resolved — and the character goes through the final bit of development necessary to transform them from who they were at the start of the novel.

(all information regarding the seven point story structure was copy and pasted directly from reedsy!)

i decided to fit all of them in one post instead of making it a two part post.

i hope you all enjoy this post and feel free to comment or reblog which structure you use the most, or if you have your own you prefer to use! please share with me!

if you find this useful feel free to reblog on instagram and tag me at perpetualstories

Follow my tumblr and instagram for more writing and grammar tips and more!

#writing #writing advice #writing tips #original writing #writers on tumblr #writerscommunity #writersconnection #writersofig #writersofinstagram #writings

[your-highnessmarvel]

From Bleak to Bright - Part Fourteen

All other parts on on my masterlist, link provided below.

AN:  okay so this is where the denouement makes everyone extremely mad at me, but oh well, i couldn’t make it easy for you now could i ;)

Warnings: angst, language

MASTERLIST - SERIES MASTERLIST

PART FOURTEEN

It was two days after Loki and you had confirmed that you’d be leaving - more like running away - on Friday. Loki said he’d bring you across the world, wherever you wished, and had offered outer space travel only if you felt safe. Albeit, space travel with Loki sounded fun, you weren’t truly there yet.

He came by, spending a few hours, but leaving in the wee hours of morning to prepare for your departure. Securing flights and drivers and new identities and all. 

How you trusted him so completely without knowing him more than a handful of days, you had no idea. Maybe the two years of agony you’d spent away from him? The sudden reappearance and the way your world seemed to shift into focus when he was around? Whatever it was that made you trust the God of Mischief and Lies, it was sure as hell potent. 

You were all packed now. You had bags full of jeans and underwear and shoes and cosmetics. He’d instructed you only to bring the necessities, but it seemed like you were scared to run out of L’OREAL mascara.  

Loki had mentioned sandy beaches and hot tropics, and you’d mentioned forests and mountain sides. Wherever your haven was, you knew it would be home simply by Loki’s presence. 

The buzzer sounded and it brought you out of your reverie of the future, jarring you back to the reality where you still had to wait a few more days. 

You went to the buzzer. “Who is it”? you asked.

“It’s Bruce!”

Your heart rattled in your chest. 

“I brought fish and chips!” He sounded genuinely happy, the normal brother to come and drop off food when he knows his baby sister is off work. Because he knew you were lonely.

Well, not so lonely anymore, but Bruce didn’t know that. 

You buzzed him up, closing you bedroom door so he wouldn’t see your packed bags. 

You tried to look natural. What was natural for you anyway? Sad. Bored. Monosyllabic. 

Bruce walked in holding two cardboard boxes filled with greasy newspaper, handing it off to you while he took off his jacket. “You look well!” he said, mouth in a wide grin. He saw the effects of you being near your soulmate. He could see the glow of your skin, your eyes wide and awake, your smile real. 

He thought you were just getting over Loki. 

“I’m fine,” you said with a corner smile, bringing the food to the kitchen. 

“I’m just going to use the bathroom real quick,” he said, galloping off. 

You took the food out of the wrapping, settling it in dishes, the smell warm and tasty. You took out two glass bottles of Perrier and put metal straws, topping off your presentation with utensils. 

Bruce came out of the bathroom with a frown. “Why is your bathroom empty?” he asked. 

You could feel your heart dropping, but you schooled your features.

“I did a huge clean up and I put everything in my room,” you said, turning and pretending to store some glasses in the cupboard. “Must have just forgotten to put them all back.”

When you turned to face your brother, he was nodding, but that PhD brain was working; you could practically see the wheels turning in his brain. 

You sat at the counter, your elbow brushing his. “How was your week?” you asked, mostly to distract him. If he pondered too long, he just might come to the right conclusion.

But everyone thought Loki was dead, right? 

You swallowed thickly, suddenly unable to indulge in the food your mouth had watered over just a few seconds ago.

“Yeah,” Bruce said, shaking his head, taking a seat beside you. “It was... intriguing.”

“How so?” You dug into your fries, trying to be as normal as ever, glad the conversation was erring away from your empty bathroom. 

“Tony’s been trying to build this AI,” Bruce started, toying around with his fries. “He’s asked me to join him.”

Your brows raised and you just hoped you weren’t displaying too much emotion to put him off. “That sounds awesome.”

Bruce shrugged. “It’s a project.”

You both ate your food in quiet chitchat. Bruce indulged you in Tony’s new plan, on the ongoings of the Avengers, and how many schools had begged to get Bruce in on the staff. You had nothing as flamboyant as that, but you told him about your work and where you’d stopped to get coffee at a new place around the corner.

You absolutely ignored the nagging, tall and dark presence in the back of your mind.

Bruce left rather quickly, claiming he wanted to get back to Tony. You found it a little strange the way he scurried out of your apartment, barely remembering his jacket. You chalked it up to good old Bruce and his anxiety.

You clean up the place, making sure to put everything back in its place. You didn’t want to leave rotting dishes for whoever it was to find you missing. 

You felt strange, as if your encounter with your brother was more. As if the world was telling you something. Maybe you should have said a sort of goodbye? No. Bruce was way too smart. He would have seen you coming and he’d have asked all the right questions to get you to spill. 

Maybe it was just that you were leaving in a few days, for a long time, and that this was quite possibly the last time you’d ever see your brother. You hadn’t even hugged him. He’d just scurried out like there was a fire in his pants. 

You’d written him a goodbye letter that you’d planned on leaving under your pillow the night you left. It was filled with reasons why he shouldn’t come after you, mainly that you were happy. 

Because you were! Loki settled all the storms raging in your veins. He quieted the winds and soothed the seas. His presence was like slipping into well fitting gloves. It was meant to be. And you’d be damned if they wouldn’t let you be with the only man you wanted to be with. 

Loki walked in as you were staring out the window. The door clicked shut just as his arms encircled your waist, warm and steady. His nose pressed into the curve of your neck, and his scent invaded your senses. He was a solid block at your back, making your heart beat erratic in your chest. 

“You’ve been worrying,” he said, his voice rough. 

The way he knew you so well was sometimes worrisome. 

“Bruce has been here.”

“Ah.” He pulled away, putting his hands on your shoulders and spinning you until he was the one with his back to the window. “Was it goodbye?”

You nodded. “I didn’t say goodbye, like you said,” you answered, feeling the thickness of emotion rising in your throat. “But it was quite possibly the last time I see him.”

Loki smoothed his hands onto your cheeks, using his thumb to wipe the wet corners of your eyes. “For a while,” he said, his voice a whisper. “I promise you will see him again.”

“He was acting to strange too,” you said. “He was talking about his new project with Tony and all, and I just chalked it up to his anxiety, but it was weird the way he left.”

You felt Loki stiffen, his eyes hardening as he bore his stare into yours. “What did he say?” he asked, a muscle in his jaw ticking. 

You looked up at him, frowning, trying to read into his mind, but like always, Loki’s inner monologue was but a mystery to you. 

“Something about an AI,” you answered. “Or whatever. But he left a while ago.”

Loki seemed to ponder for an instant, but his entire body was rigid under your fingers. 

“Did he leave anything behind?” he asked, and he pulled away from you, walking to your kitchen. 

“No,” you said, putting your hands in your back pockets. “He left his food but I threw that away. No leftovers for you.” Your weak attempt at humor didn’t even make Loki laugh. 

He went to the counter where you and Bruce had sat, passing his index on the countertop. He was frowning deeply, black curls pushed messily behind his ears. You took a good look at him then, his dark blue sweater and black slacks, the way the colors made him look cold but you, of all people, knew intimately the warmth of his flesh. 

“What is it?” you asked, watching him skim the surface of the stools, brows pulled in concentration.

Then his hand flexed and he stopped. He bent slowly, passing his hand under the counter. When he straightened back up, he was holding what looked to be a little aluminum ball. 

“Dust?” you asked, taking a few steps forward.

“Shit.” His shoulders tensed and he crushed the little ball between his index and his thumb. “Microphone.”

The word seemed to buzz all over your skin, making your heart throb painfully against your throat. “What?” It was a whisper and you froze, watching the way Loki looked back over your shoulder to the window, throwing the crushed device to the floor.

“We must leave at once,” he said, springing into action. He left you standing like a statue in the kitchen as he ran for your room, throwing the door open. You heard him shuffling about, grabbing a few bags and then hurrying back. He shoved a bag strap into your hand. “Y/N.” He shook you slightly, his gaze darting from your face to the window. “We must lave right now. They know.”

You grabbed onto the strap, but your grasp was weak. Your knees felt like jell-o. 

“I don’t have the Tesseract,” Loki said, grabbing your free hand and hauling you towards the door. “So we must get to the plane. Are you listening?”

You nodded, but his words were just that - words. They occupied the space between the both of you, and as he hauled you out into the corridor, the world shifted to a blur.

You both tumbled down the stairs, you gripping onto his hand, him looking back every so often to make sure you were alright. At the bottom of the staircase, he took you by the jaw and kissed you harshly. The wind was knocked from your lungs and you clung to him so desperately. 

“I will never leave you,” he panted against your mouth. “Never again.”

That promise returned the fire to your limbs, the air to your lungs, and you nodded, giving him a determined look. “I’m with you,” you whispered, and he smirked, bringing his mouth back down to yours for another breathtaking kiss. 

