#ghostwriter: :> you’ll see :3

[luciehercndale]

Just to get to know you better I hope you don’t mind indulging some of my questions 🤭

1. Rank your top 7 fav shadowhunter ships and why ?

2. Rank your top 7 fav shadowhunter novels and why ?

3. Top 7 fav head canons post the events of TLH about our favs ?

5. Fav shadowhunter ship to write and why?

6. Which of the four secret novels we r getting for seasons of shadow hunters are you most excited to read and why? (As well as which tier did you order?)

7. Super indulgent and shameless petition/ask- do you think you’ll ever write a long fic starring ghostwriter bc not only will that make me squeal and die of happiness I think it would be terrifyingly amazing to have someone take on TLH ambitious take on a long arc in the form of a long fic! A la downtown abbey style!

That’s all from me! Again, thank you thank you for all you do! Ur so talented xo

Hey there again :) no problem, you can ask me questions! And sorry if I took my time answering but it was a lot of q's haha

Rank your top 7 fav shadowhunter ships and why ?

Oh, this is truly difficult because I'm mostly obsessed with tid&tlh so I'll say thomastair, blackdale and wessa (I also like other ships but perhaps I'm not as obsessed the way I am with them because I prefer the historical side of tsc). Each has a special place in my heart and they make me believe in love and makes me smile like an idiot <3 and I just love that they have in common the love for books. They're all bookish in different ways.

2. Rank your top 7 fav shadowhunter novels and why ?

These are easier to rank :) (also you can tell I love tid/tlh haha)

Clockwork Princess

Chain of Iron

Chain of Thorns

City of Glass

Chain of Gold

Lord of Shadows

Clockwork Angel

3. Top 7 fav head canons post the events of TLH about our favs ?

I think Thomas and Alastair definitely adopt a cat or even more when they have their own house

Matthew teaches Lucie to drive his car and she's good at it (a reckless driver, though lol)

Jesse and Alastair are friends and they bonded over their mutual interest for mundane/political events and critical analysis of books no one seems to know

Will's fashion sense gets weirder as he gets older and Tessa loves to give him little accessories to match his suits

Thomas and Alastair love discovering new music together and sometimes Alastair is inspired to compose new melodies because of this (but he only shares them with Thomas)

Lucie and Jesse go on a trip to the US a few years after canon (and they're married) so she can research for her books. I believe they would really like the New Orleans vibes

All of them surely meet at James and Cordelia's house to play board games and eat together

5. Fav shadowhunter ship to write and why?

This is hard, because I obviously like to write them all, and they are different so there are different sides to explore in each. Maybe I'll say Thomastair because I really like their trope grumpy/sunshine. It's challenging to write :)

6. Which of the four secret novels we r getting for seasons of shadow hunters are you most excited to read and why? (As well as which tier did you order?)

Since we still don't know a lot of the couples, I'm excited for the Wessa story. I really want to see them being all happy and young before they had their kids, and I think Cassandra wrote something cute and fluffy that will make us go awwww!

I couldn't order any tier, sadly 🥲 because of some irl problems. But I hope someone will post some of the stories because I want to read them!

7. Super indulgent and shameless petition/ask- do you think you’ll ever write a long fic starring ghostwriter bc not only will that make me squeal and die of happiness I think it would be terrifyingly amazing to have someone take on TLH ambitious take on a long arc in the form of a long fic! A la downtown abbey style!

I love this idea! And I love Downton, so I'm up for it :) tbh I started a long Ghostwriter fic a few months ago, maybe I could continue that one and incorporate more historical things and such. I already did a sorta outline but I'm soooo slow so I need to organize things before I can post a few chapters of that (I always have too many ideas at once and I need to prioritize lol)

Thank you for this ask and sorry if it took me a few days to answer 💜

#posta #tsc

[creativecourse]

Bow & Arrow Twitter Ghost Writing Course Information Close a client in 30 days. If you don't have a service you'll be good enough to ghostwrite. And if you apply the method and don't get a client in 30 days, your money back. Writing a $3,000 Tweet: What people make in a month, This method makes in a day. The amount of impressions people get on a month, This method gets in a week. Not only on my account, But on 10. Only one downside: It's My Head. If this method doesn’t bring in BIG $$$, it’s my head. Why would someone pay me thousands of dollars to tweet if I couldn't bring more money in return? So I had to find something. Something that could make money, Go viral, And do it fast. Not only for my clients, But for anyone who has put in the work to grow their account for months. Because let’s face it: Twitter takes work. And if you put in the work every day, You deserve to get paid every day. Quick fact: If you make $1,000 a month on Twitter, And spend 3 hours a day on the platform, You’re getting paid $11 an hour. … Let that sink in. Now come back. I’m not gonna let you make $11 an hour. Your time is valuable. You have plenty of skills. And you know these other 3 quick facts: You've written more words than most people will write in their lives. You have access to a multi-millionaire network on Twitter. And you know about online biz than 99% of the world. With what you know, You simply DO NOT deserve to make $11/hour (sometimes less). I've been there. (My first month on Twitter I made $5 total.) And you know what? It sucks. It sucks when people with less followers make more money. It sucks to wonder if you are boring your audience to the point of no return. Or realizing you made less money this month than you did the last. The worst part? The only solution you're given, is a shitty growth guide with stuff you already KNOW. F*ck that. You don't need that. You need something that will actually make you money. If you want to stop being “just another Money Twitter account”, And turn into a respected, RICH one, The secrets behind going viral and writing thousand dollar tweets are guaranteed to help. Introducing, The Bow & Arrow Method A mental add-on to your brain that will turn anything you say into viral tweets and BIG $$$ Whether you use it for Bow & Arrow will give you all three. This isn’t about showing you templates and formats. (although there is a fairly practical section on 25+ wordplay tweets you can implement) What you're about to see, Is the secret behind thousand dollar tweets and going viral whenever you want to. How Does It Work? Bow & Arrow is a philosophy of action: It will show you to write in a way that will make people do what you want them to do: Retweet. Follow. Purchase. You name it. Many people have made money with this method already, And it's easy to see why: It's not based on talent. It's not based on inspiration. It's based on a system that is supposed to be repeated because it just pays very well. I get 100+ likes on my tweets every day. Not only for me, But for my clients and the people who ask me for help. And just so you know: This is not random. It's the magic that comes from ghostwriting. Salesmanship. And copywriting COMBINED. All revealed in a single chamber of secrets: What You’ll Learn In This Course? Pillar #1: CONTENT IDEATION Create Infinite ( & Profitable) Content With A Thought MuseumDouble Your Thinking PowerNote Taking Systems + Thought Grabbing7 EASY Places to Find Content Forever Pillar #2: CONTENT CREATION 18 Ways To Go ViralTurning ideas into cashPlug-In Wordplay Formats You Can Use For Your TweetsWatch me write: Improving tweets from my first month on Twitter Pillar #3: MONEY MAKING How To Learn A Skill (If you don't have one)NEVER make these selling mistakesPositioning yourself as an expertBragging for followsHow to gain undeniable credibility in the TwittersphereWhy hype doesn't work Pillar #4: LAUNCHING A no-stress approach to launchingBuilding in Public (pre-selling your

audience)How to sell people on your product before they even get a chance to buyDissolve objections with contentHow to own the timeline on launch dayKeep your product relevant (and keep it selling every day)Partnering up for BIG results You’re gonna log on Twitter anyway. You have to sell something someday. Why stay stuck where you are, When you can make THOUSANDS of dollars more for just $298? More courses from the same author: JK Molina

[c-tabloid]

ITS PRONOUNCED U-N-VERSE CITY

[INTRO]

Awww, yea. It’s that time to spit those rhymes. Do you think you got what it takes to battle it out with the greats?

My name’s [WHATEVA YOU WANNA BE CALLED] and I will be your host.

You will be competing with some of the hottest lyricists in three rounds.

Each round, you will be given 3 prompts to be used in your verses. You will have to type your verse with the prompts given. But you’ve got to be witty to sway the audience in your favor and claim victory over your opponent.

If you can’t think of anything, use the “Ghostwriter” to help you advance. Be careful, because you can only use the help of the Ghostwriter three times!

After everyone has spit their verse, the audience will decide who wins each segment of the rounds.

When you’ve reached the last round and win, you will go toe-to-toe with the Head Huncho of Rap.

