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physalian · 4 months

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Pacing your Story (Or, How to Avoid the "Suddenly...!")

Arguably *the* most important lesson all writers need to learn, even for those who don’t give a damn about themes and motifs and a moral soap box: How your story is paced, whether it’s a comic book, a children’s chapter book, a doorstopper, a mini series, a movie, or a full-length season of TV (old school style), pacing is everything.

Pacing determines how long the story *feels* regardless of how long it actually is. It can make a 2 hour movie feel like 90 mins or double the time you’re trapped in your seat.

There’s very little I can say about pacing that hasn’t been said before, but I’m here to condense all that’s out there into a less intimidating mouthful to chew.

So: What is pacing?

Pacing is how a story flows, how quickly or slowly the creator moves through and between scenes, how long they spend on setting, narration, conversation, arguments, internal monologues, fight scenes, journey scenes. It’s also how smoothly tone transitions throughout the story. A fantasy adventure jumping around sporadically between meandering boredom, high-octane combat, humor, grief, and romance is exhausting to read, no matter how much effort you put into your characters.

Anyone who says the following is wrong:

Good pacing is always fast/bad pacing is always slow

Pacing means you are 100% consistent throughout the entire story

It doesn’t matter as much so long as you have a compelling story/characters/lore/etc

Now let me explain why in conveniently numbered points:

1. Pacing is not about consistency, it’s about giving the right amount of time to the right pieces of your story

This is not intuitive and it takes a long time to learn. So let’s look at some examples:

Lord of the Rings: The movies trimmed a *lot* from the books that just weren’t adaptable to screen, namely all the tedious details and quite a bit of the worldbuilding that wasn’t critical to the journey of the Fellowship. That said, with some exceptions, the battles are as long as they need to be, along with every monologue, every battle speech. When Helm’s Deep is raging on, we cut away to Merry and Pippin with the Ents to let ourselves breathe, then dive right back in just before it gets boring.

The Hobbit Trilogy: The exact opposite from LotR, stretching one kids book into 3 massive films, stuffing it full of filler, meandering side quests, pointless exposition, drawing out battles and conflicts to silly extremes, then rushing through the actual desolation of Smaug for… some reason.

Die Hard (cause it’s the Holidays y’all!): The actiony-est of action movies with lots of fisticuffs and guns and explosions still leaves time for our hero to breathe, lick his wounds, and build a relationship with the cop on the ground. We constantly cut between the hero and the villains, all sharing the same radio frequency, constantly antsy about what they know and when they’ll find out the rest, and when they’ll discover the hero’s kryptonite.

2. Make every scene you write do at least two things at once

This is also tricky. Making every scene pull double duty should be left to after you’ve written the first draft, otherwise you’ll never write that first draft. Pulling double duty means that if you’re giving exposition, the scene should also reveal something about the character saying it. If you absolutely must write the boring trip from A to B, give some foreshadowing, some thoughtful insight from one of your characters, a little anecdote along the way.

Develop at least two of the following:

The plot

The backstory

The romance/friendships

The lore

The exposition

The setting

The goals of the cast

Doing this extremely well means your readers won’t have any idea you’re doing it until they go back and read it again. If you have two characters sitting and talking exposition at a table, and then those same two characters doing some important task with filler dialogue to break up the narrative… try combining those two scenes and see what happens.

**This is going to be incredibly difficult if you struggle with making your stories longer. I do not. I constantly need to compress my stories. **

3. Not every scene needs to be crucial to the plot, but every scene must say something

I distinguish plot from story like a square vs a rectangle. Plot is just a piece of the tale you want to tell, and some scenes exist just to be funny, or romantic, or mysterious, plot be damned.

What if you’re writing a character study with very little plot? How do you make sure your story isn’t too slow if 60% of the narrative is introspection?

Avoid repeating information the audience already has, unless a reminder is crucial to understanding the scene

This isn’t 1860 anymore. Every detail must serve a purpose. Keep character and setting descriptions down to absolute need-to-know and spread it out like icing on a cake – enough to coat, but not give you a mouthful of whipped sugar and zero cake.

Avoid describing generic daily routines, unless the existence of said routine is out of ordinary for the character, or will be rudely interrupted by chaos. No one cares about them brushing their teeth and doing their hair.

Make sure your characters move, but not too much. E.g. two characters sitting and talking – do humans just stare at each other with their arms lifeless and bodies utterly motionless during conversation? No? Then neither should your characters. Make them gesture, wave, frown, laugh, cross their legs, their arms, shift around to get comfortable, pound the table, roll their eyes, point, shrug, touch their face, their hair, wring their hands, pick at their nails, yawn, stretch, pout, sneer, smirk, click their tongue, clear their throat, sniff/sniffle, tap their fingers/drum, bounce their feet, doodle, fiddle with buttons or jewelry, scratch an itch, touch their weapons/gadgets/phones, check the time, get up and sit back down, move from chair to table top – the list goes on. Bonus points if these are tics that serve to develop your character, like a nervous fiddler, or if one moves a lot and the other doesn’t – what does that say about the both of them? This is where “show don’t tell” really comes into play.

4. Your entire work should not be paced exactly the same

Just like a paragraph should not be filled with sentences of all the same length and syntax. Some beats deserve more or less time than others. Unfortunately, this is unique to every single story and there is no one size fits all.

General guidelines are as follows:

Action scenes should have short paragraphs and lots of movement. Cut all setting details and descriptors, internal monologues, and the like, unless they service the scene.

Journey/travel scenes must pull double or even triple duty. There’s a reason very few movies are marketed as “single take” and those that are don’t waste time on stuff that doesn’t matter. See 1917.

Romantic scenes are entirely up to you. Make it a thousand words, make it ten thousand, but you must advance either the romantic tension, actual movement of the characters, conversation, or intimacy of the relationship.