“I’m with you,” he uttered, grabbing your hand once more and pushing open the door, daylight seeping in. 

You tumbled onto the sidewalk and halted. 

There was a man standing there, leaning against a car, arms crossed over his chest.

Bruce. 

MORE SMEXY TIMES IN THE NEXT CHAPTER! Any ideas where this is going? I’m telling you, this looks hopelessssssss ;)

Tags:  @subtlemalice @yallgotkik @buckyandlokirunmylife @kaz11283 @legolas-bromance @shylittlemountain @tofeartheunknown @feelmyfckngsoul @kind-of-crazy-butthatsokay @caffiend-queen @tomhollandsslilslut @lady-loki-ren @nathan-no @rosaline-black @abundanceofcarolines @my-own-oracle @it-was-all-a-beautiful-dream @marvelouslovely @drbaureid @bored-as-hell-666 @youhavemyfantasticbeasts @theinfinitenerd @toe-vind-ek-jou @ink-and-starlight @blank-bakabane @sunshineonloki @holaamishamigos @palegoopbearlight @heyarely16 @pleaseexecuteme @athalahild @help-i-need-a-social-life @tapismyforte @coloursforyourportrait @celestialstarshadow @fukyouthink @lust-for-pan @thic-thor @winchescumberholland @morganmofresh @dazedkrosupreme @postsbyjenipeo  @copper-boom @jesuswasnotawhiteman

#loki #lokixyou #lokixyn #lokixreader #fanfic #fic #fanfiction #angst #soulmate au

[explodingcrayon]

OKAY here are my Critical Thoughts about TLTTK which I still think is a really good, entertaining show and I kind of want to read the original book now... Obviously there are differences between the two as with any adaptation, but it’s a good story all the same!!

Major spoilers under the cut for the netflix series!!

Alright so my biggest issue is with the last two episodes, mainly with the last episode. Pacing was good the entire show until this last episode where they had to wrap everything up and end it. Which left it feeling like... weird? It felt “complete” but also there was so much that was left just empty?

I wish we had seen more Eviellan stuff (the place, characters from there, the actual conflict that they were suffering, etc.) but I guess I also understand why we didn’t, as Tiuri was the focus of the story? But considering the war was uhhh SIGNIFICANT to them, I wish that wasn’t glossed over as it was the more the story progressed. It kind’a makes me angry the more I think about it tbh LOL

His mom was locked up and that was a big thing in the beginning and then last 5 minutes we’re back home and everyone is being knighted and she’s just okay LMAO We don’t see her being released, reuniting with Tiuri, any moments or nods to Tiuri Sr. ... Idk, she was a tertiary character and that’s why IG

Honestly all the tertiary characters felt so empty at the end of the day LMAO The nobles in particular felt so pointless. Alianor gets caught by Viridian and then she just shows up fine in the epilogue. So like what happened to her??? Did he just knock her out or put her to the side or??? Why was she snooping anyway???? She accomplished nothing and was just sort of ~there~ the whole story. It made it seem like the alliance was going to be a bigger deal and then ended up being 100% irrelevant.

(Also with the alliance... this seemed so backwards??? Viridian, the son that was leading Unauwen’s army and fighting directly for it should have been given the throne, while Iridian was shipped off to ally with Dagonaut??? That makes way more sense??? But also seemed like it was going to be a bigger conflict than it was????? As in it didn’t matter at all????)

Likewise Iridian had no real role outside of his relationship to Alianor and his suspicions of his brother. And considering Alianor herself was p irrelevant in the plot, he could have been fine as a character without her. (And even then, his role in the story was minimal and he felt like milquetoast prince trope)

Bury Your Gays 😒

^But also like REALLY SUPER AVOIDABLE???? AND THAT JUST MAKES IT WORSE??? Tiuri survived with a stab wound for like 2 days at LEAST but Jisuppo dies 30 minutes later??? What, my boy’s not worthy of plot armor 10 minutes before the end??? Hate this shit ldksjfa

TBH I understand why they had to kill off all the coolest characters bc then it leaves Tiuri to be the protagonist, but also please stop killing the cool characters I want to see a story with them in it aaaahhh

I LOVED that we think Viridian is just a power-hungry general-prince until the last moment when we realize like. Oh. He was sent to conquer this other nation and being the one of the front lines with them, he’s pissed over how needless and cruel it is to both the Eviellans and his own soldiers. He wants to put a stop to conflict altogether, albeit in a really terrible way. He genuinely thinks he’s the hero of the story when instead he’s putting himself in the prophecy’s role of villain. That’s!! Super interesting!! He’s still not sympathetic as a villain, but I GET him. ...So it’d be nice if the epilogue had some sort of nod from the surviving King / upcoming prince Iridian that like “damn we fucked up with this whole war, maybe we should work harder to not be asshole monarchs and take care of our people + work towards peace and reparations.” Nope! Nothing of the sort.

In general it feels like there’s no real overarching closure with half the subplots? Mostly the background stuff: the nobles, the war, Lavinia’s road & mom, etc.

Where did Jabroot go???? Was he killed?? Did he get to keep hanging out?? Arrested???

The twist at the end of episode 5 is literally explained with a throwaway exposition line at the start of episode 6. Paraphrased, “So the magic works like this bc of this!” ???? I MEAN GREAT BUT COULD WE NOT GET MORE DETAIL ON THAT SINCE IT’S KIND OF A BIG DEAL??????

I LOVED the twist and HATED it. I loved it bc I genuinely did not see it coming and that is so rare tbh... But I also hated it for a lot of reasons which I will detail below:

1. It feels very like. White Savior area. The deuteragonist white character is literally the shining white light to defeat the darkness when my boy Tiuri has been RIGHT THERE,,, THE WHOLE TIME,,, DOIN’ ALL THE HARD WORK,,, Tiuri was a great MC and hero and he should’ve been the one with the magic, tbh

2a. It’s literally not explained. “So the magic is all around us, it’s not in blood!” Except the people who originated and routinely use the magic say otherwise?? So a 10 yo knows more about it than a civilization and culture that essentially founded it as tradition??? (Who, btw, are the POC versus the White country HMMM)

2b. Okay so even given that,, weirdness,, The magic is something everyone can access, you just Gotta. So you still have to answer what makes Lavinia so special??? Has she always had these powers?? Did they first manifest in the abbey (or the fog leading up to the abbey)??? Why did they manifest?? Is it just through high emotions like she said? Did her mother have magic too?? Where did this come from??

2c. Tiuri DOES have SOME connection to magic, because even as they said, he was hearing voices and such from it... So how is his magic different? How does it work? WAS his birth father a Shaman or was the audience just meant to infer/assume that? His mother seemed to know all about this stuff going on, so??????? I’m????? So many questions?????

--

NOW I WILL SAY... I did not read the book, or see if this is a book series or just a standalone or anything like that. So I don’t know how the story goes exactly when compared to this Netflix adaptation — how much they changed, or how much they left out. Maybe the denouement and epilogue were more informative than what they had time for in the show. But after some really great episodes leading up to the final culmination...! It kind of left me feeling, “hm :/“

So I still recommend it as a show and form your own opinion (esp if you read the book and have full context to the story)! But those are my hm >:/ gripes with it

#tlttk #txt it #these are not just 'meh i hated it' i tried to be as comprehensive as possible lol #they're mostly critiques based on pacing and the usual challenge of like #adapting a book to a limited time format for a series/movie #which is understandable

[ashandboneca]

Crafting Pagan Ritual

ED: This is a very old piece of mine probably written more than 10 years ago, written when I practiced a very Wiccan-centric path. It was a class I taught to beginners. I feel it still may be helpful for those who run public ritual or are exploring ritual creation.

What is ritual?

A ritual is a set of actions, performed mainly for their symbolic value. It may be prescribed by a religion or by the traditions of a community.

It is driven by a mindset – to celebrate a holiday/season/special day, to create and execute a spell, or to honour a deity (or other spiritual guide or being). Normally there are certain parameters that are established (a circle, a boundary), and certain actions taken, depending on tradition and personal beliefs. It can celebrate a rite of passage (a birthday, for example), and usually has lasting traditions (birthday cake, candles, presents) that can be repeated year to year (month to month, etc).

Really, let’s be frank; a ritual can be anything.

For me, a ritual (in a spiritual sense) is a space to create a psychological mindset so that I can focus on my intention, and get my purpose done.

When do I create ritual?

You create ritual to celebrate an occasion, to mark a holiday, to honour a deity, or to raise energy for an intended purpose.

A ritual can be as simple as lighting a candle and saying a prayer, or as complicated as a mystery play with multiple participants, costumes, and several songs. It is dependant on what you choose to involve, and whom (if) you choose to involve.

Purpose: The Necessary Ingredient

I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH.

Without a purpose, you do not have a ritual. A ritual without purpose is like a ham sandwich without ham – sure, the bread, mayo, and mustard are edible, but they are not as good, as nourishing, or as satisfying without the ham. In fact, they suck. You can attempt to do a ritual for any old reason – but trust me, it will go nowhere fast without a clear purpose.

Purpose gives you something to focus on. An example: Beltane is May 1. I may decide to do a ritual to mark that passage in the wheel. So – I could say ‘my purpose is Beltane!’. Or, I could go one better, and say 'Hm. Beltane is often associated with fertility – my purpose is fertility!’ Or, I could go even deeper – my purpose could be the specific gods/goddesses (Demeter, Green Man, Hathor) associated with that holiday – so I could be petitioning for their help. My friend Sally could be trying to have a baby – I could use her as a focus for my purpose.