You and the Head Huncho will be given a much tougher prompt to use in your lyrics.

Remember that Ghostwriter I mentioned prior? They will be ghost, so you cannot use them against the Head Huncho!

It’ll be tough, but I know you can handle it.

If you can beat the Head Huncho, will you be crowned the new Head Huncho and gain some shiny Starlites!

Now, are you up for the Challenge? Welcome to U’NVerse City!

—

[DURING GAME]

*Audience Cheering*

Alright, alright. Settle down guys. It’s time for the first round!

Remember the rules I told you. I don’t want to hear any vulgarity or adult language. Keep it PG-13.

Let’s begin the battle!

Here’s the prompt. Use it to the best of your ability. Rhyming is a surefire way to get the crowd jumping. If it’s lame… well get ready for thumping.

—

[AFTER SUBMISSION]

*Audience Cheering*

[SUBMISSION IS CLEARED]

Yeah! I like the sound of that! Let’s see how you’ve compared to your opponent.

[SUBMISSION FAILED]

Aw. You couldn’t come up with something better than that? Let’s see how you fair against your opponent.

—

[NEXT SESSION]

1. Alright. Things are getting good. Let’s see what you can conjure up with your next rap verse. He’s the the next prompt.

2. Sweet! I’m loving this. Let’s see what these guys can come up with next. I’m hearing a collab? On to the next prompt.

3. I’m digging it so far! I wonder how things will let up in this next session. Here’s the next prompt.

—

[NEXT ROUND 2]

*Audience Cheering*

Woohoo! Good job! You’ve made it to the next round. Now you will spar with the next great who may be a bit more advanced in wordplay than the previous. You’ve done great so far, so keep it up! The crowd is loving you! Now, the prompts will be bumped up in difficulty but that’s okay. You’re a natural! It’s time for Round 2.

Next contestant, please reveal yourself.

Aww yeah. It’s about to be fire between these two. Let’s see how this goes. Y’all stay tuned in.

—

[NEXT ROUND 3]

*Audience Cheering*

Man, you’re really good at this, aren’t you? You’ve done made it this far and ain’t letting up! Keep this up and you’ll soon be facing the Head Huncho! Now, let’s get the next opponent over here.

Ayyy, I see you! This one got straight BARS! So you might wanna be on your toes — or not! You’ve made it this far so you shouldn’t sweat it!

Let’s start the match!

—

[FINAL ROUND: HEAD HUNCHO]

*Audience Cheering*

Alright. It’s about that time! You are about to meet the Head Huncho. The star of U’NVerse City. You got what it takes, so I believe in you. Not many can go against them and succeed. You may be the one in a million to have your name plastered on the Hall of Bars!

Now, please, Head Huncho, introduce yourself.

Let’s get this party started!

*Audience Cheering*

—

[PLAYER WINS AGAINST HUNCHO]

*Audience Goes Crazy*

Woohoo! You’ve did it!! You are the MVP! Or should I say… the Head Huncho!

*Audience Cheering*

You’ve successfully out-barred the Head Huncho and rose to stardom! How does it feel? Aww, look at ya blushin’. You had a great journey to this point and now it’s time to award you your title and your precious Starlites. I can’t wait for more of you and your awesome wordplay. You truly are an inspiration. Now, take these and see you on the flip side.

—

[PLAYER LOSES AGAINST HEAD HUNCHO]

You’ve conquered the rest of ‘em but unfortunately you’ve couldn’t conquer the best of ‘em — the Head Huncho that is. But that was to be expected. They are the top dog after all. You’ve gave it your best shot and maybe next time you can outwit the greatest. Since you’ve made it this far, I will award you some nice Starlites for your journey. Until then, come up with some fire bars to take the Head Huncho’s title. Better luck next time, my guy. Now, take these and see you on the flip side.

[guestpostblogs]

The top 7 Benefits of Sports Guest Posting

Guest posting, whether on a sports- or non-sports-related website, can be an incredibly effective tool when used correctly. Before you start pitching your own Sports Guest post, however, it’s important to understand the benefits of guest posting and how they can help you in your career as well as in your personal life. Check out this list of the top 7 benefits of Guest Post on Sports Niche that might surprise you!

1) Traffic on guest post

Sports guest blogging is a great way to drive traffic to your site. By writing Guest Post on Sports Niche other sites, you’ll be able to increase the visibility of your site and get more visitors. Here are benefits of sports guest blogging:

1) Increase Your Site Visibility A sports blog post can help drive more traffic to your website. Visitors will see your name, domain and social media links when they read the post. The more people who visit your site, the higher it will rank in search engines.

2) Get Social Media Attention Sports posts are not only shown on the site you wrote them for but also show up on their social media pages as well as other related accounts like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.

2) SEO (Search Engine Optimization) blog

Guest posts are an excellent way to increase your visibility on the internet. Not only do guest posts get you more traffic, but they also help you build relationships with other bloggers in your niche. Guest blogging is a great way to reach new audiences and bring in new readers to your site. Guest blogging has many benefits, such as  Builds relationships with others in the same niche.

3) Authority in your niche

Guest blogging is an incredibly powerful way to establish yourself as an authority in your niche. Not only does guest posting give you more exposure, but it gives you the opportunity to build relationships with bloggers who are already established in your field. And when it comes to guest posting, there are a lot of great benefits that come from creating and publishing high-quality content for other people’s blogs. Here are the top two:

1) Guest blogging can help you establish yourself as an authority in your field. Not only does guest posting give you more exposure, but it gives you the opportunity to build relationships with bloggers who are already established in your field.

2) It provides a great opportunity for anyone looking to become a professional blogger and build up their portfolio of work.

4) Get paid for blogging

Guest blogging is a great way to share your knowledge and get paid for blogging. It’s also a great way to learn from other bloggers. This guest post does an excellent job at explaining the benefits of guest blogging so that you can make the most out of your next blog post. Plus, it provides you with seven things you didn’t know about sports guest posts which will help you write one!

5) Brand Awareness

Guest blogging is a great way to increase your site’s visibility and build brand awareness. Not only do guest posts offer a great opportunity to rank higher in Google search results, they also expose you to new audiences and allow you to share valuable content with readers. The best part? Guest posts are easy to set up and manage.

You can have one on-staff writer write your guest post or use a guest post service that offers ghostwriting services. Either way, you’ll be able to reach more people and grow your following faster than ever before.

6) Backlinks (inbound links)

Guest posting on websites is a very effective way to get backlinks to your website posts. Here are the Top Seven benefits that guest blogging can bring:

-Guest posts can boost your online traffic

-A blog post by someone else mentioning you or your product might be better than a paid advertisement

-You will reach an audience outside of your own group, which is usually more targeted and more specific -Guest posts often result in backlinks to one's website post(s)

-Your company's name may be mentioned as the publisher of said guest post(s) on other sites, which can help establish credibility. This should produce results similar to those obtained from publishing an advertisement in reputable print publications such as The New York Times.

7) Get more exposure on social media

Guest blogging is an excellent way to get more exposure on social media as well as build your personal brand. The more articles you publish, the higher your chances are for a blogger outreach. This allows you to connect with other bloggers and potentially link back to them from your own blog posts. It’s also a good opportunity for you to learn new things about topics that interest you or even teach people something they didn’t know before!

[cock-mail]

How To Make Money Online As A Beginner (In 15 Days Or Less!)

‍

You're interested in making money online, but you don't know where to start. Making money from home — or anywhere, for that matter — as a newbie can feel overwhelming at first. But with the right information and guidance, it doesn’t have to be that way. Starting a new job is never easy, especially when it's something like making money online that you're not used to doing. It takes patience, diligence and perseverance to stick with something new again and again until you master it. What follows is a step-by-step guide that will teach you how to make money online as a beginner (in 15 days or less!). We'll also show you exactly how we make money from home every single day in this blog post. If you’re eager to learn, read on!

See why people prefer to use this auto-bot to generate an online commission of up $500 per day. (Click Here Watch Video)

Step 1: Find out what type of online job you're interested in.