Don’t let your conversations run wild. If they start to veer off course, stop, boil it down to its essentials, and cut the rest.

When transitioning between slow to faster pacing and back again, it’s also not one size fits all. Maybe it being jarring is the point – it’s as sudden for the characters as it is for the reader. With that said, try to keep the “suddenly”s to a minimum.

5. Pacing and tone go hand in hand

This means that, generally speaking, the tone of your scene changes with the speed of the narrative. As stated above, a jarring tonal shift usually brings with it a jarring pacing shift.

A character might get in a car crash while speeding away from an abusive relationship. A character who thinks they’re safe from a pursuer might be rudely and terrifyingly proven wrong. An exhausting chase might finally relent when sanctuary is found. A quiet dinner might quickly turn romantic with a look, or confession. Someone casually cleaning up might discover evidence of a lie, a theft, an intruder and begin to panic.

Whatever the case may be, a narrative that is all action all the time suffers from lack of meaningful character moments. A narrative that meanders through the character drama often forgets there is a plot they’re supposed to be following.

#writing advice #writing tips #pacing #writing tools

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granaidh · 4 months

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Charles jealous and possessive please 🔥

it's always been him — charles leclerc

pairing: charles leclerc x fem!reader

summary: you and charles have always been close; maybe you should acknowledge those messy feelings at some point.

warnings: a little angsty but nothing harmful

a/n: i'm really sorry for radio silence, the holiday season has been crazy and I've been more of a tumble lurker recently, on that note, please feel free to message me and say hi or send some requests through, i promise i will work through them all :)

You always knew it wasn’t normal. You were many things in life, but you knew you weren’t a liar, at least not to yourself. Try as you might, you couldn’t meet your eyes in a mirror without being truthful about your feelings for the man standing across Parc Ferme. The historic red car adjusting itself in front of the giant second-place sign was becoming a familiar sight for the entirety of the season. Yet, your heart panged each time he climbed out of the cockpit to either side of that illustrious number 1 that he so desired.

You knew most of the time he would convince himself he was happy, gentle smiles for the team for whom he felt so dearly, but you knew this race, it had all boiled over. Like a pot of pasta water left on the stove unattended, Charles Leclerc had been left to bubble under the surface for an entire season, dutifully accepting DNF after DNF, horrifyingly being spun into the wall on his formation lap as his car failed beneath him, and demonstrating his continued patience and sportsmanlike behaviour in receiving his disqualification.

He begged you to stay that night in Texas, your hotel room across from his own abandoned, as he buried his face in your stomach, refusing to face the world, the cameras, the questioning; his fingers instead grasped the fibres of your shirt as he quietly sobbed. His display of emotion to this calibre was so unlike him you allowed yourself to card your fingers through his hair, tenderly shushing him, the silence hanging heavily upon the white linen sheets your limbs had entangled themselves in. What could you possibly say to help? Instead, your fingers found purchase in gently massaging his temples attempting to flatten his frown lines across his forehead.

“Maman se moquera de toi si tu as des rides avant son Charles.” Mum will make fun of you if you have wrinkles before her, Charles. You whispered, feeling him sigh and relax the lines on his forehead as he smiled gently beneath you, a small victory.

Those same frown lines appeared as he pulled his balaclava over his head, gulping the water before him, desperately filling the time until he had to face his team. You were hyperaware of everything you felt: the cottonmouth casting a thin film across your mouth, the tightening pain across your lower back from standing for hours becoming too severe to ignore, your rings feeling too tight against your swollen fingers, desperately clinging the barrier in front of you, attempting to ground yourself as you watched Charles roll his shoulders before turning the face the team behind him.

His eyes darted to you first, a soft smile dancing across his features just for you before he reluctantly accepted the embrace of his crew. You waited patiently to the side as the team congratulated Charles, clearly opting to forget about Carlos sitting in the garage, reaping the rewards of their continual strategic failure. You felt for the Spaniard, mentally noting to shoot him a message offering your condolences for the unsavoury end to his season. Your hypothetical text plan was quickly forgotten as Charles gently placed his hand on top of yours, alerting you before gently pulling you into a friendly embrace.

“Si tendu, tout est fini maintenant” So tense, it is all over now. He whispered, separating you both with a knowing smile before alleviating himself of your rigid presence to commence his media duties. You swallowed dryly, seeking to shake the anxiety off your back, watching him enter the cooldown room before the podium, the memory of his hand on yours and arms encompassing your body assisting in allowing the pressure to ease slowly.

Your toes curled, attempting to flex the tender skin, regretting the wedged heels laced on your feet, instead wishing for the comfortable embrace of your slippers waiting in your hotel room. You stared up at the platform, craning your neck to get a better view of Charles standing on the podium, attempting to meet his eyes immediately, watching as he scanned the sea of red before finding you, smiling softly, and removing his cap in respect to the anthem.

The next hour escaped you before you knew it. Charles had departed the podium for the last time in 2023 and was quickly ushered into media duties, offering a quick European peck to either of your cheeks. A whisper of “Je ne vais pas tenir longtemps dans ces réunions, nous serons partis dans moins d’une heure et demie.” I’m not going to last long in these meetings. We will be out of here in less than an hour and a half. You knew what that meant: wait in his driver’s room. If you felt charitable, you’d even begin to pack his things for him, but today, you slouched across his massage table, easing the bruising skin on the balls of your feet, knowing the night was young and you’d be nestling a vodka soda within your hands soon, condensation dripping off your fingers onto the sticky floor beneath you.

You began to draft a message to Carlos, finding it difficult to focus on anything except the clicking of the fan above you and the shuffling of team members outside the room; the phone eventually discarded next to you, the brief draft of a message to Carlos semi-forgotten as you waited for Charles to enter the room. Your thinning patience was rewarded as Charles opened the door, laughing faintly at your lounging position before packing his bag.