You want to have a clear purpose, and you can narrow the focus as much as you like. However, I have found that in larger, more public settings, it is better to have a focused purpose that is more general – more along the 'fertility’ option. The other participants may not know Sally, or perhaps they want to focus on their own fertility. It still gives the ritual a structure and a place/concept to direct the energy, but it allows it to be more accessible for the general populace.

Psychologically, the purpose gives our minds a place to go to – and allows our imaginations and visualization capabilities to fill in the blanks. It helps us to figure out how we want to picture the energy, and how exactly we want to send that out to the universe. Piggybacking on the Beltane example, I often visualize fertile energy as green energy starting at my sacral chakra. It gives us the freedom to work with the energy as we want, but allows us to work towards the same goal.

In personal ritual, it is just as important to have a purpose. Being in ritual headspace all the time is exhausting – if you are working a spell or honouring a deity, you want to conserve that energy so you have no issues raising it when needed. It would be the equivalent of going to a mall with no purpose – not to shop, or browse, but just to wander aimlessly for hours and hours. You end up tired and cranky, and that bleeds into your ritual work.

An example: One year, I decided to do a ritual. No real reason, just wanted to do one. So I cast my circle with my wand, and just…. sat there. I didn’t have a purpose, so I had no focus. I ended up just sitting there, stewing about something that had made me angry earlier, and that energy just got supercharged. I got angrier and angrier, and ended up channelling so much of this into my wand that it snapped!

My Magic Formula

To be fair, this is a pretty old formula. I just molded it to fit my needs.

This is a classic example of the visualization of plot. As in, a literary device.

Almost any ritual can be slid into this formula – it represents any purpose, and gives a clear beginning, middle, and end. A ritual is simply a story being told in a poetic way to illustrate a purpose. This graph is your best friend.

Building ritual from a skeleton

Let’s break it down simply.

The introduction: This is where you set your stage. You decide if you want a circle to create sacred space, and how to do that. Some people prefer the 'hand to hand I cast this circle’. Some prefer taking their pointy tool of choice (finger, athame, or wand) and going around the outside. Some people hand a ball of yarn around so that it is a physical representation of the circle.

You also decide how to call your quarters. They can be as simple or as flowery as you like. They can be creative – a few rituals we have done word association.

Decide on what gods/spirits/beings you want to call into your space. This will be relevant to your purpose. Make sure the beings get along – don’t call opposing entities to work together in cohesion – I guarantee it’s not happening.

Direction: This is simply your statement of purpose. It can be as simple as 'we are here today to celebrate Imbolc’ or as complicated as “We gather here on Brigid’s day to celebrate the turning of the wheel. We have come to honour the gradual warming of the earth, the persistence of the coming spring, the waning of the ice and cold of winter’s grasp. At Yule we honour the gifts of darkness, and today we honour the gifts of the light.” This is the statement that puts the celebrants (or yourself) into ritual headspace.

I also like to explain any activity that will be done, and why we’re doing it. Like, if we’re going to be singing a chant, I pass out sheets with the words, or teach people the words, so we aren’t stumbling when the critical point arrives.

Rising Energy: This is when you are … well, raising energy for your purpose. You’re chanting, singing, meditating, whatever. The point is that your focus is on the purpose, and you are channelling life into that.

Climax: The release of energy into the universe. Pretty self explanatory.

Denouement: The falling action – the part of the ritual that is essentially used to help people ground. Often, people will serve cakes/ale, or hold a meditation, or simply ground.

Completion: The end of the ritual. You thank your deities, dismiss your quarters, take down sacred space, and thank the participants.

These terms make up the skeleton of a ritual – they are key points that keep the ritual cohesive. This ensures a clear beginning, middle, and end. Use these key points to initially create your ritual, and fill in the rest as you go along. I find writing out (and blocking it) is extremely helpful.

Example:

Samhain, 2006

Altar is decorated with black cloth, scattered leaves, gourds, acorns, apples, and black and orange candles. In two candleholders, there are taller black tapers. A variety of breads and fruits for feasting on a pentacle. A lit black pillar and unlit white pillar sit near the tall black tapers candles.

Intro: Outline your circle with bird seed and salt. Cast the circle (using athame) and call Quarters (simple calls)…… invoke the Crone aspect of the Goddess by lighting the black Goddess candle… invoke the God by lighting the black God candle.

Direction: Explain the significance of the holiday (using script). Set the scene using props (apples, boline). Statement of purpose (the honoured dead, those who have passed, death as a cycle). Explain myth of Persephone.

Rising Energy: Bless the food. Begin chant (likely Hoof and Horn). Have drummers to keep beat. Slowly chant faster.

Climax: Send energy to focus. Have everyone raise their hands and shout.

Denouement: Snuff black pillar (old year). Light white pillar (new year). Pass around blessed food to enjoy.

Completion: Thank God/ess. Dismiss quarters. Drop circle (using athame). Hand out leaves to participants.

Meat : Now safe for vegans

Now here comes the actual work of the ritual writing – the meat. By meat, I mean all the decisions that need to be made about what is in the skeleton. So you’re going to call the elements – how are you going to do this? Is it freeform, or will you have a script? This is where you write that script. You need to block out everything, down to where people are standing and what people’s jobs are.

This part can take research. It can be really easy if you are writing for yourself – most of the time you can do it freeform, or read it off a paper. In a larger setting, this can be a challenge. I will get into the type of people you need in a later section.

The script gets written – depending on how eloquent you are (or how eloquent you want it to be), this can be a challenge. If you need someone to pass things around, or need someone to perform a specific task or chant, that has to be included here.

Think of it this way: you’re making a sandwich. You have decided on the type of bread you want, and the condiments you want – what do you want to be the main part of the sandwich? Is it ham, beef, sprouts? Do you want to shaved, cut, or raw? What kind of cheese do you want, if you want it? Aside from the purpose, this is the most important part.

Drama: why it is necessary (and not the crummy type)

It’s all well and good to write out a beautiful ritual, but actually running it is another story. Any great story or play is going to have drama, and you had better sure you have some as well.

When you are looking for other participants to play parts in your drama, you need to be sure that you are choosing the right people. Can these people read with passion and conviction, or do they have the stage persona of a wet dishrag? With encouragement, anyone can show promise – but when you are running a ritual for other people, it is very important your ritual has a good flow and is suffused with enough passion and zeal. Nothing wrecks a mood like a quarter-caller who reads with the passion of a banker’s box. Practice your ritual before the big day – DO NOT leave it until the last minute. You want the ritual to feel confident and effortless, so people should know exactly what they need to do and when. Being unprepared shows in your ritual – you are directing the energy, and you want to keep the revellers on point. Having everyone read through their parts a few times so they don’t stumble over words or lose their place in ritual will keep the energy flowing – but most importantly, it will keep everyone in what I call 'ritual mindset’.

Ritual mindset is the psychological state we enter when we enter a ritual. Many things can effect this – sounds, smells, visuals. I knew someone who would instantly go into a meditative state when he smelled benzoin. This is why there are people in robes, a decorated altar, drummers and bell ringers. All of these are tools to keep you focused and intent on what needs to be done. I have written about this in my past article The Importance of Ecstatic Ritual.

Every religion has it’s own pageantry – paganism is no different. Catholic priests wear ritual robes and often carry censers of frankincense and myrrh up the aisle of the church – Jewish men wear the yarmulke as a pious custom. These 'costumes’ are ways to differentiate the religious leaders from the flock – in paganism, we often wear these clothes to symbolize the shedding of the mundane and stepping into sacred space. This is not to say that I would not have the ability to lead a sabbat ritual in jeans and a t-shirt; I certainly could, but would people seeing me, in jeans, automatically think 'ritual’? Doubtful.

Sometimes, donning ritual jewelry, a robe, a cloak, or even all black clothing is enough to non-verbally communicate 'we are in a sacred space’.

The fear: or how I stopped worrying and learned to love the Gods

Here it is – you’re standing in front of a group of 5, 10, 30 people. They are looking at you expectantly. You’re pretty sure if you could, you’d pass out from fear. Rhi, you ask, how do you get past this?

Honestly? I am a pretty shy person, and every ritual is a challenge for me. I find it hard to speak in front of people, and I have screwed up so many times in ritual from fear and nervousness – I can’t even count. You are your own worst critic – nothing is ever expected to be perfect. The god/esses are not going to judge you because you said south when you meant north. I also find laughing it off, or a little self depreciation works just fine. “Oh, ha, I had a dream I visited Australia last night – still running in Aussie headspace!”

Mistakes happen. We are all human, and any other expectation is unrealistic. Just focus on having fun. If you’ve done a few runs of the ritual, you should be comfortable enough to lead with little issue. Every ritual is a celebration, and if you spend the time worrying about every little thing, you’re throwing the wrong energy out there.

A Final Note

I have been involved in the community in the past, running and assisting in public rituals. Community was always my focus, and it is my goal to make people understand how much work goes into a ritual, but also how easy it can be to create the ritual, either for personal or public use.

Please note that this article is based on my own experiences and methods. If something does not work for you, or if you disagree with my opinions or thoughts, that is okay! It is all about giving you a basis so you can learn to create and nurture your own methods!