As the saying goes, "If you don't know where you're going, you'll end up somewhere else." This applies to online money-making as well. First, you need to figure out what type of online job you're interested in. What is the type of online job you're interested in doing? Do you like writing? Do you love social media? Do you prefer surveys or testing out new products? Or do you prefer working remotely and having a more flexible schedule? What are your interests? What do you like to do? What skills do you have? What do you know? What do your hobbies entail? Do you have any special talents or skills that could be useful? Do you want to earn cash, build a brand or do you just want to share your knowledge with others? Do you want to work in a particular field (like health, marketing or finance) or do you want to work as an independent contractor? What kind of hours or schedule do you want to work? Do you want to work from home or at an office? Do you want a steady, full-time income or do you just want to make a little extra cash on the side?

Step 2: Decide on a platform to make money online.

Next, you need to choose a platform to make money online. Once you know what type of work you want to do, you can find a platform that caters to your interests. Here are a few options to get you started: - Writing - Blogging - Copywriting - Ghostwriting - Ebooks/Podcasting - Video/Photography - Social Media/Content Marketing - Affiliate Marketing - Online Coaching - Online Tutoring - Online Classes - Online Translation - Online Surveys - Online Data Entry

Step 3: Build a profile and start networking.

Once you’ve chosen a platform, it’s time to put together a profile that will help you get started. Here are a few things you need to include: - Resume/Bio - Photo/Portfolio - Personal Statement - Links - Social Media - References - Other

Step 4: Find an opportunity that pays — fast.

Now that you’ve got a handle on what you need to do to make money online, it’s time to look for a real opportunity. Here are a few things to consider when choosing a job: - Type of job - Hours - Pay - Platform - Type of work - Location - Availability - Skills needed - Experience needed - Other

See why people prefer to use this auto-bot to generate an online commission of up $500 per day. (Click Here Watch Video)

Step 5: Rinse and repeat

Hopefully, in 15 days or less, you’ve managed to find a job that you like and make money online. Congratulations! If you’ve ended up here, then you’ve done the hard work. Now, it’s time to rinse and repeat. Keep up with the work you’ve chosen, build your profile and network, and you’ll find that it gets easier and easier to make money online as a beginner. With the right tools and resources, and a little bit of patience, you can make money online as a beginner in no time.

#make money now #make money with affiliate marketing #make money online #make money blogging #make money from your phone

[kob131]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3vYbF3_TAk

I tried watching JelloApocolaypse’s video on RWBY again.

... Yeah, just as bad as before.

A. The conflict with the Grimm is not the plot of the story. It’s just the backstory.

B. “Haha look! RWBY added in something at the last minute! Ain;t that stupid?” *looks behind him to see Dragon Ball posters*.

C. “Haha Naruto reference!” Because eye powers are unique to Naruto and this isn’t an overdone cliche.

D. “Hur dur, Weiss hate Ruby!” No she doesn’t. That stopped being a thing by the end of Volume 1.

E. “Weiss loses every fight!” Except for the White Trailer...and V1 E8...and V1 E10...and V2 E4...and V2 E12...and V3 E1...and V3 E11.

F. “BLAKE BLAND!” So is your humor.

G. “FANAUS INCONSISTENT!” And yet you call yourself an animator...

H. “THEY NO EXPLORE SIDE CHARACTERS” *Shows Emerald, Sun and Velvet*

I. “SHOW NO ABOUT CHARACTERS, FIGHTS!’ Yes the fights that even in the early Volumes were used to punctuate character arcs and conflicts...which means it is about the characters.

J. “BUTTMETAL!” ... RWBY uses Rock.

K. “ANIMATION BAD!” Congrats, you said literally the most generic compliant about RWBY ever.

L. “PYRRHA MARKED FOR DEATH!” ... You didn’t even mention her namesake being the origin of the term “Pyrrhic Victory”.

M. “ADAM THE WORST!” ... ... ... That’s it. You didn’t even make a joke about him being a bull Fanaus, you just treated him like a dog.

N. “DUST NOT MAGIC?!” Wow, you’d just die if someone tried explaining the Nasuverse to you huh?

O. “WRITERS FORGOT STOLEN DUST?!” What do you think the bombs had in them to explode? The unmentioned gunpowder?

P. “MAGIC EXIST BUT IT INCONSISTENT!” Since when have we seen people casually throw firebombs everywhere?

Q. “THEY FORGOT!” Yes, your ghostwriters did forget.

R. “WOR HOMEWORK” Wow, don’t let this guy near Tolkien or else his brain will break.

S. “RWBY CHIBI BETTTER!” If by better you shallow and less consistent. To translate this- imagine if someone argued that the first Summer Event used Arturia better than the mainline game in FGO.

T. “PLOT SLOW” So is Berserk’s. Wanna try swinging at that?

U. “MOMMY SALAMI!” This is literally a little kid’s joke.

V. “4 and 5 BAD!” ... Wouldn’t that make it more attractive to smack talk then? If they’re so much worse then why is this 60% Volumes 1-3 and 40% Vague? ... It’s because the bitching becomes inconsistent and impossible to generalize after Volume 3 so you can’t just make generic jokes to pander, isn’t it?

W. “OZPIN MORALLY GREY BUT HE NO DO GREY STUFF!” *sees this is made after Volume 6* Ah huh. Sure. Whatever. I can buy that.

X. “FUNNY MAN SAY BIRD!” Your humor is more shallow than Chibi’s.

Y. “THEY NO ADVANCE PLOT!” I love that this is shoved in with a ‘Wasted potential’ joke because if they picked up the pace, that means less time for that ‘potential’ of yours.

Z. “BUMBLEBY NOT BUILT UP!” 

Me: *remembers the backlash of this part* Ha! The only laugh of the whole video and it was at his misery.

Why is this just not funny? Because comedy is all about sudden subversion. Laughter is a gut reaction to sudden changes to indicate that everything’s fine. It’s why insane laughter is so dissonant. And all Jello says is the same shit you’ve heard before. There is no subversion despite pretending there is. You will see every joke coming and thus you’ll just be bored.

But hey, at least he fucked up mocking a flawed show. It’s not like he completely missed the point of a truly great series. Nope, not once.

[sunnydwrites]

I’ve opened commissions on Ko-Fi!

For those of you who don’t know already, I have a Ko-Fi. I have for a while, but I just found out pretty recently that they have a commissions option! Obviously, I had to take advantage. Here’s what I’m offering:

Advice Post - $3

My blog is mainly based on advice posts, and it’s not uncommon for me to get advice post requests. If there’s one you really want to see, commissioning one means you’ll be at the top of the priority list.

Story - $5

This one starts at $5 for 500 words, but there are add-on options for up to 2,500 words (or more, if you’re interested and we talk about it beforehand). I’ll send you the story and post it to my Tumblr a week later, or as an add-on you can keep the story to yourself. 

These stories can be posted anywhere else, as long as credit is given (unless a ghostwriter situation is worked out and discussed beforehand).

Proofread Edit - $5

Starting at $5 for 500 words and including add-ons for up to 5,000 words, I’ll proofread your work. Proofreading means checking over technical things like grammar, punctuation, spelling, and syntax.

Line Edit - $10

Starting at $10 for up to 1,000 words and including add-ons for up to 10,000 words, I’ll go through and line edit your work. This means I’ll be looking at things like prose, flow, and writing style, and I’ll be giving feedback on both a more line-by-line and on an overall basis.

As you can see, pricing here is a little bit different from item to item; if you have any questions or if I can clear up anything for you, please let me know!

You can commission me here NOW!

#writeblr #ko-fi #commissions #writing commissions #editing help

[ditch-witches]

Insufferable (i) - George MacKay x reader

(PART 2) (PART 3) (PART 4)

requested: yes/no (im so sorry this took so long holy scheisse, there are so many parts too)

Thank you so much to our first Instagram request! @/okay.l0z I had a lot of fun with this and had to channel Ryan and Hannah's angst to help me.

"Hi! I've been reading your fics and I love them so much bc there's hardly any around. I was wondering if you take insta requests and if so can you do one with George and the reader are like enemies to loves and they have really cute moments but then end up fighting all the time and then it escalates and they end up having sEx and then get together or something bc I will THRIVE IF YOU DO!" ... "Is it bad if I want it long ass?"

also I thought about this like,,, a lot,,,

pairing: George MacKay x reader

warnings: slow-burn introduction bAsIcalLy, I think there are swear words?

word count: 2,629

a/n: There are several things to be addressed...

accuracy to George's life is like 0/100 - scratch that, they have the same hair color

think of this as an AU because idk how else to explain it

it's a slow burn. if you need something that isn't, check the next imagine over and give it a reblog.