“Told you I wouldn’t be long; I can’t listen to Fred after losing P2 in the constructors,” he grimaced. “I need hard liquor and a pounding headache before I sit through that constructive meeting.”

You clicked your tongue softly, sitting upright on the sticky leather. “No more SF-23,” you sighed. “Can’t say I’ll miss it.”

“Just testing, remember?” Charles queried, turning to face you.

“Uh, totally,” you lied. “How could I forget the day I get to sit around and watch you do long stints for hours on end?”

He rolled his eyes, continuing to pack his bag, letting a comfortable silence fill the room as you clicked away on your phone, attempting to find the words to write a simple message to Carlos but finding yourself instead focusing on Charles’ biceps flexing, veins protruding faintly from his forearms and his shirt riding up his lower back as he bent over to change his shoes.

“What’re you doing?” he asked, snapping you out of your daydream and refocusing on the phone between your hands.

“Huh?”

“Your phone, you haven’t typed a single word on that message in like 5 minutes. Are you good?” He asked, turning his full attention to you, throwing his backpack across his shoulder.

“Oh!” Feeling caught in your daydream, you realised, “I’m just texting Carlos.”

His face contorted unpleasantly, “Texting Carlos?” He pressed. “Why?”

“He just, uh-” you closed your phone. “I felt terrible after that strategy disaster class; I suppose it felt a bit familiar to me.” Your lips pursed as you hopped off the table and walked towards the door, Charles’ unmoving presence dooming behind you.

“So you message my teammate frequently or?” His tone shifted, distrust lacing his voice as his feet remained unmoving, planted in the middle of the room, requiring you to turn to face him instead.

“No, Charles, not often at all, not that it would mean anything if I did.” You grimaced. “You can check yourself if it means so much to you.” You placed your phone in his hand, open on your brief conversation with Carlos, exchanging nothing more than birthday wishes, texts regarding Charles’ location, and congratulations before you left the room in a far sourer mood than you entered it.

Sometimes, you detested Charles. How could you love a man so much but be so confused by his conflicting actions? He introduced you as his childhood friend but let his arm rest just slightly too low around your waist, hand gripping the lowest point of your hip, occasionally stroking gently across it. Scoffing at any mention of romantic interest between the two of you but acting like a guard dog the moment another man approached you, later feigning he “was just trying to get into your pants” or softly whispering your name, urging that you “can do better than that” before turning his interest to the latest Mongasque girl in his rotation.

You hesitated outside the Ferarri hospitality, realising Charles was your only ride back to the hotel. You had zero access to your bedroom without your shared key currently in his possession, and he also had your phone following your tantrum, rendering you incapable of petulantly ordering an Uber to meet him in the lobby like a defiant teenager.

“Je suis désolé, ce n'était pas juste, la journée a été difficile” I'm sorry, that wasn't fair, today was tough. He whispered, coming up behind you, pressing your phone back into your grasp, beginning the short walk back to his Ferrari parked just outside the track. You huffed, following him silently to his car, slinking into the leather seat, leaning across his console to turn up the radio, indicating you weren’t in the mood to talk further about the issue or him frankly.

The car ride back to the hotel dripped with an uncomfortable silence. The highs and lows of the season seemed to mirror the tumultuous relationship between you and Charles. The engine’s hum filled the air, punctuating the quiet with glances laden with words unsaid. Charles steered through winding roads, his grip on the wheel a touch too tight. The tension inside the car felt suffocating, stifling any conversation.

You stole quick glances at him, his profile etched in the faint glow of the dashboard lights. Eyes focused on the road, lips comfortably parted, but jaw clenched. Your mind churned, tangled in conflicting feelings like a maze, making sense hard to find.

“I’m sorry,” Charles finally murmured, breaking the stifling silence. His voice carried remorse mixed with frustration. You turned to him, meeting his gaze. Usually firm and determined, his eyes now held a vulnerability that struck a chord within you. “It’s okay,” you replied softly, a blend of understanding and weariness in your voice as you reached for the radio to lower the volume.

The hotel loomed ahead, a haven in the night. Charles parked the car, the engine fading into silence. Neither of you moved to leave; unresolved emotions hung heavy, a silent challenge between you. “Can we talk?” Charles implored, urgency lacing his voice.

You hesitated. “I’m not sure there’s much to say,” you admitted, a mix of resignation and hesitation in your tone, your fingers itching to open the door and leave the situation entirely.

Charles sighed, the weight of the unspoken hanging heavy. “I know things are... complicated between us, feelings-wise”, he started carefully. “But you mean a lot to me. More than you understand.”

His sincerity tugged at your heartstrings. “I know,” you whispered, the admission heavy with unspoken truths and withheld tears. Silence enveloped you both again, unspoken words lingering in the air. The distance between you felt insurmountable, emotional hurdles neither dared to leap. In the quiet of the night, Charles tentatively reached out, his hand resting lightly on yours. His touch sent ripples through your skin, goosebumps spreading up your arm, allowing heat to spread across your cheeks.

“I want to understand,” you confessed finally, your voice barely above a whisper, the vulnerability raw in your admission. Charles’s grip on your hand tightened slightly, a silent promise of shared pining.

“We’ll figure it out. We just need the season to be over, and we can go back to Monaco”, Charles murmured, his voice comforting amidst the turmoil.

Inside the elevator, tension crackled between you as if expecting cracks to form. Charles leaned against the mirrored wall, his gaze softening as he watched you. “You looked amazing from the podium today,” he said, a sincere tone tinged with admiration.

A blush coloured your cheeks. “Thank you,” you replied a slight smile on your lips, tension simmering beneath the surface.

The elevator doors opened, revealing the corridor to Charles’s room. There was an unspoken ease as he unlocked the door, a welcomed break from the strained atmosphere in his driver’s room. Inside, as Charles sorted through his suitcase, you adjusted your appearance. His playful glances at you carried a hint of flirtation, mingling with the ease of your friendship. “You have a way of making every outfit look effortless,” Charles remarked lightly, fingers teasingly dancing across your back.