#ash and bone #ashandbone.ca #witchcraft #traditional witchcraft #heathenry #the crooked path

[septembercfawkes]

Creating Mini Character Arcs Within a Scene

Last week I talked about structuring scenes, with a focus on plot. Most scenes should be structured like a mini story:

Hook Setup Rising Action Climax Denouement

But another element of story that should be in your scene just as it is in the overall novel is how your character changes, or in other words, the character arc.

In a single scene, the character arc may or may not relate to the overall character arc.

But there (usually) needs to be an arc of some kind. Psychologically, the character needs to be in some kind of motion.

For a scene, think of it as a mini character arc.  How your character starts the scene psychologically and then how he or she ends the scene, psychologically. They should be different.

Let's go back to my examples from last time. I had a scene where a character falls in love. Another where two characters discover who the murderer is via discussion. And finally, I referred to a real scene in a story--Newt going into his suitcase for the first time on screen.

In each of these, you could say the mini character arc is quite simple, since each character ends in a new state or has new information (which relates to the purpose or goal of the scene).

Not in love --> Love

Not knowing the murderer --> Knowing the murderer

Not knowing which animals got loose --> to knowing which got loose

However, not being something is sometimes not enough. It's often not very tangible. As you work with scenes, often the state the character starts the scene comes from a previous scene, after all, in a story, we are dealing over and over again with cause and effect. So in a previous scene, Newt realizes some of his magical beasts got out, therefore, he needs more knowledge in order to catch them--which beasts got out? Between him realizing that, to him actually going in his case to count them, there are a several other scenes, which also contribute to the state he starts in. For one, he has to figure out how to heal Jacob, and that's quite important (especially for the rest of the scene).

I've talked about this on my blog before, but when brainstorming and starting a scene, it's helpful to ask these two questions:

What is being brought to the scene?

and

How can I take advantage of that?

This can relate to the mini arc. What emotions, attitudes, worldviews, and behaviors is the character bringing to the scene? How will the purpose, goals, and conflicts of the scene affect that? How will they change by the end of the scene?

In my love and murder examples, I'd probably sit down and think about my character and what they bring to the scene. Maybe my heroine thinks the guy she's about to fall for is a showoff. Perhaps he has a reputation she doesn't like. And if I'm going off what I said last time, to make matters worse, it's forbidden to love him.

In my murder example, the protagonist might start the scene already thinking he knows who the murderer is. Or maybe he's at least convinced he's narrowed it down to three people. Maybe his own biases and arrogance have clouded his thinking.

As the scene's plot (or mini plot) progresses, the heroine falls in love. The hero realizes during the course of the discussion that he was wrong. Whatever it is, they end the scene in a different state.

Again, this may or may not relate to the overall character arc.

Let's say that the overall arc in our murder novel deals with the protagonist realizing and overcoming his own biases and arrogance. Then the example I just gave deals directly with that.

Let's say that the love example happens in a story where love isn't actually the main conflict or focus. Instead, the story is mainly about a young girl following her dreams to be an actress, and her overall character arc is about moving from being insecure and looking to everyone else for validation to being secure and finding validation within.

Whatever the case, the mini arc relates to the main character of that scene.

But there are also characters that may arc.

For example, in the scene of Newt taking Jacob into his suitcase, Jacob has his own mini arc. How he starts the scene is different from how he ends it. He moves from ignorance to knowledge.

In some scenes, all the characters may arc. In others, only the "main character" of the scene may arc.

In rare cases, maybe not even that. In a few specific scenes, the point is to show that a character doesn't change. In my murder example, perhaps the character is still convinced, even after the discussion, that he is right--he is still so blinded by his own biases and arrogance (even if the audience may not be). Some characters, particularly those with extreme characteristics, may refuse to change.

For example, in the musical Hamilton, Alexander Hamilton is a hard worker to a fault--he's a workaholic. In the number (aptly named) "Non-Stop," Burr, Eliza, George Washington, and even nameless characters, speak to or touch on the idea of him needing to slow down--but he never does. The point of the song is to illustrate how he never slows down. And ultimately the only way to get him to change is to have him wreck havoc upon himself.

However, it should be noted that even though Hamilton doesn't change internally in that song, he still changes as a character externally, climbing career ladder after career ladder. So even if your character doesn't change internally in a scene, they almost always need to change externally at least.

As I said at the beginning of this article, they almost always need to be in some kind of motion. To what extent and in what way, may be dictated by the point of the scene, or if not, it may be something you need to come up with if only for within that scene.

As with all the other points of a scene I've made so far, remember that you are working on a small scale. It's completely possible for a mini character arc to take up only a few sentences in some scenes.

So dear writers, how do you like to approach character motion in a scene? Let us know in the comments. ^_^

In the future I'll be talking more about how the character's state and the mini plot of a scene work together, defining more points of each.

Also, don't forget that you have until the 19th (Wednesday) to enter our advent calendar for writers! All of the gifts have been revealed, and you can still enter for the chance to win each one, including mine.

#writing tips #writing tip #writing tips and tricks #writeblr #writing advice #fanfic #fanfiction #author #editor #nanowrimo #writing help #writing a book

[beatricebidelaire]

more kit & bertrand & r & frank (&ernest & dewey) play bridge in a room at hotel denouement headcanons:  kibitzing

while usually only four of them had time to attend, mainly because dewey’s usually at his secret library and one of frank or ernest had hotel matters to attend to, so all four people get to play, occasionally frank and ernest just let the concierges do the work and they’re both at the bridge session and sometimes dewey ventures out of his library and there’ll be more than 4 people so some have to kibitz instead

r was a very attentive kibitzer and she generally picked a person to watch and put herself in their shoes and imagine what she would do if she were the one holding the cards. she would be very focused as if she herself was playing the hand. when r sat behind kit, since r was taller, she occasionally liked placing her chin on kit’s shoulder

dewey was a kibitzer with expressive emotions which everyone else kind of noticed. when he has certain feelings about the layout of cards he sees he often shows his shock or frown or any other emotion in his face. his emotions were frequently used to other people’s advantage because they could guess the cards of the person dewey was watching behind sometimes.

once when kit&r partnered to play frank&bertrand and dewey was looking at frank’s cards and while frank kept a neutral expression throughout and gave nothing away, kit took one look at dewey’s deep frown that said “with these cards frank’s very likely to get endplayed” and decided to go with the route of throwing in frank and endplaying him rather than finessing bertrand twice and the route she chose made the contract. after the board bertrand, sitting opposite of frank, said, “dewey i think you sitting behind frank is very distracting for me because of the it’s like double the amount of handsomeness in front of me so could you do me a favor and go sit behind kit instead” dewey was like very baffled “are you flirting with me?” and kit who knew exactly what bertrand was doing interjected immediately “yes he is which is why you should go sit behind him instead” and bertrand glared at kit and dewey’s like “???” and r rolled her eyes and explained “dewey you’re giving away too much information every time you look at someone else’s card”

and then there’s ernest who’d gotten inspired by dewey and decided to fake his expressions which have nothing to do with the cards he saw, sometimes he would pretend to be shocked or excited when looking at very plain cards and sometimes he would lean in and fake whisper to bertrand suggesting which route to play but what he said was actually totally not applicable and he was just doing it for the chaos

frank was a good kibitzer during the time a board was being played because he could keep his expression completely neutral and devoid of information unlike either of his brothers, who either accidentally gave away truthful emotions or deliberately created false ones. but after the board, he often immediately listed out the mistakes made by people who played and how they might’ve played differently. sometimes an argument ensues “that’s speaking from hindsight” “it’s not the route with best probability that only worked since ...” “i did this move for [inserted reasons] and i think it made sense ...”

bertrand and kit generally did not prefer to kibitz and much preferred to play because they felt like they got easily distracted if they’re just watching. bertrand would have some desire to multitask and tried to watch the others play and read some coded letters at the same time and then the two tasks would distract each other. if he was playing with the cards actually in his hand he would completely get in the zone and focus on the game and calculated different odds and routes but he when not actually holding the cards or being the one playing it suddenly became harder to focus. kit was similar though she usually did not take out a letter to decode much as slip into her own thoughts and started designing a submarine in her head or other things like that and when she zoned back she’d often missed a couple of cards that were played. they both felt it was very easy to be super focused when they’re actually playing but not so much when they were just watching others play.

frank, when kibitzing, sometimes during boards which were more boring he would also do other things like trying to balance the hotel checkbook but he seemed to be able to balance between switching tasks well and not only could get some stuff done but he also didn’t miss the more exciting parts and k&b envied him for that. dewey didn’t really focus on the game sometimes either when watching and just concentrated on his library book instead and completely forgot about everyone else but unlike kit and bertrand he didn’t particularly mind nor try to focus on both the game and something else at once.

r and ernest were generally most attentive but r was much less chaotic as ernest was largely attentive because he wanted to calculate best way to make things chaotic

#asoue #hotel denouement bridge session tag #kit snicket #r duchess of winnipeg #bertrand baudelaire #frank denouement #ernest denouement #dewey denouement #the denouement triplets #vera.txt #extremely specific verse probably no one else cares about = fun projection times #brotp: pencil bun and strawberry blond #brotp: f for friendly e for evil #brotp: sharp bluntness meets artful avoidance

[drummergirl231-2]

A few thoughts after “The Town Where Everyone was Nice!”