You put your chin in your hand and furrowed your brows as you listened to the actors in front of you. The bright stage lights kept you at a suffocatingly hot temperature, but at this point, you didn't mind. What your main concern for the scene was simple: your leading actor was George MacKay. You had spent constant, stressful hours trying to convince the director of the show that he was not the choice, yet when it came down to it, what he said went, and you had to deal with the cleaning up. Today was not like any other. An almost two-hour practice, script work, lighting, etc, were all thrown at the actors still attempting to memorize their lines.

But it was this part, in particular, that was becoming the most difficult. Maybe it was because you were the ghostwriter of the script and the director was trampling on all of your ideas and dreams with a man that you could one-hundred-percent deem an enemy. Your lead character, Charlie, had a soft side to him, despite having an overpowering sense of the dangers of the world and a body to match. George wasn't Charlie. George was one of the lost boys from Peter Pan and that's all you could see him as. He needed to grow up and be a pirate with only two motives: breaking the chains of the dystopian government regime keeping him away from his wife and captaining the deadly sea creature infested waters and getting back to his wife in one piece.

But George's motives seemed to be entirely set on getting into his co-star's pants.

His cocky attitude and facade of charm made you want to rip your hair out. Sure, he took his job seriously and had several esteemed colleagues of yours raving about him, but this role wasn't his. It didn't help that you knew him from primary school, of all places, and once he found out, that's all he could bring up around you.

George rolled his sleeves and dragged a hand through his thick, red hair, the veins in his arm becoming rather predominant as he did so. He was damn near playing footsie with the girl in front of him; their flirty gazes bouncing from each other to the crumpled scripts in their hands. You rolled your eyes, feeling as if your team could see the steam rolling off your shoulders. The director was doing nothing, merely smiling giddily at the two tearing the scene to shreds. "Stop," you took the reins, standing up from your position on stage and tossing your script down. You stepped over to the two and the director didn't move an inch. "What are you doing?" You nipped, crossing your arms and stepping between George and his co-star.

He towered over you by miles; you weren't sure if this made him feel the superiority he exuded, but you always made sure to square your shoulders when you talked to him. "What do you mean? We're practicing," he slyly stated, sending a wink over your head to the girl.

You took the script from his hands, flipping a few pages to the scene they were supposed to be working on. He smirked down at you, shifting his weight from one foot to the other as he watched you scan the page. His script was well-loved and worn as if it had been in his back pocket repeatedly, flipped through, folded, torn and taped, highlighted and annotated. You tried not to blush at the notes he had taken as if he had actually cared about his role. Notes such as movements and relative emotions were noted as if they were suggestions. You wet your lips, feeling George's easy-going gaze on you the whole time. "... Charlie, we have to get out of here..." You began, your eyes meeting his deep blue ones.

His face fell into a stern expression, his arms crossing heavily with a furrowed brow. "We've only just got here. I'm shipping out tomorrow. There's no way the Republic-" His Scottish accent was surprisingly thick and consistent. He was settling into Charlie.

"I don't care anymore. I'm tired of sitting idly by and watching you throw yourself away for a debt your brother can't repay." You swore you saw an actual feeling of hurt flash behind his eyes.

He chewed the inside of his cheek. "That debt is just as much mine as it is his. You're asking me to uproot and leave him, you know? I can't leave him."

"You'll die. You'll end up like the rest of the mariners haunting their wives for the rest of eternity. You're a slave." George took a few steps to stand in front of you, he was close enough that you could smell his cologne now: a sweet mix of sandalwood with hints of lavender. He smelled like a summer day spent at a cabin in the middle of a meadow. You hated it, but you wanted to bury yourself in his chest and bask in his scent for the remainder of your days.

He rested a hand on your neck, angling your face towards him as he whispered, "Look at me..." You attempted to ignore the beating of your heart in your ears and the sweat that began to spread across your back. "I'm free. I'm choosing this debt because, without it, he would die. He's the last piece of my father I have left."

You reached for his hand, covering it with your own. "What about me, Charlie? I'm here now. I'm flesh and blood in front of you. What about our child?"

"He'll be here when I get back." He pushed away from you, turning his back on you and settling his hands on his hips. "I'm not changing my mind." He looked over his shoulder at you. "Eden, I have to do this." You closed the script with a raised eyebrow, hiding how impressed you were that he actually knew his lines. The emotion he was conveying was nothing like how he had previously let on. You walked towards him and he turned back around. You pressed the script back into his hands and gave him a small glare.

"Practice how you play. I'm done with wasting time," you said more to the group than just him. The rest of the cast members weren't as proficient in hiding their amusement back as you were. The last thing George needed was another inflate to his ego. You went back to your spot, grabbing your clipboard and flipping over a few pages. The group began to gather around you slightly. "I need Eden and Charlie in with wardrobe now, the rest of you keep practicing your lines. I'll want to hear dialogue from Dane and Jack tomorrow. Give me another forty or so minutes and we'll call it?" The director nodded from the first row of seats. The crowd dispersed but George swam against the current of thespians, approaching you again.

He gave you one of his charming smiles. Be professional, you thought. "I was just wondering how that sounded to you?"

You thought for a moment, drawing the clipboard to your chest. "Yeah, it was good. Your accent's a bit dodgy, but the emotion is good. Why don't we see that during actual rehearsals?" You tilted your head at him and he looked at his shoes slightly, tucking his hands in the pockets of his jeans. Was he pretending to be humble?

"I don't know. I guess I like you more as Eden," he jeered, causing you to roll your eyes and he smiled wider.

"You're insufferable," you muttered, walking past him.

He chuckled. "Don't worry, I'll grow on you."

You scoffed slightly. "Go get fitted for suspenders and leave me alone, MacKay."

The next few days were full of constant rehearsals both in costume and script memorization. You had to admit that for some reason this show had you wrapped in a bundle of tension and anxiety. George slowly tore away at your nerves, becoming his own mess of anger and frustration as he picked up more and more on the fact that you weren't going to take his shit. You were serious about this job and you were serious about this play. His humor had diminished as it had gotten closer and closer to opening night and you weren't surprised when he would snap back at you for making an adjustment to his tone or a note on the delivery of a line.

"Stop being such a bitch!" He groaned, tugging at his hair as you crossed your arms.

"Calm down, primadonna! All I'm saying is quit pacing! Charlie isn't pacing! Where in the script does it say he's pacing-"

"THAT'S RIDICULOUS. IT DOESN'T MATTER." He moved to stand in front of you, his teeth gritting slightly. This was what your discussion had grown into, one hissy fit flaring up the other.

"FUCK, YOU'RE RIGHT. I TOTALLY FORGOT YOU WERE THE ONE IN CHARGE, MR. MACKAY. SHOULD I JUST SUCK YOUR DICK RIGHT NOW SINCE WE'RE ALREADY ADDING IN UNNECESSARY ACTION," you would bite back causing him to glare up at the ceiling with his jaw clenching in a sarcastic smile. He wore your patience thinner than tulle. And you were hoping to be doing the same to him.

On the eve of opening night, a storm broke out over the city. You hadn't received word from your ride at all---a man you had been seeing on and off for a while, but still managed to keep him at enough distance that the two of you weren't official. You glared at your watch, deciding to say fuck it and just walk the five or so miles it was to your apartment. Your rain jacket was already soaked, your umbrella proving to be no help whatsoever. But you persevered knowing full-well that if your character, Eden, were in the situation, she wouldn't have batted an eye before dropping him and his lack of communication. As the water soaked into your boots and chilled you rather quickly, you bit your tongue, regretting not waiting for the bus. Cars past you at rushed paces, wanting to get home to their loved ones if the rain worsened---you figured.

Your heart began to pound as a car pulled up beside you, causing you to wrap your hand around the bottle of mace in your coat pocket. The window rolled down, but you kept walking. "Do you need a ride?" Hollered an almost too familiar voice.

You crossed your arms and continued to walk. "No!" You called back.

The car rolled forward and you heard the driver door open. George stepped out slightly, drawing his jacket up to fight against the biting wind. "Come on! Look at this weather!"

"I'm good! Go home, George!"