A soft chuckle escaped nerves and familiarity mingling. “Just trying to keep up with you,” you whispered back, a flirtatious undertone woven into your friendship. The room exuded a gentle warmth, subtle flirtation dancing in the air, felt yet unspoken. As you made final adjustments, there was a shared understanding, a silent acknowledgment of the changing dynamics.

With a quiet smile, Charles extended his arm, a silent invitation. “Shall we?” he asked softly.

You nodded, a gentle smile on your lips. “Let’s.”

Amidst the dizzying array of lights and thumping music, the club surged with relentless energy. You and Charles navigated through the swirling crowd, enveloped in the vibrant chaos of the pulsating atmosphere. Drinks flowed, inhibitions waned, and you confronted the undeniable truth that your bond with Charles was more than mere friendship.

However, in the chaos of the Dubai club, you lost the Mongasque man. You stumbled in the general direction of the bar. Your fingers gripped the cool marble surface as all your senses merged into one. You continued to flick your eyes across the club, attempting to spot Charles and whatever had distracted him, to begin with, but a confident man caught your attention, a smirk playing on his lips as he approached. “Hey there, care to join me for a dance?” His voice exuded charming sleaziness, his gaze lingering everywhere but on your eyes.

Caught off guard by his directness, you exchanged a hesitant glance with the man. “I, uh, maybe later,” you responded politely, seeking an escape from the conversation and a return to Charles.

Before you could step away to locate him, Charles materialised at your side, his presence commanding attention. “Sorry, mate, she’s already taken,” Charles interjected, his tone polite yet firm, a protective edge woven into his words. You huffed, appreciating his intrusion on your conversations with men for the first time in your life.

The man raised an eyebrow, assessing the situation. “Didn’t mean to intrude, just giving it a shot,” he replied, noticing the subtle tension in Charles’s stance. He attempted to draw you closer, but Charles pulled you in, a protective resolve in his demeanour. His eyes met yours, desperately searching for answers across your face, an inkling of how you felt.

“Are you okay?” Charles’s voice cut through the club’s chaos, a gentle melody amidst the thumping noise. Your nod was almost imperceptible, a wave of relief washing over you at his intervention.

“Thank you,” you murmured, appreciation lacing your words. The music shifted, adopting a slower, more melodic rhythm. Charles extended his hand, offering another silent invitation tinged with reassurance.

“Care for a dance?” he asked, his eyes conveying an unspoken promise. The song’s first notes enveloped you, drawing an intimate embrace between you and Charles. His hand rested on the small of your back, a subtle yet reassuring touch that spoke volumes. Swaying to the rhythm, a quiet understanding unfolded—a shared connection beyond the dance floor. The world blurred, leaving only the closeness between you and Charles. His gaze held yours, tenderness reflecting the unspoken emotions coursing through both of you. Each sway of your hips became a gentle dialogue, a suggestive conversation in the language of movement.

As the music surrounded you, echoing the increasingly loud beats of your heart and the muffle of blood rushing to your ears, an understanding of something stirring beneath the surface. In the intimacy of the dance, unspoken tensions finally began to blossom into a symphony of silent emotions. Feelings wove a tapestry neither dared of you to voice. As the song ended, you held his gaze, the unspoken connection echoing in your eyes.

His fingers traced your chin, guiding your gaze towards him, hand caressing your cheek. “You look beautiful like this,” he whispered, cheeks flushed, the alcohol adding a sway to his step. “Please, let me kiss you, chérie,” he pleaded. You were acutely aware of how close you suddenly were to Charles as he brushed his lips against yours. Your head spun, the surge of emotions clouding you, allowing Charles to press his lips against yours, pulling you closer until your bodies melded together, a fusion of limbs and desires.

You melted into the tenderness of his touch, holding you so tight, afraid you would leave yet so delicately, like a china doll he was scared to break in his grand-mère’s house. His hand that was once resting softly on the small of your back gently dragged itself up the plane of your spine, finding a place pulling you tighter against him between your shoulder blades. His lips separated from yours, gently exhaling as he stared down at you, chest rising and falling rapidly before he joined your lips again.

His fingers desperately clawed at whatever skin he could grasp, pressing into the fibres of your flesh, desperately trying to imprint himself upon you animalistically. Tears uncontrollably began to well in your eyes, years of emotions pouring out in such a public setting as your arms slipped down from his neck, allowing your own trembling hands to grip the bone of his defined cheeks and jaw, completely unwilling to let him go.

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amuseoffyre · 6 months

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Since insomnia is kicking my arse of late, I naturally tilted into the thoughts about the nature of the 3-act structure and why S2 of OFMD may have felt off and incomplete to a lot of people.

I am fully in agreement that we lost a lot of valuable time with only 8 episodes and a lot of it did feel rushed, but for the amount of story and set-up and growth and development they needed to fit into 4 hours of television, they did astonishing things.

DJenks has said from the very start that this is a story that has been planned out to take 3 seasons. It's literally a 3-act play and we are currently right in the middle of the worst part of that timeline according to every traditional 3-act structure.

Act one/season one is self-explanatory. Like New Hope in the Star Wars Trilogy or Fellowship of the Ring, this is the set-up. We're introduced to our protagonists and antagonists, the relationships are given a foundation.

The beginning is Stede's journey to becoming a real boy. The inciting incident, the one that actually pushes his change beyond "playing pirates" is meeting Ed. The second thoughts come together in episode 8/9 after his confrontations with Jack and Chauncey and episode 10 is the climax.

Act 2/season 2 is never going to be as smooth and simple as act 1/s1. A big part of the A2/S2 job is set up for A3/S3 and this is what we're seeing and why a lot of story threads seem to have been left dangling.