Well first of all, I loved it. 

I started freaking out so hard when they started singing the song!!! <3 What a gift. This whole episode is a treasure and it will go down in Disney history for its awesomeness.

But I wanted to talk a bit about my speculations - where I was right, where I was wrong, etc. 

I was right about Dewey wanting to document his adventures, but I thought it’d be for a feelsier reason than just social media presence, so I got that wrong. 

I was also right about Donald feeling like he’s done nothing with his life.

^Yes it has, Scrooge (S01E06). Also, not helping. lol

BUT this is the part I got super wrong: I thought the whole episode would revolve around Donald realizing that raising his boys has been extremely meaningful, that his friends would praise him for being a good dad and say he’s done more with his life than they have with theirs, and that this would be the “definitive ‘Good Dad Donald’ episode,” Frank Angones talked about earlier. 

Now to be sure, there were some good dad Donald moments, but they were few. 

First, Huey praises Donald for raising him and his brothers and says that makes him successful, but Donald and Scrooge shoot down the notion, and in the end the moment was mainly comedic.

The idea that being an adoptive father gives his life meaning was never revisited, even in the episode’s denouement.

We did get one great protective dad Donald moment later:

But the main focus of the episode wasn’t on Donald being a good dad, and the overall theme wasn’t live your life in the present and appreciate who’s in it as I suspected. 

It was you don’t have to lie to impress your friends. Instead of Donald realizing that his life is meaningful, all Three Caballeros realize they’re equally unsuccessful and don’t have be fake with each other.

It was a Donald episode, but I don’t think it was what Frank Angones referred to as the definitive good dad Donald episode. The word “definitive,” seems to imply that whatever episode he was talking about would be the one fans point to in the future as THE feelsy daddy Donald ep, or one of a few. 

If anything, a lot of the episode seemed to be more about Donald being a bad nephew. lol

And I don’t think “Bad Nephew Donald” is supposed to be the takeaway, but there was a lot more time spent on Donald recklessly spending Scrooge’s money than Donald being all daddy-ish. XD

So now I’m really curious... what is the definitive good dad Donald episode Frank Angones was talking about?

Will it be “Storkules in Duckburg!” or “Last Christmas!” or something else?

#ducktales #ducktales 2017 #ducktales the town where everyone was nice! #ducktales storkules in duckburg! #ducktales last christmas! #ducktales speculation #ducktales donald #ducktales daddy donald

[wits-writing]

Dark Nights Metal #6 (comic review)

Here we are, the climactic finale to Dark Nights Metal by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo. Earth has sunken into the darkness. The heroes all defeated or on the verge of defeat by the Dark Multiverse’s army of nightmares and Dark Knights. Every stop needs to be pulled out to even have a chance of containing Barbatos. Seeing it all play out is a ton of fun and worth the buildup of the 5 previous issues.

From here I’m diving headfirst into spoiler-territory to discuss how Metal wraps up and my few gripes with the finale.

[Full Review Under the Cut]

Two narrators are present in Metal’s finale and the shift from one to the other marks the turning tide of battle. It starts with The Batman Who Laughs observing Barbatos’s moments before victory and discussing how this all started with Carter Hall’s journals. He monologues about this to his captive audience, the chained figure from The Wild Hunt. He notes how all the heroes have been laid low or are being overwhelmed by their forces. However, the tide begins to turn are Wonder Woman calls out a war cry to the other heroes present and all of them get back up to continue the fight, including Plastic Man making a big show of his involvement after five issues as an egg. The turning tide of battle finalizes with three key events; Detective Chimp and the heroes who were scouring the multiverse arriving with multiple alternate Batmen as back-up striking at Barbatos, Kendra Saunders facing Carter to remind him of his heroic life as Hawkman, and finally, Wonder Woman diving into the World Forge to retrieve Superman and Batman. When the Trinity emerges, they’re all armed with the key to stopping the Dark Multiverse, the tenth and purest form of the metal that binds all creation, Element X.

From that point, the final battle plays out with the heroes having everything they need to facedown Barbatos and his forces at Challenger Mountain in Gotham. Capullo draws the final battle admirable with a lot of control to the chaos that could be present. FCO Placencia’s colors keep the heroes in brighter focus to contrast Barbatos’s appropriately darker forces, with Hawkgirl as the only one occasionally getting lost in the shuffle since she’s still wearing her darker outfit from her brief time fighting for the other side. With new journal entries from Carter Hall taking over the narration, the final battle is one satisfying payoff after another as everyone gets a moment to shine. Batman punches a Joker-dragon in the face and rides it through the skies over the battle, while using the properties of Element X to arm the rest of the Justice League. The other Leaguers each take out their Dark Knight counterparts in one strike each. Carter Hall finally snaps out of it and rebels against Barbatos. Hawkgirl strikes a fatal blow against the bat-demon. Finally, Batman has his final showdown with The Batman Who Laughs before the Jokerized Dark Knight can enact Barbatos’s backup plan to snuff out the multiverse’s light, with some unexpected help from someone who hasn’t been seen since the Dark Days prologue, the Joker.

As the Clown Prince of Crime puts it, the last thing The Batman Who Laughs, a dark reflection of the idea that Batman always wins because he’s prepared for anything, would ever expect is to face down Batman and Joker at the same time.  It’s a smart move on Snyder’s part to make this Batman’s big moment of triumph in the story, to defeat the darkest of these twisted Bruce Waynes, while keeping the ultimate universe saving of the finale as a collaborative effort between the entire Justice League. Their victory comes from using Element X to channel everyone on Earth together, freeing them from the Dark Multiverse’s influence and affecting the fabric of creation enough to open up the multiverse beyond the Source Wall at its edge.

Metal has mainly been defined by comic book readers as a book containing a ton of wild imagery. Though there is plenty of that to spare, what surprised me most about this finale is that it brought everything back around into a single satisfying theme. The events of this story were truly set off by Batman letting his fear of the unknown control his actions, it’s what drove him to steal Nth Metal artifacts while keeping the reasons secret from his fellow heroes. That unknown future also defines something the forces of the Dark Multiverse profess many times over the course of this event, that all roads (i.e. all futures) lead to darkness. It was by trying to pre-emptively stop that darkness by himself that Bruce fell right into its trap and by accepting help from his longtime friends that they all escaped it to fight back.

The epilogue closing the story out, drawn by Mikel Janin, Alvaro Martinez and Raul Fernandez with James Tynion IV joining in as co-writer, spells out some of Metal’s consequences. The denouement takes the form of one of my favorite superhero comics tropes, the Justice League all enjoying a dinner party together to reflect on what they just went through. The artistic shift from Capullo to the epilogue’s team reflect the end of the chaos that’s been happening in Metal since issue one, since the art is not as chaotic or stylized in the final pages as the rest of the event. We get some brief hints at things to come in the DC Universe, contextualized as Carter Hall’s catalogue of visions he had while in the thrall of the Dark Multiverse, and most of it’s not too surprising if you’ve been following DC Comics news for the past few months. The focus is on setting up for Scott Snyder’s upcoming tenure on the main Justice League book, which will be preceded by the four issue No Justice miniseries in May. But all of that is small potatoes compared to this event ending on the heroes rocking out to the musical stylings of Damian Wayne and Jon Kent, with Alfred backing them up on drums.

If this is just a taste of what Snyder has in store on Justice League, I’m sold hook, line, and sinker. But this finale still has issues, like how Element X could potentially be read as too easy a fix for the conflict or how the person The Batman Who Laughs had chained up this whole time was just some random Monitor, referred to as the Over-Monitor, and not specifically Nix Uotan, as many news outlets and fans have theorized. Where the Gorilla Justice League from The Wild Hunt went after their promise to help is anyone’s guess, but it’s understandable that something so seemingly random from a tie-in wouldn’t come in out of nowhere in the main miniseries.

Overall, Metal is a solid event comic and one of the best of its kind in years. It’s been a ton of fun and I’d highly recommend this to anyone, so long as they don’t mind getting thrown into the deep end of how crazy superhero comics can get.

#Dark Nights Metal #Scott Snyder #Greg Capullo #Batman #Superman #Wonder Woman #Comic Book Review #Wit's Writing #DC Comics #comics #comic books #DC Metal #Justice League #James Tynion IV #Mikel Janin #Raul Fernandez #Alvaro Martinez

[heartofaquamarine]

Beauty and the Beast’s weird structure

So I’ve been thinking about why so many people view Beauty and the Beast (that is, the 1991 version by Disney) as being a terrible romance, because it kind of isn’t. The in-universe timeline goes like this:

1.) Introduction: Happens over one morning. From the beginning to when Belle sings about having adventure in the great wide somewhere.

2.) Beast captures Belle’s father after he trespasses on his land, and imprisons him until Belle takes his place. Not a great start to the relationship, particularly not after he attempts to demand. Eventually she leaves after she enters the forbidden west wing, and she gets attacked by the same wolves that attacked Maurice and set everything in motion. The Beast saves her and she, in return, tends to his wounds. This takes about a day.