He tilted his head at you with a deadpan expression. "Don't make me throw you over my shoulder." You furrowed your brows and rolled your eyes, sliding into the passenger seat of his car and taking down your hood. George watched as you did this. He slipped off his jacket. "Here." He pulled his hoodie over his head. "Take your shirt off. You'll get hypothermia."

"Excuse me?" You nipped.

It was his turn to roll his eyes. "I won't look. You're soaked. Take my damn hoodie." You looked out the front window and then let out a huff. You peeled off your upper layer, no longer giving a fuck if George saw you in your bra. You looked over to him while he leaned his arm against his door, his cheek resting against his fist as he held his hoodie out to you. You pulled the garment over your head and couldn't help but snuggle into it. It was oversized and warm, smelling just like George. Your cold skin seemed to sigh against the soft material and you felt tears prickling at the corners of your eyes at how content you were. George put the car into drive after he had made sure you were taken care of. You slipped your hands into the long sleeves and fought not to dig your nose into the neckline to breathe him in. His scent was like kryptonite to you and you hated it. "Are you hungry?" He asked, looking at you briefly and flipping the heat more to your side. He smiled almost proudly to himself at the sight of you enjoying his hoodie and the safety of his car.

You quickly braided your hair, attempting to combat the wet feeling of it against your neck. "No, I'm fine thanks."

"Come on. My treat? I've been a dick to you all week."

"Fine..." You mumbled. He found a nook of a restaurant jabbed into a part of London you had yet to explore. The rain had finally let up to a drizzle as the two of you made your way inside the softly lit eatery. The two of you tucked into a booth and ordered almost instantly, you now realizing just how hungry you actually were. "What were you doing in that part of town so late?" You finally asked after they brought out a hot tea for him and topped off your coffee. His large hands cradled the steaming mug in front of him, his nose slightly red from the chilly weather outside.

He chuckled slightly. "I forgot my script in the theatre and---for some reason---couldn't stop thinking about it." You nodded hesitantly. "Why were you walking home?"

You shrugged nonchalantly. "Such beautiful weather we're having. Thought I would take an evening stroll," you joked, causing him to chuckle lightly. George's face seemed to glow slightly under the cozy lights of the restaurant, his hair slightly disheveled and damp from the rain. You now got a full sight of the t-shirt he was wearing that commemorated a football team from the graduating year ahead of yours.

There was a beat of silence between you two. "Why..." George tugged his bottom lip between his teeth, attempting to find the right words. You furrowed your brows. "Why do you hate me so much?" If you weren't looking at him, you would have sworn he was smiling behind his question.

"Seriously?"

He nodded. "Seriously."

"You dated my best friend, Sophie, and broke her heart," you answered bluntly.

George sent you a puzzled expression for half a second before grinning slightly. "Yeah, but I was ten."

"Yeah, but now she's twenty-one and we still talk about it," you quipped, taking a sip of your coffee.

He exhaled. "I was... I was ten..." He furrowed his brows. "She was pretty. Hasn't some other guy broken up with her since me?"

You shrugged again. "No, she has this mindset where if she starts getting the feeling that things aren't working, she cuts out."

"She's been dwelling over me for how many years?" He couldn't fight the grin threatening to creep across his face.

You bit the inside of your cheek in thought. "I guess that would be twelve years." He whistled. "We're good at keeping grudges."

"Well, if I ever run into her, I'll apologize." He added a lump of sugar to his tea. "Is that the only reason?"

You debated ripping him a new one, but the tiredness you felt reflected in his eyes. "It's the kick-off point. Why? Do you wanna be buddies now?" You joked, sticking your spoon in your mouth.

He rested his hand in his chin. "Nah," he pursed his lips in thought. You furrowed your eyebrows at his answer, letting a titter escape your lips. "You're too young for me." You laughed a bit harder.

"Age is just a number, baby," you hummed and he smirked at you, a sparkle in his eye.

Comment if you would like to be tagged in the next part! Let us know what you think!

#george mackay #george mackay x reader #george mackay imagines #george #1917 imagines #1917 #imagine #reader insert #george mackay angst #angst #fluff #rain

[animaniachan]

A3! Act 3 Episode 9 Summary

Please read through this note before you start reading the summary!

whhhhew, finally finished episode 9 and THE EMOTIONS ARE ROLLING-😭😭

but ofc being the maniac that i am ive decided to provide a full summary of episode 9 for those who are interested!

Be warned that this is MAJOR STORY SPOILERS so i would recommend you be at least finished act 2 and all the events leading up to it before you read this. Otherwise you’ll probably have a hard time understanding the full context of things.

The last note I want to make is that this won’t be a detail-for-detail summary! I still want to keep things decently vague so people can still have the joy of experiencing the story for themselves while still providing adequate information to clear up any confusions and speculations. This summary will basically be a rough outline of the story that highlights some of the major events that went on. This summary will follow the order of how the episode played out, all the events will be listed in order.

Ofc, if anybody has any specific questions regarding the story that they want clarified or just simply want to discuss episode 9: always feel free to shoot in an ask or dm me! I’m always happy to provide with information and/or rant about these precious boys!

Well, without further ado, here y’all go~~

WARNING: EXTREMELY LONG POST AND MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD~

the new groups of people now are the following:

High schoolers- Yuki/Muku/Azami/Kumon

Yosei University- Juza/Tsuzuru/Tenma/Taichi

Amabi- Kazunari/Banri

Adult group is still adult group~~

Apparently Tenma’s parents decided it would be a good idea to let him attend university so it was decided on the spot that he would be going through exams. He had to get Chikage to tutor to barely scrape by passing bc of how busy he was. Taichi on the other hand....Tsumugi the GOAT-

Omi now works as a professional photographer through a job his friend introduced him to.

Masumi decided to go to Fuyou University which is Tasuku and Tsumugi’s old university to study. Misumi’s brother, Madoka, also studies there. Although Madoka does not look like it, he’s actually 19... I know...

Azami decided to attend the same high school as Kumon which warms my heart honestly bc it just showed how good of friends they’ve become <3~~ Here’s his new uniform look <333

not sure how i feel about the red hoodie but eh, boy can pull it off so it doesn’t matter aha~

Guy is apparently opening up a new Zahra style bar with the help of the winter troupe members such as Homare who introduced him to an interior design company (same company that installed that brick wall in his room orz). Hisoka will also be helping out in Guy’s bar.

The entirety of Reni’s backstory (5 episodes in total) which describe his initial meeting with Yukio during high school to how they built Mankai together was described through the format of portraits (the autumn troupe signature). HIs backstories are basically just narrations of Act 3 1/2 if any of you read that when it was first posted.

Reni’s real name is apparently “Kamikizaka Reiji” and “Reni” is a nickname that Yukio gave him in high school bc Yukio thought that his real name was too hard to write out in kanji and pronounce lolol.

Reni keeps a journal which documents his time with Yukio (basically Act 3 1/2) in a safe in his office.

Kasumi’s nickname back in the day was apparently “Juriko”: stems from “Juliette” and “ko” which is a way to feminize someone’s name in Japanese. This was because he was the crossdresser that had to play Juliette in the OG spring troupe RomiJuri- heh.

 Shifuto is now the new “top” in GOD Troupe after Tasuku and Haruto who got demoted.

FRIEND ANGST BETWEEN AZAMI AND SHIFUTO HNGHHH and that’s all I’m willing to say oop-

GOD Troupe challenged Mankai to an act-off once again and this time appointed Tsumugi as the lead and Tasuku to be in the play and the theme as “devil” and thus...Devil Tsumugi was born.

The company was initially debating on whether to accept the challenge or not but Tsumugi and Taichi desperately wanted to show Reni who they have become as an actor and prove him wrong on all the things he’s said to them. Basically, everyone who was casted for this play had their own reasons on why they wanted to act.

Misumi’s dad’s name is revealed to be “Kusumi” which literally means nine-points/sides and I- top 10 betrayals? I was certain that his name will have something to do with a square but apparently not-

Although it was briefly revealed during Sky Pirates, Misumi’s dad is the official script writer for GOD Troupe. However, it is shown here that he has absolutely no talent in writing so what he does is get Madoka to act as his ghostwriter and write for him.

Hence this birthed Madoka’s complex of wanting to write in his own free will and not under the control of his father. Since everything he writes gets “edited” by his father but everything his father edited gets rejected by Reni and so Madoka has to fix it himself anyways.