Again, to call back to Empire Strikes Back and The Two Towers, the structure is much the same: the original batch of people are divided and scattered, the big enemy from A1/S1 is looming, new allies make themselves known. In SW, this meant the introduction of Lando and Yoda as allies plus the hint of the Emperor lurking in the background. In LotR, we have the Rohirrim, Gondor and the Ents as allies and the expansion of Sauron's forces in Helm's Deep, Osgiliath and the winged wraiths.

There's a clear trajectory following the A2/S2 structure:

obstacle 1 - the crews separated and struggling

obstacle 2 - the end of episode 2 and the repercussions of his actions

twist - just when things start to settle, the Ned Low situation happen and Stede kills for the first time

obstacle 3 - Ed's struggle with his identity leading to him leaving

disaster - Ricky's assault on the Republic

crisis - do-or-die battle because they have no other choice

climax - the last 15 minutes of ep. 8 live here.

As with SW and LotR, there's an ending, but weighted with the knowledge of a story that is meant to continue. Each of those act 2 films end with the heroes still aware of the looming threat, some of them heading out on new missions, and some of them resting and healing. There's brief pause, brief respite, a moment to take a breath.

We have all the characters in place now and the battle-lines have been drawn. Luke still needs to confront Vader (I see you, impending Ed and Hornigold confrontation), Frodo still needs to destroy the ring, Aragorn still needs to lead the army against the Black Gate, the second Death Star is still hanging in the sky.

I'm so excited to see what S3 brings because we have so many arcs ready to go: Zheng's vengeance trip, the inevitable enforced out-of-retirement arc for Ed and Stede, Hornigold, Ricky trying to maintain his tenuous control of the republic given how many of his people were killed when the crew escaped, the pirate rebellion gathering forces.

Also how often do we get shows/films where the supporting cast are given this much storyline? We have a named/speaking-role cast of upwards of 15 central characters. That is a staggering amount of people to work with, when most shows would only focus on the leads and a couple of their friends. Six is the average for most TV shows, while comedies can inch higher because ensembles, but most ensembles don't get as much as our crew did.

I know a lot of people aren't happy about Izzy's death. I know I would have liked to see him a lot more, because he's such a grumpy old bitch and I love him and him affectionately roasting Ed and Stede would have made my entire month. But I'm also aware that narratively, as a figurehead of the old ways of piracy and "we were Blackbeard", it was a symbolic death as well - a sign of the death of the old ways of piracy and of Blackbeard as was.

(Also, they Obi-Wanned him. I'm not over that. Gave him the "if you strike me down I will become more powerful" speech. I'm just... guys, your star wars nerdery is showing XD)

So while it was flawed in places and pacing, given the scale of the story they're telling, the number of pieces and characters they had in play, and the arcs they have been setting up while also still keeping the humour, I am giving a standing ovation for a remarkable piece of work.

#ofmd #ofmd s2 #ofmd meta

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soraontop · 4 months

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SORA of ENHYPEN 𓊆ྀི❤︎𓊇ྀི

STAGE NAME sora (소라)

BIRTH NAME jung sora (정소라)

POSITION - *

BIRTHDAY october 31st, 2003

ZODIAC SIGN scorpio

CHINESE ZODIAC goat

HEIGHT 162cm (5’3”)

WEIGHT 44kg (99lbs)

BLOOD TYPE a

MBTI ENTP

NATIONALITY korean

REPRESENTATIVE EMOJI 🐯

MIC. COLOR pink

SORA FACTS

She is from Ilsan, South Korea.

She is the oldest child of four, and has three younger brothers. (2009, 2014, 2018)

Training Period: 3 years, 2 months/2015–2018 (Cre.Ker Ent) 1 year, 3 months/2019–2020 (BigHit Ent.)

She was in I.O.I previously and placed 2nd in Produce 101 Season 1 with 782,883 votes.

She ranked 2nd in the final episode of I-LAND with 1,362,913 votes.

She is the current MC for Inkigayo with Yeonjun and Woonhak. (July 2023)

She is a former Cre.Ker and BigHit Entertainments trainee and knows The Boyz well from training with them.

She played Jungkook’s partner in ‘Love Yourself’ highlight reel.

Byeolies is Sora’s fandom name created by fans.

Education: Chadwick International School

Sora speaks Korean and English fluently. She understands Japanese but isn’t confident in speaking it.

Her English name is Lucy. She chose it because she liked the song Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds.

Her favorite colors are lavender and coral.

She was on a swim team when she was younger.

She auditioned as a joke in 2015.

She has her own room in ENHYPEN’s dorm.

She has a Chihuahua named Miso.

She played Jung Somi in The Man From Nowhere in 2010, the daughter of Won Bin’s character in the movie who was kidnapped. She won Best New Actress at the 2010 Korean Film Awards for her role.

She also played Do Kyunghee, Cha Eunwoo’s character’s sister, in My Gangnam Beauty in 2018.

She is childhood friends with RIIZE’s Seunghan. (WeVerse 2023.09.8)

Specialty: Vocal and dance

Hobbies: Making friends, drawing, taking care of others

Charming Point: Her eyes, lips and cheeks

Her nickname(s) are Korea’s Golden Girl, Doll, ‘Malgeumi’ (bright), Da Vinci, Mermaid, ‘Nation’s Girl Next Door’, ‘Nation’s Little Sister’, Star.

Likes: Jay, Sunoo, swimming, her dog, makeup

Dislikes: Waking up, being taken care of, pineapple pizza, Mint Choco

Motto: Expect nothing.

* Position is currently being inferred.

inspired by @enmi-land & @laladellakang <3

poly ot7 enhypen fic with female 8th member, don’t like don’t read !!!