3.) Among other things (such as the song Human again which I had completely forgotten existed, we get to see Belle and the Beast’s relationship evolve over time. This is particularly obvious in the montage song Something there that wasn’t there before, but it culminates in the ball scene and the first rendition of Tale as old as time. This period of time is a bit more tricky to determine. It’s definitely at least a few days, although consensus among my friends is that it might be as much as a few months. (having just skimmed it to get timings, my guess would be shorter, but still longer than the initial evening). This ends when Belle sees that Maurice is in danger and rushes off.

4.) The denouement of the Gaston storyline. The 50 Frenchmen storm the castle, and Gaston faces off against the Beast, resulting in his death.

5.) Belle confesses to the Beast, magic fireworks happen, and then we cut to a final rendition of Tale as Old as Time before credits.

Here’s the thing. The romance between Belle and the Beast only happens after the scene at the end of the second part when the two of them come to an understanding. The behaviour of the Beast is wrong, and it is treated as such by Belle and to a lesser extent, the servants (who are a whole other rant in and of themselves). It is only after he begins making efforts to improve that she begins to count him as a friend, and later still that she views him as a lover. On paper, this is a fair simple love story about forgiveness...but I think the problem is not in the summary of the relationship, but rather how it is handled in terms of screentime and how much focus it is given compared to the rest of the movie. Let’s go back to that list of story beats and now look at how long they take. 1.) The introduction takes almost exactly 20 minutes, up until Belle’s horse returns.

2.) The second part takes around 30 minutes, up until the Beast rescues Belle from the wolves. Not only is this the longest part, but it’s probably the most quoted; both Be Our Guest and Gaston are in this bit.

3.) The section including the montage of Belle and the Beast’s relationship growing lasts 25 minutes. This puts it as the second longest section, but I feel that’s kind of over-stating it’s length. While it is bookended by Something There That Wasn’t There Before and Tale as Old As Time (note to self; choose a capitalisation system and stick to it), a large chunk of the middle is dedicated to Gaston planning to have Maurice thrown in an asylum and the song Human Again, which is a moderately amusing comic relief song to act as a lull between the scenes, so while it is useful I don’t think it counts as part of their relationship. I’d say that there’s actually only around 15 minutes here focused on Belle and Beast developing their friendship; the vast majority occurs during the montage.

4.) From when Belle leaves to help her father to when Gaston falls is only around 15 minutes altogether, including the Mob Song and the battle with the furniture. It’s a very fast paced sequence and Belle and the Beast are separated for all but the end of it, although we do at least get the Beast’s sadness that she has left. Honestly at this point the relationship is done developing; they both love each other.

5.) The finale is about 10 minutes, and again while we see that they are now in love, we have moved on from the development of the relationship.

So here’s the problem. While diagetically Belle and the Beast fall in love over a much longer period, most of what we see on screen takes place very quickly, and is mostly represented through Something There, a two and a half minute song. We spend far more time focusing on that terrible first evening than we do on the character development that follows, so I don’t think it’s any wonder that people view the film as being mainly focused on an abusive relationship. That being said...the film isn’t just about the romantic relationship. There’s another theme going on underneath the romance, and I’m not sure how much I’d want the romance to be improved at the expense of the second theme. This is of course the analysis of masculinity that is going on via the medium of Gaston and the Beast. Both start off in similar positions (positions of power in their respective communities, physical strength and a highly temperamental character, to say the least), heck, there’s a reason why we get Gaston’s song directly after we see the darkest sections of the Beast’s character , but we see how the Beast changes while Gaston doubles down on it, which ultimately leaves to his downfall. Whereas the Beast reaches out to Belle, Gaston goes for the kill, and it is Belle grabbing onto the Beast that prevents him from meeting Gaston’s fate. This is a really well done theme, and I think the screentime it takes away from the romance is well earned.* But it does lead to the above situation, where structurally the film spends far more time looking at the Beast’s depths than it does looking at how his and Belle’s relationship develops. I actually feel like it might be good to redo the film, but make it into two different stories, with one being completely focused on the romance and both the Belle and Beast equivilent’s development, and one being a far more focused examination of masculinity, both toxic and otherwise. But yeah, that’s why I think people tend to remember the more toxic aspects of the relationship more; it’s just on screen more.

*To quote @muchadoabouttruffles: “No one distorts narrative balance like Gaston!”

#beauty and the beast #Disney #Gaston #Belle #Beast #Cogsworth #Candleguy #French Maid Duster #mrs potts #romance #long post

[raysavonne2012-blog]

Pre-Production

The short film The Climb (2018), is about two friends, Kyle and Mike, who go on a cycling bike ride together. Kyle recently broke up with his girlfriend, Kelly, so Mike suggests that Kyle get out the house. While on the ride, Mike breaks the news to Kyle that he is now seeing Kelly on a romantic level. The story continues with an awkward and witty sense of humor, leaving the audience to guess what happens to their friendship once the bike ride comes to an end.

This film can be considered a dark comedy with an ironic tone. It also has an underlying theme of friendship. A possible logline for this film would be: “As two friends go biking, things get rocky as secrets among them start to surface.” This film is an example of the saying “the truth hurts.” As the film plays out, the audience witnesses Kyle’s pain as he learns about Mike’s betrayal.  

The inciting incident comes when Mike reveals that he and Kelly are dating. The two friends seem to be enjoying themselves as they cycle uphill. So, once Mike drops the bomb on Kyle about he and Kelly, the audience is taken aback with surprise. At plot point I, Kyle starts to ask a million questions in his state of disbelief, while Mike is cool, calm and collected and still encouraging Kyle to truck uphill. At plot point II, Kyle asks Mike to stop dating Kelly, but Mike refuses. When the midpoint comes, they’re almost to the top of the hill and Kyle tries his hardest to catch up to mike and “kill him.” At the climax, the two are at the top of the hill and proceed to coast downhill. Mike tries to explain himself and why he wanted to come clean. At the resolution, Kyle and Mike ride side-by-side in utter awkwardness. At the denouement of the film, Kyle asks mike for some water, Kyle takes the water, drinks some, then throws the bottle at Mike’s head with full force. Though the topic of a friend’s betrayal would typically seem sad and depressing, this film finds a way to transform the story into a more lighthearted and comedic topic.

The production design in the film coordinated well with the theme. The entire film takes place on a mountainous two-way single lane road. The wardrobe in which Mike wears reinforced his character. Mike, who is said to be an avid cycler, wears biking shorts and a fitted athletic shirt. Whereas, Kyle, who’s not athletic at all, wears basketball shorts and a cut off t-shirt. The props (the bicycles and water bottle) play a very important role in the film. The water bottle in the beginning serves as a thirst quencher for Kyle, but once Mike breaks the news about he and Kelly, Kyle uses it as a weapon, transforming the use of the water bottle just as their relationship dynamic transforms in the storyline. In addition, the mountainous landscape and plants reinforce the stories location, plot and the character’s goal of “getting to the bottom” (the bottom of the trail as well as getting to the bottom of their friendship mishap).    

The cinematography was great, and the picture was clear. The entire film was shot in a single-take. Because there were no cutaways, the tension between the characters played out in a more authentic way.  The film used natural available lighting and used the trees and surrounding greenery as a consistent reminder that the characters are still on the “same journey,” despite what has transpired between them. The camera was always in front of the characters with a deep depth of field. This gives the notion that they are moving toward something. The street lines on the road served as vector lines, allowing the audience’s eyes to naturally focus on the characters and their actions. When there was a need for a “close up,” “medium shot” or “wide shot,” the dolly would simply slow down and let the characters ride to them, or speed up, seamlessly creating a medium or wide shot. This dolly movement aspect allows us to live in the moment with Kyle and Mike. This gives the audience a sense of who the characters are by basically riding along with them. This aspect was unique because the camera team and the actors had to be extremely in sync with one another for the entire film.

There was no music in the film, an aspect that added to the film’s awkwardness. The sound heard in the film was clear and crisp. The overall sound was mainly dialog between the characters and natural sounds from the environment.

Because the film was taken in a single shot, it gave us the sense of “real time.” There were no transitions, jump cuts or second takes, which is amazing to think about. The post production editing of the film was probably geared more towards audio and sound bites.

When making a film, I would love to incorporate the single shot used in this film. I think it’s a nice technique for building suspense and tension between characters. I also like the deep depth of field because it’s pleasing to watch. Being able to have almost everything clear in a shot, really fascinates me.  

Making sure we get the necessary shots and the right camera motion will make a huge difference in the way the film will be interpreted and how well the audience will stay engaged in the film throughout its entirety.

I feel a person’s creativity often comes out when problems arise. In my films, creative solutions will come into play as we try to secure locations to shoot, and when casting reliable talent who are free to shoot on our designated shooting days. These challenges can be

overcome by bouncing ideas off groups members, scouting places to film and posting casting calls on the Full Sail Connect page and Facebook to find talent for the film.

References:

Covino, M. (Director). (2018) The Climb [Online video]. Retrieved September 19, 2018, from https://www.shortoftheweek.com/2018/08/14/the-climb/

[meiklemons-blog]

Assignment #2, Part 2

1. Write a brief summary of the main plot, describing the event or events that are the focus of the film and stating where and when they take place. 

All of the notices about the movie have told us that the story is told in reverse order. Leonard, played by Guy Pearce, kills the murderer of his wife in the film's first scene, and that the film then moves backward from that point, in roughly five-minute increments, to let us see how he tracked the guy down, ending with what is, chronologically, the story's beginning. He has witnessed the violent death of his wife and is determined to avenge it. But he has had short-term memory loss ever since the death and has to make copious notes--he even has memos tattooed to his body as reminders.