Returning to backstory, Reni revealed that Yukio legit went to visit Misumi’s grandpa (Hakkaku) as a senior high school student to ask him for a script. As a note, Hakkaku was already a very famous script writer at that time and age wise he is about what both their dads would be. Ofc he was refused many times but Yukio wouldn’t give up and would not stop pestering Hakkaku until he finally caved in.

Honestly I loved the autumn and winter troupe dynamic throughout this entire episode- just the way they supported Taichi and Tsumugi is just-

Kumon had to act as the mediator between Azami and Shifuto to try and recover their friendship and the entire process was hilarious.

Yukio and Reni were actually Yuzo and Kasumi’s high school seniors at Nanakusa High. Yuzo was the “ghost member” that was only member of drama club in-name only that was mentioned earlier.

NAMIKAWA DAISUKE’S VOICE IN KASUMI- *deaded counter x1* as a tiny side note: i realized half way through that Tezuka (Reni), Sanada (Yuzo), and Ootori (Kasumi) were in the same high school together bc of their seiyuus. This is for my TeniPuri fans out there haha~~

During their last performance in high school, Yukio and Reni got boycotted by the other junior members right before their play. Reni ended up forcing a reluctant Yukio to go at speak act out the monologue Hakkaku provided for them and everybody ended up being overwhelmed by Yukio’s performance.

This is what ended up making Reni dedicate his post high school life creating Mankai with Yukio, he wants to see Yukio act on stage again. He describes Yukio’s acting as “someone who was chosen by God” and even went as far as using his own money his parents gave him when they kicked him out (strict family bs) to build the initial theatre while they both worked part-time. Reni was the one who designed the entire theatre according to Yukio’s wishes to “make it long lasting”. However, Yukio revealed to him that he has no desire to stand on stage again and instead wants to make others “full bloom”, this invoked a sense of betrayal in Reni.

Reni was also the one who recruited Syu, his childhood friend, into the theatre. From there on, Yuzo and Kasumi also joined. Kasumi was revealed to also be garbage at acting at first but Yukio appointed him as lead for their first play nonetheless.

There is apparently some outside force wanting to ruin Mankai as they even went as far as stealing a part of Tsuzuru’s script and provided it to Misumi’s dad who ended up plagiarizing. It is later revealed that Reni had nothing to do with this so it is currently unknown who the main perpetrator is.

 In order to get a better grasp on his devil character, Tsumugi opted to spend one day with each of the other winter troupe members (Homare, Hisoka, and Azuma) individually. This is to get more insight from people who had lived such different lives and accumulated such different experiences. Honestly, one of the most heartwarming moments ever.

MY ANGST MAN IS HERE WITH HIS FIRST APPEARANCE!!! SAKURAI TAKAHIRO’S VOICE OMGGGGG *deaded counter x2*

He met Tsumugi in front of the GOD Theatre and asked him to “save” Reni.

On the day of the performance, Tsumugi and Taichi decided to walk to the theatre. They met Banri and Juza along the way who were planning to do a street act to release some energy. On their way, they ended up being surrounded by numerous punks who were presumably sent by the same outside force who stole Tsuzuru’s script.

The night before the actual performance, the plagiarism was revealed to both sides and both sides were just as much caught off guard by this. Reni, however, refused to change the direction of the play since it was too risky as the performance is the next day. However, Shifuto refused to act out something that is plagiarized since he promised Azami that they would have a “fair fight like men”.

And so, he managed to convince Haruto to use Madoka’s script that he has written for the first time according to free will and changed the entire play in one night. With the help of Haruto’s authority, they managed to do it in time. (I’ve failed to mention this until now but these three has been building up chemistry all through out this episode and im so down for them tbh)

Banri told Juza to take Tsumugi and Taichi and go ahead while he stays behind to try and buy some time alone against all the men. Just when Banri was in a tight spot due to power in number...

BAM THIS OLD MAN COMES IN AND SAVES THE DAY!! by now y’all already know... YASUMOTO HIROKI’S VOICE HAAAAAAAAAH *deaded counter x3*

After Banri revealed to Zen that he was autumn troupe leader of Mankai, Zen gave him a card of his restaurant, “Gentiana” and promised to treat them to a meal there afterwards.

Costume reveal for GOD Troupe. Honestly, I love the chemistry that was built throughout this episode between Shifuto, Haruto, and Madoka. Haruto really did give out redeeming qualities and i don’t dislike him as much as before aha (even tho he is still a snob) and I acknowledge him as a character. Madoka’s script consisted of two characters and basically talks about two estranged brothers (his way of writing down his guilt for towards Misumi)

Costume reveal for Mankai as many of you probably have seen already- devil tsumugi and sexy tasuku is just-

 In terms of actual in-game plays, this was the second play that I’ve actually cried at, the first being Clockwork. Super emotional and well-written play and certainly it draws a lot of parallels to Sympathy for the Angel.

SAME RENI...JUST-SAME. TT

After the performances...i won’t reveal who won and by how much but Reni did officially apologize for all his past actions as he was reminded of his passion for acting through this play. Izumi thought this too but it is hard to 100% forgive him bc of the pain he’s brought on all the members.

He revealed why he quit Mankai, it was bc he and Yukio had become so divided that if he had stayed, the entire balance of Mankai would fall to ruins. He actually came to the conclusion to leave after being trapped in the time loop with Yukio for about three days aha~

Reni decided to create GOD Troupe bc he wanted them to win the Fleur Awards first and crush Mankai, that way, he may have the chance one day to accepted a lost Yukio in his troupe as an actor and not a director (obsessed much my dude??)

The last part of the episode is Reni wanting to talk to Izumi about the Ikaruga family and being invited to Mankai Dorms as a result. There he reminisced the days with the OGs before we are left with a cliffhanger-

Even though he only talked for two lines but ONO DAISUUUUKE~~~ *deaded counter x4*

The very last scenes showcased how the OGs are starting to come back together as they will be getting involved with the new Mankai members.

THIS OLD MAN LEGIT WENT AND HELPED THEM PICK CABBAGE I-

LOOK AT THIS EXPRESSION HE IS SO PRECIOUS-

~❀❀❀~

that concludes the rough summary of episode 9! i...this was an ordeal to get through aha and sorry for it ended up being such a long post...It was inevitable bc this episode consisted of 39 chapters. 

Honestly im so dead by the end of this that i didnt have the heart to check for any grammar mistakes so there’re probably quite a few that i ask you kindly to just ignore~ 🥺🥺

now, time to dig a hole and cry until episode 10 comes out...☠️😇😭

#BigDead.jpg #ill record my funeral #SO MANY EMOTIONS I- #THIS WAS SUCH A GOOD EP THO~~ #yona translates #a3! #a3! translation #a3! game #act! addict! actors! #act addict actors #japanese voice actors #japanese version #act 3 #act 3 spoilers #a3! tsumugi #a3! azami #a3! taichi #a3! tasuku #hinamori kasumi #hyuga hiro #kuryu zen #otomiya syu

[alcego-writes]

The 3 Act, 9 Block, 27 Chapter Plotting Method

There are countless ways to structure your story. There’s the general plot structure (exposition, rising action, etc.), the hero’s journey, and three-act structures—but do you really know how to put together a plot and put it into action?

The 3 Act, 9 Block, 27 Chapter plotting method is an excellent resource for both plot and pacing, and I use it for almost all of my projects. I’ll review it here and give you an idea of what it is, when to use it, and how to put it into action.

What is the 3 Act, 9 Block, 27 Chapter Method?

The 3 Act, 9 Block, 27 Chapter outline method is exactly what it sounds like: there are three acts, which are divided into nine blocks, which are then divided into twenty-seven chapters. Be Your Own Mentor has an excellent page describing each block and its subdivisions here. I strongly recommend checking out this page, as it explains each aspect of this plotting method in detail.

However, this outlining method does more than just suggest where to put plot-points—it’s also a guide for pacing. Each block should be roughly the same length, which helps prevent your story from getting a sagging middle. This relatively uniform length also allows you to set word-count goals for each section, particularly if you’re aiming for a specific word-count in a project.