#˖ ࣪ . ࿐ ♡ ˚ . sora ⌗ profile #enhypen #enhypen 8th member #enhypen female addition #enhypen addition #kpop female oc #kpop female addition #enhypen imagines #enhypen scenarios #enhypen fluff #enhypen reactions #kpop imagines #kpop scenarios #bts female addition #txt female addition #txt 6th member #le sserafim 6th member #stray kids 9th member #ateez 9th member

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gay-spock · 11 months

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here’s a compilation of why rick berman of star trek fame could have ruined the franchise with his bigotry, thanks to @/thisismewhatevs on twitter:

- rick berman is usually cited by writers as the main reason gay characters were not allowed on screen in TNG/VOY/DS9/ENT even though gene roddenberry specifically wanted gay representation in the 1980s

- notably, he is responsible for demanding female actors be "sexed up" in various ways including jeri ryan's catsuit and padding terry farell's breasts

- when terry farell asked for a reduced contract similar to those of her male costars, she was fired, leading to the sudden death of jadzia dax

- with seven of nine's catsuit, not only was it berman's idea to make her "born sexy yesterday" her original costume pinched her neck so much she kept passing out. rather than change it, berman brought in nurses to administer oxygen between takes

- berman would continually comment on the appearance of female actors to the point that marina sirtis developed an eating disorder. sirtis also mentions how tight her corset and how large her breast padding was under her "uniform"

- berman was left in charge of trek because he was in the right place when roddenberry got sick. He had no experience with scifi previously and didn't really believe in roddenberry's vision of the future:

- In addition to being a dick to denise crosby after pushing her out, he's also the reason for wil wheaton was kicked out for similar contact negotiation as terry farrell

- harry kim was never promoted from ensign since berman hated his actor, garrett wang, according to him

- enterprise was a step backwards in a lot of ways because berman had far more creative control (seasons 1-3) and took a much more hands on writing role. here's t'pol actor jolene blalock discussing his sexualization of her

- as DS9 went on, garak and bashir spent less time together and garak was given zyial as an incredibly gross love interest because andy robinson's portrayal as queer coded made berman uncomfortable

- despite the "equality" promoted on the show, berman hired very few female writers, with less than 30% of episodes having even one female writer during his time

- “Rick Berman is not the only asshole to have worked on Star Trek and he is not the reason for every bad choice from TNG-ENT. However HE WAS the executive producers and show runner in charge of production so much of the sins of that time lie at his feet. When people get confused about how some people seem to "misunderstand" the point of Star Trek and don't know how they can watch/enjoy the "progressive" nature of the show and be such vile sexists and racists, this is how. They let a sexist asshole run the show for three decades. On screen representation is important. It's amazing for people to see themselves in such a hopeful future, but the behind the scenes matters just as much if not more than who is in front of the camera. Representation without responsible storytelling is a tragedy.“ -Deep Space Fine on twitter

this is not to say that TNG/DS9/VOY/ENT are bad shows, or that they shouldn’t be watched, or anything else; but that understanding why these awful choices were made behind the scenes in depicting a “progressive” future. rick berman didn’t agree with this future because he didn’t want others who weren’t white, cis, straight men like him to benefit in the ways he did.

#i wanted this info to be easier to find all-together on tumblr #star trek #rick berman #the next generation #deep space 9 #voyager #enterprise #star trek meta

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greenwitchcrafts · 7 months

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Lavender

Lavandula officinalis

Known as: Elf leaf, nard, nardus & spike

Related plants: A member of the mint family Lamiaceae, there are genus of 47 known species of lavender. It includes well known plants such basil, mint, rosemary, sage, savory, marjoram, oregano, hyssop, thyme, lavender, and perilla, as well as catnip, salvia, bee balm, wild dagga & oriental motherwort.

Parts used: Flowers

Habitat and cultivation: This flowering plant is native to the the Mediterranean

Plant type: Perennial

Region: Most are hardy from Zones 5 to 9 | Spanish Lavender (L. stoechas) is only hardy in Zones 7 to 9.

Harvest: You can harvest all the budding spikes or flowers on your plant during the growing season but avoid cutting into woody growth. Don't want to take more than 1/3 of the plant at this time & limiting your harvest to flowers and buds should keep you within recommended limits. As first frost approaches, snip off woody, leafy stems & branching. You can safely take up to 2/3 of the plant at this time. Harvesting too early can stimulate more growth which you don't want since the lavender is moving into winter dormancy.

Growing tips: To grow lavender successfully it needs well-drained soil, full sun & may be a good idea to check the PH beforehand because soil too acidic may kill off your plants. It survives well in dry conditions, so you'll only have to water when the top 2 inches of soil are dry. Plant lavender in spring, once all chances of frost have passed. This beautiful, fragrant herb is a great addition to raised beds, in-ground gardens, and growing in containers spacing plants 12 to 18 inches apart.

Medicinal information: Taking lavender products by mouth, including teas and a specific oil supplement or inhaling lavender oil as aromatherapy, seem to reduce symptoms of depression & anxiety. Lavender oil is believed to have antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties, which can help to heal & burns & bug bites. Some studies suggest that consuming lavender as a tea can help digestive issues such as vomiting, nausea, intestinal gas, upset stomach, & abdominal swelling. A study published in the Journal of Medical Microbiology found that lavender oil could be effective in combating antifungal-resistant infections. Using it as aromatherapy can also reduce colic symptoms & menstrual cramp pain.

Cautions: Lavender essential oil is possibly safe when inhaled as aromatherapy, but applying products that contain lavender oil to the skin is possibly unsafe for young cis males who haven't reached puberty. The oil seems to have hormone-like effects that could disrupt normal hormones & in some cases, this has resulted in breast growth.

Lavender might cause sleepiness and slowed breathing. Taking lavender with sedative medications might cause breathing problems and/or too much sleepiness.

Lavender might slow down the central nervous system. If used with anesthesia and other medications given during and after surgery, it might slow down the central nervous system too much. Stop using lavender at least 2 weeks before a scheduled surgery.