2. Name and describe the protagonist and the antagonist in this story.

Who is the true antagonist in Memento?

Is it John G or “Teddy”, who "killed" Leonard’s wife?

The first and most obvious choice for our antagonist is Teddy, the dude who's using Leonard to make some green and leaving casualties on the way. He's constantly trying to get at Leonard's car so he can cash in on the two hundred grand stashed in the trunk. He lies to Leonard about almost everything. But Teddy also has moments of honesty. He warns Leonard against Natalie and tries to persuade Leonard to investigate himself and question where he got the suit and the car. He consoles Leonard about being alive, and maybe he even tells Leonard the truth at one point about who he really is. So maybe he isn't completely a bad guy.

Is it Natalie, who manipulated Leonard into kidnapping Dodd?

Natalie is next on our list for obvious reasons. Teddy might be manipulative, but at least he's nice about it. But Natalie's manipulation is right in Leonard's face. She enrages him by mocking his dead wife in some pretty sleazy ways, and then gives him what is perhaps the evilest smiles as she prepares to use his violent nature against him. However, Natalie may actually like Leonard, or at least pity him. There doesn't seem to be a selfish motive for her running the license plate number and giving him info on John Gamel. Her desire to be remembered by him also seems sincere. So maybe she's not the antagonist either.

Or is it Leonard himself, who chose to ignore the facts (Even after going on about how facts are very important) and continue searching for John G, even after he was dead.

It is Anterograde Amnesia which Leonard is constantly battling and creates the scenario and drives the plot. It is the thing that shapes our protagonist, just like every good villain shapes their hero. Anterograde amnesia is at the center of all conflict in Memento. Both Natalie's and Teddy's manipulation is a result of—and accomplished because of— Leonard's condition. Antagonist is the force of nature against the protagonist. Sometimes, the protagonist and antagonist are the same character, depending on whose point of view you're watching the movie as.

3. In the story told by the film, what is the main conflict and how is it resolved?

Leonard Shelby, a former insurance investigator, suffers from anterograde amnesia, short term memory loss in which he cannot make new memories, after he was injured while trying to stop two men from raping and killing his wife in their home. After he awakes to find one of the intruders, he later confirms his name is John G., got away he vows to find that man and get revenge for his wife’s death. This pursuit of revenge and justice is extremely difficult for Leonard who has to use aids such as Polaroids, notes, and extensive tattoos to help him keep track of things because he loses his memory about every fifteen minutes. These tools remind him of where he is, where he is going, and the purpose of his investigation. Leonard interacts mainly with two other interesting characters in the film: Teddy, an unjust cop who pretends to be Leonard’s friend while gaining money on the side and Natalie, a barmaid, who is seeking her own revenge for the death of her boyfriend.

4. Identify and describe two literary elements or devices that are evident in the movie other than conflict, antagonist, protagonist and imagery. Other literary elements or devices may include: prologue, expository phase, voice, symbol, foreshadowing, flashback, irony, foil, opposition, archetype, motif, characterization, climax, and denouement. For each literary device that you identify, describe the role that it plays in presenting the story told by the film.

The use of Polaroid photographs and multiple plot lines in Memento function as a representation of Leonard’s character. The story itself follows two different plot lines: one that is presented in color (the main plot line), and another that is presented in monochrome (sub-plot line). The main plot follows a sequence that is non-linear and actually loops the story by starting where it ends and vice-versa, which is the plot sequence of the entire film in itself. The subplot follows a chronological sequence, contrasting with the main plot. By having two different plots, Memento not only succeeds in resembling Leonard’s character, but also reinforces the importance of the relationship between the Polaroid photographs and the narration sequence. The film reveals to us how and when Leonard took specific photos. In essence, the photographs are an evidence of a time that once existed but is now forever gone. But, due to Leonard’s disability, they will always be new and true every fifteen minutes (approximate time of how long it takes for Leonard to lose his new memories). So, in a way, they are timeless to him; there is no difference between the past and present, which we see twice when he questions how long it has been since he was in the hotel and since he’s been looking for John. G. The plot sequence is also supporting evidence of the past versus present idea.

Leonard’s voice which serves as a first-person narrator and also an unreliable narrator, whose credibility is seriously compromised, is another literary device served in  Memento. Sometimes the narrator's unreliability is made immediately evident. For instance, a story may open with the narrator making a plainly false or delusional claim or admitting to being severely mentally ill, or the story itself may have a frame in which the narrator appears as a character, with clues to the character's unreliability. A more dramatic use of the device delays the revelation until near the story's end. In some cases, the reader discovers that in the foregoing narrative, the narrator had concealed or greatly misrepresented vital pieces of information. Such a twist ending forces readers to reconsider their point of view and experience of the story. In some cases the narrator's unreliability is never fully revealed but only hinted at, leaving readers to wonder how much the narrator should be trusted and how the story should be interpreted.

5. Music and lighting are part of the way that the moviemakers communicate their message. Go deeper than that. Give two specific examples of how other elements of the cinematic art, such as shot framing, camera angles, camera movement, color, editing choice, or length of take were used by the filmmakers to get their point across. (2 paragraphs)

Christopher Nolan alternates the usage of black-and-white and color to fulfill a narrative strategy and the passage of time. The black-and-white scenes, which run in forward order, find Leonard in his hotel room talking on the phone. In these sequences, Leonard tells that parallel tale, illustrated for us with visual "flashbacks." As an insurance investigator, Leonard had a curious case: a man, Sammy Jankis, who had an accident and wound up with anterograde amnesia. Leonard investigates and ruthlessly denies the man's medical claim on the grounds that it was a mental problem and not a physical one. With the black-and-white scenes in chronological order, Nolan alternates that with much more kinetic and confusing main backward story line, which is told in color.

In addition, Nolan uses Leonard's voice-over as a simulation of his thinking, not speaking. The use of interior monologue places the audience in Leonard's head. We learn what he is thinking and feeling as he looks around the motel room. We enter into his experience of disorientation because his thinking expresses his confusion. The artistic challenge was to figure out other means of telling Leonard's story within the confines of the motel room. Interior monologue in film can only be used in very limited doses because the device is inherently static. The focus of interior monologue scenes is on the words, not the visuals. The image is subordinated to the verbal. The challenge is always how to make the visuals engaging in an interior monologue scene without distracting the audience from understanding what the voice-over is conveying.

6. Describe a lesson from this film that viewers can apply to their own lives: (1) to help them decide on a position to support on a public issue or (2) in their relations with family and friends. Detail the events that relate to this lesson. (1 to 3 paragraphs)

Natalie: “But even if you get revenge, you’re not gonna remember it. You’re not even gonna know that it happened.”

Leonard: “My wife deserves vengeance. Doesn’t make any difference whether I know about it. Just because there are things I don’t remember doesn’t make my actions meaningless. The world doesn’t just disappear when you close your eyes, does it?”

Leonard’s words ring true to my being that we shouldn’t live in ignorance. In the possibility of unperceived existence, can something exist without being perceived? If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? I choose to live my day by educating myself on other existences and events around me, by listening to the news or reading articles, by just simply being aware. You don’t hear the screams of people trapped under rubble in Mexico because of two high magnitude earthquakes that we didn’t feel it or affect our lives here in Southern California. You don’t see the pigs’ heads bashed by metal bats to render them unconscious for their meat or cows’ throats be slashed with buckets sitting underneath waiting to be filled with blood. In David Foster Wallace’s essay “Consider the Lobster,” he illustrates the lobsters' consciousness and invokes that the obvious "struggling, thrashing, and lid-clattering" which accompanies the lobsters' descent into the boiling kettle and adds that, according to most ethicists, “ this combination of neurological structures and behavior can be used to determine a creature's pain capacity”. Having worked through the complexities of the issue, Wallace returns to his original question: is it possible to truly defend the act of consuming flesh without acknowledging the act's inherent selfishness? I for one, am very passionate about animal rights and have not been consuming meat or taking part in purchasing animal-tested products, etc. We cause suffering on a much larger scale to farm animals on a daily basis than any other form of life including humans. I'm not asking for all meat consumption to end (while that would be ideal); I'm asking for stronger, non-prejudiced animal protection and rights while urging everyone to consider what they eat, where it came from, and how it got there. It frustrates me that progress on this subject is disturbingly slow. For that I blame ignorance, which can be cured through open minds, education, and compassion.

[petelonesome]

The Way of a Story

“How often do we tell our own life story?  How often do we adjust, embellish, make slight cuts?  And the longer life goes on, the fewer are those around to tell us our life is not our life.  It is just a story we have told about our lives.  A story about our lives, told to others, but mainly to ourselves.

I’ve been turning over in my mind a question of nostalgia, and whether I suffer from it…I think of everything that has happened in my life, and how little I have allowed to happen.  I, who neither won nor lost, who avoided being hurt, and called it a capacity for survival.  I think of how our lives got entwined, and went along together for a time. And when I look back, now on that time, however brief, I am moved more than I thought possible.  Indeed I am sorry that I have known nothing of your life in the years since.  No doubt you could have taught this old fool a thing or two.  Perhaps, in a way, you have.”   (Julian Barnes)

The floor is mine.  And at such an age when I expect most people are thinking about their story.  Which I am.  Enough decades to indicate a progression, with a remaining set of pieces still in motion, still unresolved.  At some point, it will likely seem that all that is left is that story.  There will be less altogether of a compelling present, and the thoughts will strive against failing memory to see the past for all that it was, with a diminishing need for a practical focus on things still taking place, still taking shape.  Once all things have taken place, taken shape, and are done with, then the by product of such inward meditations will perforce be silence.  Perhaps you understand.  Perhaps not.  