For example, in an 18,000-word novella, each act (which I split up evenly—some people prefer to have the second act span from the first plot twist to the second plot twist) should be roughly 6,000 words. With three blocks in each act, this means that each block should be roughly 2,000 words. This allows me to keep an eye on how much I’ve written and adjust my scenes/pacing accordingly.

When to Use the 3 Act, 9 Block, 27 Chapter Method

First of all, this is most useful when you need to fast-draft a clean, tight, and effective story. I use it for all of my ghostwriting work, as it is simple, straightforward, and allows me to both discover and understand my story (and what I’ll need to pull it off) while outlining.

That’s not to say that this method is ill-suited to other projects. It’s actually quite versatile (I’ve gone so far as to merge it with the formulaic structure of mystery novels) and simple to use, once you understand it. Even if you’re a discovery writer, it can be really helpful to keep an eye on this chart and make sure you’re hitting all the beats you need to, and that you’re moving your story forward instead of stalling.

That said, it can be less useful for short fiction. Short stories tend to follow a different structure altogether, with many focusing on a specific scene or mood-related to their premise (although I have, on occasion, seen short stories with full plots), so having a beat-sheet or three-act outline won’t necessarily work for you. Now, you can absolutely take parts of the 3 Act, 9 Block, 27 Chapter outline and focus on, say, only Act II or Block 4 for the duration of the short story—because, as I said before, this is a really versatile tool. Play around with it and see what works for you!

Basically: if you need to know the beginning, middle, and end of your story; need a simple beat-sheet for your project; or even just want to familiarize yourself with the generalized structure of a long-form story, this is a great resource.

Key Terms

While BYOM does an excellent job explaining the gist of the 3 Act, 9 Block, 27 Chapter outline, there are a few things that may still be confusing if you’re not 100% familiar with all the fancy plot-terms involved. So, before I dive into how to use the 3 Act, 9 Block, 27 Chapter plot structure, I’m going to clarify a few terms that may cause confusion.

Plot Point - You’ve probably heard of them, but I promise they don’t have to be as dramatic as popular media would have you believe. There’s no need for a surprise! The character was dead all along! if it won’t suit your story. Still, plot twists make for a good story. They keep things fresh and interesting. And, this is important, they don’t have to come out of left field. For example, in romance stories, a plot twist could be something like a plot point the main character forgot about coming back to influence their story, or a revelation of an important character’s backstory, secrets, or other important traits. What I’m trying to say is that these should be Big Moments of your story, but they don’t need to be world-shattering. They should feel natural and rewarding to your story’s premise. These should occur at roughly the 25% and 75% mark of your story.

Midpoint - Strictly speaking, this is the middle of the story. It marks a change in your protagonist: where they were reactive in the first half, they become proactive here. They’ve learned about the new world/situation they’re in, and it’s time for their character arc to impact their choices going forward.

Reversal - Here, both the readers and the protagonist see something in a whole new light. This may be caused by a change in circumstances (in a thriller, for example, this may be a trusted ally betraying the protagonist) or by the protagonist’s new perspective shifting the way both they and the readers see the events of the story. To put it simply, this is where something known changes form. A friend turned foe, a job gone wrong, and even a sudden realization that demands the protagonist’s attention all work. This should occur after the midpoint, where the protagonist has changed.

Reaction - You’ll notice that this appears twice in the 3 Act, 9 Block, 27 Chapter structure, and the ambiguous nature of the term may be confusing for some folks. The Reaction is not so much your protagonist’s response to everything that’s happened thus far so much as it’s their reaction to the plot point that occurred immediately before it. How does the protagonist react to the inciting incident (and its immediate consequences…)? How does the Reversal affect their behavior? These are the questions you’re answering at this point in the story.

Action - While the first half of the structure is mostly reactionary, there’s no getting around the fact that a reactionary plot can be boring, even annoying. This is where you show how your protagonist acts under pressure; something Big has just happened to them, and now they need to decide how to proceed with their life. Do they run, or do they charge into conflict? This defines your protagonist at the early points of their arc and serves to contrast their eventual development in Trials and Dedication.

How to Use the 3 Act, 9 Block, 27 Chapter Method

If you haven’t already, I recommend taking a look at BYOM’s break-down of each block. It’s a very useful guide and will give you an idea of how each point ties into the next.

Ready? When outlining, I keep a “skeleton outline” on hand that looks like this:

This “skeleton” allows me to keep track of everything while I put together a plot in another document that will get far messier and harder to keep track of than the clean, easy-to-read skeleton. In the functional outline, I usually mark my actual outlines with the block numbers and goals, as seen in the second image, but that’s largely due to how I structure my Scrivener document after I’ve completed the outline.

After I’ve set up my outline and have my “skeleton outline” (combined with any genre formulas, as with mystery) ready to go, I begin writing the plot. This usually takes me 1-2 days, depending on my current work-load and productivity levels.

As you can see, I’ve blended a few points together (such as in Block 4, where there’s a lot of overlap in the block’s structure) and added several notes to myself while filling out what happens at each point. You’ll also notice that I write more the further I get through the outline—this is partially because I’m getting familiar with the story, and thus have more to say, and partly because there’s more to keep track of as I get further through the plot. (Including b-plots, which I also make note of in this outline.)

The goal here isn’t to map out everything that happens so much as it is to give me an idea of what I want to be doing in each part of my project. At the beginning, I need to focus on the romance, but in Act II I’ll pay more attention to the b-plot. I often jump around on the outline as I figure things out (such as plot twists, as knowing what these are in advance makes it easier to build them up) and add notes regarding characters I need to create, places I need to have descriptions for, and other project-relevant details.

From there, I set up my Scrivener document. As you can see, I combine and separate each aspect of the blocks as I see fit; the ‘27 Chapters’ is more of a guideline than anything else. When working on a project with chapters, I’ll label each scene with the chapter it will go into, but I don’t sort them into chapters until I’m done writing.

You’ll also see that I write a schedule for myself based on a) how much I need to write, b) when I need it done by, and c) how much I’m able to take on. This is my job, so my schedule is tighter than it would be for someone doing this in their spare time. And, while having a schedule is by no means required, it helps when it comes to managing your project and working to its end. I use highlights, labels, and status markers to keep track of my work and let myself know where I am and where I need to be.

Outlining is a really personal thing, as you’re not just putting together the structure for your story—you’re putting it together in a way that makes sense to you. With the exception of clients who request outlines, no one except for me will ever see this outline. Ultimately, the outline is yours, and yours alone.

Find my blog useful? Leave a comment or check out my Patreon for early-access and extra content! Thanks for reading, and happy writing!

#Plot #Outlines #Writing Advice #hgwhhsj i forgot i’d scheduled tis to post here from my website #but it’s here!

[pandemicthestory]

1: introduced

The love story of a teenage girl trapped inside during the end of the world. Daily chapters during the coronavirus pandemic. 

Neon orange nails tap at a laptop, chatting with someone across the internet. This manicure is fresh, except no one has left their house in weeks, so we know she did it herself. 

ADMIN_E: just sent your essay back. Gonna be 300 bc of the works cited 

GUEST48: oh come on 

ADMIN_E: i need the money, and you have more money than you need

GUEST48: ugh pls just tell me this is gonna get me an A in AP US history, i need this grade to get into duke 

ADMIN_E: lol, you’re actually worried about getting into college?

GUEST48: uh yeah, aren’t u?

ADMIN_E: Sweetie the world is ending. Who the fuck cares

*buzz* 

She looks away from the computer and down at her cracked iPhone 7. Another thing she’d like the cash to upgrade. The bigger issue: it’s basically impossible to scam in peace with her group chat constantly blowing up. But what are your best friends for, if not to provide human contact during an infinite quarantine? 

Madison is a self-proclaimed burnout, who used to be the carefree athletic type until a soccer injury sent her spiraling into an emo-grunge moment. Zoe is probably going to run for president and also be a doctor at the same time, unless her weird senior boyfriend convinces her to leave on a weed farm (which he would totally do, wow Gabriel sucks). And Olivia is sort of the one who keeps everyone together, obsessed with being a friend. She’s the one who religiously decorates your locker on your birthday even if you insist that it’s not necessary and that actually you’d prefer if she didn’t because it’s embarrassing. That’s Olivia.

MADISON: holy shit did u hear 

OLIVIA: I was just about to text you guys. My mom just told me. R u ok?? 