Magickal properties

Gender: Masculine

Planet: Mercury

Element: Air

Deities: Aradia, Elves, Faeries, Hecate & Saturn

Magickal uses:

• Place in sleep pillows to encourage peaceful sleep

• Wear as a perfume to attract a new love

• Rub on paper when writing love spells or notes for added power

• Add with rosemary to a satchet for preserve chastity

• Scatter around your home to invite protection & purifying energies

• Use in a ritual bath to lighten feelings of depression or sadness

• Wear or use in an amulet to discourage cruelty from a spouse

• Drink lavender tea before bed to aid in astral travel or dream magick

• Burn as an incense for meditation or spirit work

• Use in spells to strengthen friendships

• Purify your ritual candles & tools with a drop of oil to release any negative energies contained within them

• Hang above your door protect against evil spirits , for home blessings & to cleanse all who enter

• Rub the oil on to the base of the skull or temples to help cure the nervous exhaustion that sometimes happens after intensive magickal workings

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arthurtaylorlester · 2 months

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malevolent season 4 was... something, that's for sure

i want to preface this by saying i LOVE malevolent as a show and this is no means an attack on the creator or anything like that, i don't think i'll ever stop listening halfway, no matter how i feel about it. i'm not saying season 4 is all bad either.

it is a deviation for malevolent, though i found it VERY well written up until part 31 (and part 31 is my favourite malevolent episode ever)

s4 started off really strong for me, part 29 set the tone really well, much lighter after s3's emotional lows. the butcher was an interesting enough new villain to put yarson aside for now. part 30 had some charming moments, but the real star of the early season was part 31, a truly incredibly written and directed look into arthur's psychology. it truly gave us everything, from lore to highly comedic moments (to me)(no because why was arthur dreaming of waking up next to a shirtless man who tried to kill him)

parts 32 through 34 i'm not sure about, but i can write them off as awkward mid season points. part 34 was an interesting shift in perspective, but here is where my doubt's about the season's villains started rising

but the oscar & scratch arcs.... guys i'm gonna be honest, i might be oscar's #1 hater

scratch and oscar in this season were functionally useless filler. it's not unusual for arthur and john get sidetracked during their missions, but it usually ends up leading them right where they need to be by the season finale. this felt like a parenthesis that killed any tension created by the butcher.

this season had, quite unnecessarily, 3 antagonists. now this wouldn't be a terrible idea, had they been established before. but no. for some reason it was chosen to leave the only villain we could genuinely be afraid of alone, in favour of introducing not one but two antagonists yet to be established. neither because of this have the adequate fear factor (the butcher is better about this) and both get the most abysmal ends i could've imagines. what do you mean scratch is just gone like that after causing some emotional conflict with his deal. what do you mean the butcher was KOed by the fucking priest with a bedpan? what? that's it? you expect me to be scared or even care about the butcher now?

speaking of the priest. i want to like oscar i really do but. he's a terribly written character. we get to know him while arthur is teaching john intimidation tactics so out of gate our initial impression of him is as someone meek. and then in part 36 after "sorting out" the butcher, oscar just dumps out his trauma point blank to someone he's spoken to a handful of times in the past 3? 4? days.

malevolent in general has a bit of an exposition problem, but it usually works out if it's john expositing because. that's literally all he can do. but when a character with more agency do it, it makes them flat. oscar didn't have to tell us all that, he didn't have a reason. arthur confessing to 7 murders isn't a prompt to make himself vulnerable like that. i did not start caring for him, just because he had a tragic backstory. that's... not how you get someone to care about a character. oscar could be defined as a static character, and while it's not too unusual for a static character to be the focal point of an arc, i don't think it works the way most authors think it does.

also the worms in the farm only happened because of him messing with the stove so like. that's not helping his case.

the completely unnecessary farm arc concluded, we return oscar to the hospital, with arthur caving very quickly to john's demands if he truly cared about oscar so much. and so, a single episode before the finale, we get properly acquainted our main ally for the showdown. a choice definitely, but i feel like this one worked out pretty well considering noel had time to simmer before we got know of his past + he had interesting conflict with john and arthur.

and then there's the big one, the thing that appalls me entirely. leaving larson and yellow, the main villains of the finale COMPLETELY alone until the very end. why? why would you choose to not use them earlier? we spent so much time away from larson, so we weren't really as scared of him as we were at the end of part 28 (i literally was listening to the last 15 minutes of this ep on my toes because i thought he might do something) and we had had no CHANCE to even fear yellow, since we knew nothing of his power?

and what, the butcher is on our side now because noel granted his release? just like that? i know he's a contract killer but arthur insulted him to his face, he can believe they understand each other but did he feel no anger?

the finale did well, considering the context it was given to work with, though i did not understand the point of the memory thing... that didn't go anywhere? because not arthur nor noel actually lost anything. we don't know what the box was for, we only know some guy wrote "the birth of my son" on slip of paper and put it in. arthur assumed it was a memory, when it just as well could've been a literal offering, arthur assumed it would involve losing said memory, and they assumed it was related. initially i thought it would only go through if the ritual took place, which, it didn't. but reading back here is no further clarification on it. hold your angst horses, blindfaith enjoyers

i feel like john physically manifesting, if now an established power of his, was very cheap. unless it was a one-off, or some sort of power up, it just literally took away the main premise of the show. an all-powerful god rendered powerless by being stuck in some guy's mind and being forced to confront the troubles of someone infinitesimal to him. if you let him astral project and save people, then what's the point?

but i do actually think it was a one-off, so we'll see how it goes

simply put, john saving arthur when he jumped in s3 had more impact than this because he did it with a single, human, hand. no magic.

it was pleasant to have kayne and his expected chaos back, jarring as always. john's deal was exactly what we all thought it was going to be, maybe more about himself than arthur, but i don't think anyone can fault him for that.