As it happens, what we were to each other, that which has indeed already taken place and taken shape, is at a practical end, and so to feel a conversation can be mandated, or even be meaningful, seems unrealistic. For indeed it was that silence, once installed as a habit, that later became the basis and requirement for how we knew each other. For dead things are defined by their silence, but with the living it must be voluntary, and once adopted, it needs be enforced. Otherwise, what might we say? As such, I could even say that it doesn’t matter at all, but you see I am still in the process of figuring out the story.  How does it turn out?  Will it winnow its way toward a noiseless ending?  No climax, no denouement, no meaningful epilogue.  Just the end.  For if there is no heaven, then surely there is no history, for an extinguished memory passes on to no one.  It has less use than an old set of steak knives, left behind in an untouched drawer by an old man who has collapsed in the next room.  Lacking a theme park in the sky where one gets to meet one’s dead relatives (alas all together, and given the moral screening process, all the least interesting ones), then I suppose it does just end.  One moment here, the next not here.  So, then, what is meaning?  

Meaning being existential, inasmuch as we are still existing, and inasmuch as any of us care.  And so the irony of silence gives way to the irony of what that silence refuses to serve.  And what it refuses to serve, forgive me, is exactly the same laundry list of questions I endured at the dinner table, or during family evenings, and on many a holiday, when you were piecing together your story, your meaning, your place in the world.  Alas, poor Yorick, where are your jibes? For in all such insufficiencies, what we are left with is comedy.  Because in this late pageant, the senior actor had an audience, but in later scenes faded into the background, a non-participant and now serving as nothing more than an extremely misleading bit of foreshadowing.  The long-winded melodramas of vanity, where are they now?  They are done with.  Act I has completed.  And I am right at the beginning of Act IV, just as you are facing the conclusion of Act V.  The bitter, angry protestations at all the grownups who let you down in Act I, all the people I was supposed to love or something, all at their most faulty.  And on and on it went.  Your meaning, your story, until it had been told, right up until the turbulence of Act III and its tragic climax.    

If it was important then, why is it not now?  These faulty people, in all their inadequacies, well they surely were known to me.  I knew their names.  I knew about their likes and dislikes. I knew what their stories were.  They told me.  I knew where they grew up.  I knew what part of the Earth they sprang from.  I knew something of their ancestors as well.  I saw photographs.   I heard their stories, repeated many times, for each of us can only carry so many.  They called on holidays.  They called on birthdays.  They often visited in person,  They were aware of my various tiny achievements.  I was a part of their story, and they were a part of mine. My children are old enough now to be thus aware.  But they do not pause for long.  They simply have no information.  They are not yet old enough to know about the truth of what happened, or what actually is and is not available to them by way of human interaction.  But they will at least know a few valuable things once they reach adulthood.  That love isn’t guaranteed, not from anyone.  Because love stories are never about love, not really. They are only about brief, illusory respites from loneliness. It’s the long con–someone sets themself up in one’s life as a bona fide, with an implied promise to do something impossible, continually, via some sort of dialogue which is not begged for, but rather offered as a permanent gift.  It is the great human futility that saves us from extinction, the grand failing that we must accomplish every day for each other. But failing to even try? I sincerely hope they will see this for what it is, and simply move on, beyond this person, leaving them without even imprinting them as a memory.  For they do not get to be in the story. They have been proven a liar, and the one rule of this story, my story, is that one must tell the truth. Else, they disappear. Good stories don’t allow this form of cheating.  

That’s the thing about stories.  They do not judge, unless a character refuses to act, to take part.  If something or someone relevant to the course of a story enters its boundary lines, then it is immediately part of the conversation, an important and crucial element.  But if it does not, then there is no feeling that is attached to it.  It simply does not exist.  And once the story is complete, it is a thing that doesn’t even become a memory.  It has ceased to be.  It has been replaced.  Now, some people think their story requires certain elements.  Forests need trees, rain needs clouds and water, stories need people.  But these people of the archetypal story structure are not adept.  Stories don’t work that way.  A life story certainly does not work this way.  In life stories, certain human beings come and go.  And sometimes, those people who require such things might say, oh, in this story, such and such was there in the beginning, and later left the story.  No reason is given for this. They didn’t exactly leave.  They simply are not there anymore.  This story went on without them.  And because of this, the story has continued thus.  And if you’re reading this story, maybe you might find this bit funny.  You might say, oh how absurd.  That one seemed to be so central, but I guess I was wrong.  I wonder who will be in the next chapter?  

And that is all there is to a story.  Lately I have been thinking a lot about mine.  The recent chapters.  The turbulent Act III.  The protagonist is challenged.  His assumptions were all wrong.  Yet he looks around, and while up ahead lies a shiny question mark, behind him are ghosts.  And some of these ghosts are still alive.  Or are they?  Perhaps you know.  Either way, I will eventually find out.  Because stories need answers.  And even silence can be an answer.  

The broken kettle spills the water.  It cannot help it.  But it cannot turn away from the water.  It is still a kettle.  So the water still gets poured.  Even as the water leaks out, we see the kettle for what it is. Broken, perhaps noble in its elegant way of failing in its one purpose, but still, in the end, itself.  

Adapted. Excerpt from the last, unsent, letter I wrote to my father two weeks prior to his death on 4 July 2017.

[sj6]

Mastery Journal

Logline: Brandon, a boy in high school is an outsider in his school. One day he gets the attention of Emily, a girl who is an outsider as well, however, Brandon is a shy guy and struggles with his intention to ask Emily to prom.

Genre: Drama

Theme: Romantic

The incident in The Most Beautiful Thing, happens when Emily makes eye contact with Brando after he tries to speak to her, the first plot-twist follow almost immediately when Emily reveals she is deaf, although this is not a limitation for their relationship. A mid plot occurs after Brandon she the school’s womanizer flirting with Emily, he avoids her all day after this. Emily however, texts Brando letting him know she misses him. Brandon gains the courage to ask Emily to prom, when he is about to ask her, he sees how the womanizer tries to kiss Emily. This is a second plot-twist, since Brandon turns his back on then and doesn’t see that Emily rejects the womanizer. After trying to avoid Emily, Brandon runs into her in the hallway, as he turns his back on her, Emily who has been reluctant to speak in front of Brandon, gets his attention by yelling as she explains what happened. During the resolution, Brandon finally ask Emily to prom, this is follow by the denouement, in which Emily runs into Brandon’s arms and they hug.

The Most Beautiful Thing opens with a full shot of Brandon, the protagonist sitting on a bench, while looking at the space empty to his side. This is follow by shots that shows Brandon’s daily routine, like commuting, but also, they reinforce the fact that he is a lonely guy as he is distant from the groups of people in the school, to the extent that most of the people there ignores him. He usually keeps a straight face during his routine but, this change once Brandon meets Emily, after meeting, the sequence of his routine is used to show that Brandon’s life has become happier. This sequence with the mood variations are used a couple times more to show Brandon’s feeling during the film. Brandon’s desire for love becomes evident after he looks at a prom poster that is in his locker, this is the second clue the audience has, the first one being the opening shot where he is looking at the empty space on the bench probably whishing some else was there with him. After Emily and Brandon make contact for the first time, they start bonding, this can be observed through a sequence where they are spending time together while doing various activities, this sequence is unified by an uplifting instrumental music during its length. The music changes to a dramatic piano driven instrumental, when Brandon ask Emily if she has try to speak indicating this is a serious issue for her, as she write her respond in a notebook they use to communicate, the camera focuses on the phrases they are writing to emphasize them, this resource is used throughout the film. The focus is usually use to stand out elements that are important during a scene, for example, the prom poster or Emily’s text coming on Brandon’s phone. On the other hand, during the shot where Brandon sees the womanizer trying to kiss Emily, the focus keeps on Brandon’s expression as he turns his back to the scene happening in the bench, although is out of focus, the composition allows for the viewer to see Emily rejecting the womanizer. Brandon is a passive aggressive character but, the audience first sees his frustration as he can’t get a paper towel out of a dispenser, this causes him to release it by hitting the things around him. The camera is hand held during the complete length of the film, to give the viewer a sense of intimacy and realism as they watch the story, it also moves according to the character’s pacing or mood in a scene, for example as Brandon tries to avoid Emily during the last scene, the camera mimics the fast-paced walk of Brandon, however, when Emily speaks the camera stops with Brandon at his surprised, and the hand-held movement is subtler during the rest of the scene. The exterior lighting is natural and the interiors are lighted with no particular shadows or strong intention to provide additional information to a scene. The music is used to help set the mood for happy or dramatic moments, as explained before. Brandon since to have no make-up and Emily uses a very light base of make-up, both characters seem natural and “normal”, rather to fit their outsiders positions they occupy in the high school. This film is mainly driven by the emotion within the romantic theme of film.

 The Most Beautiful Thing was Written, directed and edited by Cameron Covell. Starring: Nick Lopez and Analisa Gutierrez.