one things though, and this questions may just be me not remembering, is arthur supposed to know that yellow is a separate entity from john when they realise larson has him in his head? because i remember arthur just assuming that 'yellow' just had all of his memories returned in part 23, and therefore not knowing that he's a separate guy from john.

just in general, i feel like s4 had a LOT of good ideas that weren't given enough room to breathe and therefore weren't written very well that really weighed down my enjoyment of the season. that's not to say there weren't things i liked. the emotional moments hit just as hard, like reconciling with daniel, the comedy was on point (genuinely this season was so funny) and even the most out of pocket thing arthur has ever said, calling john a child, no matter how much discourse it caused, was actually sort of in character for him? i mean arthur is an asshole so like i get why his immediate reaction to his severely emotionally unintelligent friend being possessive is babying him. they're awful people. they deserve each other. it made somewhat sense in retrospect.

all this to say, while i didn't hate s4, i think it had a lot of writing issues, especially when comparing it to the other 3, and it could've been done WAYY better but hey we all have our moments.

i await anxiously intermezzo's public release and the rest of season 5 👀

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gentlebeardsbarngrill · 1 month

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03/14/24 Daily OFMD Recap

TLDR; Cast & Crew; Erroll Shand; Taika; David Jenkins; Save OFMD Crew Theory Thursday; #GLAADforOFMD with AdoptOurCrew; HBO Nonsense; Uproar; Articles; Love Notes; Daily Darby/Tonight's Taika

== Cast & Crew Sightings ==

= Erroll Shand =

In case you needed yet another reason to love Erroll, he was so sweet about all the birthday wishes and he sent a video in response on Instagram.

On top of that, he responds to literally every message he gets with comments and emojis. Just, really sweet of him to do that.

= Taika Waititi =

Apparently doing a lot of product placement lately!

And a "cool video" which can be seen on @fuckyeahworldoftaika

== David Jenkins ==

Chaos Dad poked his head out for a moment to re-tweet @adoptourcrew's #GLAADforOFMD

== Save OFMD Crew #TheoryThursday ==

Wanna throw some theories in? Reach out on any of the @saveofmdcrewmates socials! Instagram

== #GLAADforOFMD ==

In honor of the GLAAD Awards show going on today, our friends at @adoptourcrew were doing a campaign across twitter and IG to find out what you were #GLAADforOFMD for. If you're interested in sending them some notes: Instagram

== HBO Nonsense ==

Reminder: You can Still sign the petition to #FireDavidZaslav, which is still trending at least 3 days in a row now.

== Uproar ==

Our captain's next movie comes out tomorrow in the use Mar 15! It has come to our attention that it's hard to actually get in and see the movie because it's only available in select cities.

The #RhysDarbyFaction has put together a doc on where to find tickets, and if you can't find them, how to help get Uproar in theatres near you with engaging with various theatres.

Also, the easiest thing you can due to help is like and share posts by Blue Fox Entertainment!:

Like and Share Posts by Blue Fox Entertainment Regarding Uproar on the Various Social medias:

Blue Fox Ent Twitter

Blue Fox Ent Instagram

Blue Fox Ent TikTok

Blue Fox Ent Facebook

Blue Fox Ent Youtube

Pic Src: Blue Fox Entertainment's IG

== Watch Party Reminders ==

= Wrecked =

Times will be 10pm GMT / 5pm EST / 4pm CST / 2pm PST. Watch two episodes per day. Episodes are 21-22 minutes each. Use the following Saturday for the tags/watch if interested but not able to make this time.

Hashtags:

#WreckedPirates

#SaveOFMD

#RhysDarbyFaction

= Mar 15: Lube As A Crew =

Our dear friends over at @astroglideofficial are hosting one last Lube As A Crew, with all of Season 2 in one go! Starts Friday March 15th 12 pm Noon PST ( 4pm EST, 8 pm GMT)

Mar 17: Pirate Radio/The Boat That Rocked Watch Party!

Sunday the 17th of March at 7:30pm GMT / 3:30 pm EST / 1:30 pm CST Hosted & Graphics by @Tillychmo

Watch Party Hashtags:

PirateRadio

AdoptOurCrew

SaveOFMD

OurFlagMeansWatchAlong

== Calendar Reminder ==

Tomorrow is #OurFlagRTL! Join @OurFlagRTL on Twitter for Our Flag Means Death 1 x 10 and a Season 2 binge to celebrate the German release!

#OurFlagRTL - 9:30am PST / 12:30pm EST / 4:30pm GMT

== Articles ==

Our Friends at Tv Insider wrote a very awesome quote regarding the cancellation of OFMD while talking about Rhys Darby and his appearance in the new Night Court series.

"Night Court marks Darby’s first TV appearance since Our Flag Means Death ended in October 2023 and was criminally canceled in January. While we’re still grieving that loss, it’s great to see Darby in another romantic and comedic role so soon." https://www.tvinsider.com/1126692/night-court-rhys-darby-dave-foley-duke/

== Love Notes ==

Hey lovelies. I hope you had a reasonably good day. I was a bit out of sorts and if I was weird to anyone I'm really sorry, wasn't anything directed at you. Reminded me very much how we need to be able to forgive ourselves, and even though we can preach one way, actually doing it can be really difficult sometimes, especially in the moment. I'm pretty worn out tonight, so I'll leave you with @thelatestkate's wise words, please always keep on keepin' on. The world wouldn't be the same without you. Love you crew.

== Daily Darby / Tonight's Taika ==

I realize they are different interviews, but they embody the same thing :)

Tonight's Taika Courtesy of @livwifeofkarl

Daily Darby Courtesy of @izzy-hands

#daily ofmd recap #daily ofmd recaps #ofmd daily recap #ofmd daily recaps #ofmd #our flag means death #rhys darby #taika waititi #GLAAD #be a billboard #adopt our crew #save ofmd #save ofmd crewmates #erroll shand #david jenkins #uproar

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