ZOE: wait what’s going on?? wtf tell me rn !! 

*knock knock*

The bedroom door opens without waiting for an answer.

“Emma?”

Emma Bradford, a skinny 16-year-old wearing an oversized hoodie and boxers, slams her laptop shut with way too much force. Hopefully it isn’t broken, she’d have to find a different way to cheat the school system for money. 

“Mom, what happened to our deal? If we’re going to be stuck at home together, you have to pretend I’m AT school. As in don’t speak to me before 3:25 PM.”

“You can’t say I didn’t knock. I knocked.” 

“It’s not about knocking, it’s about--wait why are we even having a conversation? See you at dinner. Or not. Just go please.” 

Emma jams in her air pods and pulls up her hoodie over her head so you can’t see the top of her face. She’s used to hiding her identity, and even in quarantine, old habits die hard or whatever.

Mom sighs, she doesn’t want to be here either. Out of all her kids, Emma is the truly difficult one. The smart one who uses her brain for all the wrong reasons. And wow those nails are intense. Traffic cones. Kids these days. 

“I just came to tell you that...well we just got a phone call from the school district. It looks like classes are going to be canceled for the rest of the year. Zoom classes too. Everything. I’m sorry.”

Emma’s stomach drops. Canceled? Like, wait, canceled? Canceled. But...how will she earn hundreds of dollars doing writing assignments for her fellow dumbasses?

“Seriously? How is that possible?! Don’t I need like, an education and shit?”

“Government spending is affecting everyone in strange ways right now. And wait a second, I thought you’d be happy. You always tell me how much you hate high school.”

Mom raises an eyebrow. Emma hates that. If her mom starts digging around in her personal life again, she’s going to find some weird shit. Not just forged essays, but, well, let’s just leave that all buried for now. 

“I do hate school. And I don’t care if I never go back. But I do need some boundaries, so please get out.”

Her Mom closes the door. We can’t see, but that eyebrow is definitely still raised. Something’s up with Emma. Her mom just has no idea of what it is, or how big it’s about to get.

Emma examines the group chat, having missed over 80 texts since she last checked it five minutes ago. 

EMMA: i don’t have time to read all that but, school, right?

ZOE: How can this happen? I already have a prom dress and it was final sale!!

MADISON: u don’t HAVE to go to prom this year zo- when gabriel goes to school next year u guys will prob break up anyway and then you’ll be free to go to like 10 more proms w guys who haven’t been arrested

ZOE: He was not actually arrested and we are doing long distance we already discussed it! 

MADISON: you don’t think they’ll cancel prom do you? if i have to do prom over zoom i’m legit done 

EMMA: So, prom is what you’re all worried about?

A brief pause. 

OLIVIA: Well what are you worried about Em? Or aren’t you

EMMA: Oh well idk. I mean i’m not that worried

EMMA: I just mean like it could be worse

As soon as Emma sends this, she doesn’t know if she actually believes it. She doesn’t know what’s coming. 

ZOE: Sure, I guess...

MADISON: UR BEING RLY WEIRD EM 

EMMA: Ah you’re right sorry, it’s just a weird time. I love u guys btw 

Everyone sends their signature heart emoji. Zoe: pink with sparkles. Olivia: yellow. Madison: small red with red dot underneath. And Emma sends the black heart, because she really needs to start acting like her normal self as people are getting suspicious. Her best friends know almost everything about her. Almost. They don’t know about what she’s doing on the side, or what she plans to do with the money. 

Emma takes a deep breath and reopens the laptop. No school is going to be a problem. No school, no assignments, no college applications, which means: no income. And no income means no leaving...no running off with...him. 

Him, the eternal problem. Him who won’t get out of her head no matter how much she curses the day he was born. Him from that other school that’s annoyingly far yet still too close for her own good. Him who knows her favorite candle scent. Him who rests his hand in the space between her hip bone and her belly button. Him who lied. Him who was forgiven. 

Him. 

She stares at the interface of her ghostwriter page on the screen. This was good while it lasted. She’ll just need a new plan to get to Him. 

Emma is about to shut the computer when: 

*Ping* 

New Assignment.

What? Every student at Harrison Ford High School got the same announcement today that she did. School’s canceled. No more class, no more losing sleep over getting into Duke. What a random life goal. 

Seriously, what the hell could this be?

Emma clicks the link to open the new assignment, to learn that it isn’t a new assignment at all. It’s a drawing?  

Circular lines, deflated shapes encircling each other. Like oil in water. The picture could almost be, well it looks somewhat like...a map. Holy shit, this is a map.

The lines of the map are messy and hand drawn. As if someone made this in a rush. Or maybe they were confused about where the path leads. But underneath the twists and turns, there’s a note: 

before you run away, come find me

#writers #writer #writers on tumblr #my writing #short fiction #story #pandemic #coronavirus

[kuiqejw]

MXTX interview(3)

After scanning through this review by @bigbadredpanda,  I got inspired to do a translation of the scum villain / tian guan ci fu parts of this interview. Bear in mind that I have yet to read other interviews and stalk MXTX’s weibo, so I may be unaware of other perks.

The first part of the interview is here. I had accidentally posted it to my main blog.

Those that @sakhyu and bcnovels have yet to translate would be spoiler tagged. 4 are spoiler-tagged, don’t bother unless you’ve read beyond the HOB Wind Master Arc.

Q21. [SPOILER] 花城小时候为什么绑着绷带？为何掉下城楼？他为何总是被人欺负又体质非常好？(Why did Hua Cheng have bandages when he was younger? Why did he fall off the city wall? Why was he healthy even though he was beaten up by other people?)

[SPOILER]被打的，他右眼是红瞳，别人觉得很恐怖，脸上很多伤也要遮一下；

有一天他被打得受不了了想自杀，而且他是个戾气很重的凶小孩，听说马上要到祭天游，如果出了事整个国家都要遭殃，特地挑了这一天准备毁掉祭天游，总之就是“老子不幸，老子要你整个国家都陪葬”，这样。结果爬上去第一眼看见未来老婆看傻了，忘了自杀。但是因为太想看清楚一点了，太想靠近了，所以不小心掉了下来。

他就是生命力很顽强啊！跟谢怜一样顽强，百打不死，永远能留着最后一口气，爬起来逆天逆袭。

It was because he was beaten up. His right eye had a red pupil, others thought it was scary, and even though he was beaten up, he still had to hide it.

There was one day, he could not take the beatings any longer and wanted to commit suicide, and despair drooped around him. One day, he heard that there was about to be a festival. If there was an incident, the kingdom would fall into ruin, so he chose this day to wreck the festival. It was a feeling of “Since I’m so unlucky, I want everyone to die along with me”/”I’m taking down everyone with me”. Thus, when he went up to take a look at his future wife, he was stunned and forgot about his suicide attempt. But because he wanted to look a bit closer, he toppled over the city wall.

He’s a tough person to kill! Like Xie Lian, he’s stubborn, and can’t be killed so easily. When he crawls up from despair, it’s akin to having one last breath to wreck everything else behind him!

T/N: Everything is angst about this. Everything!

Q22. 花城为什么对自己颜值没有信心？(Why wasn’t Hua Cheng confident about his own looks?)

因为小时候总被人说丑、怪物，形成了根深蒂固的“我很丑”的印象。后来才慢慢开始怀疑自己“可能长得不错”。但是在最喜欢的人面前，还是会下意识自卑，偶尔又会悄悄怀疑自己是不是丑八怪。

Because he was often criticized as being ugly, or a monster, it deeply implanted a ‘I’m very ugly’ outlook in his mind. He only started to question his looks, but when in front of the person he likes the most, he would still doubt himself, and start to question if he really is as ugly as he thought.

T/N: Your prince doesn’t think so.

Q23. [SPOILER]慕情把花城赶出军营时到底说了什么？(Why did Mu Qing chase him out of the military?)

慕情讲话不就那个样子嘛（。你这种小鬼对太子殿下根本没用，只会拖他的后腿，军队里不需要你这种废物，你不要以为你真的有天赋！之类的。而且因为在军队里这样的少年死亡率的确很高，所以慕情觉得自己赶他出去也有一点没错。

[SPOILER]Mu Qing’s manner of speech is always like this: You’re of no use to his Imperial Highness, you’ll only be a burden on him! The army doesn’t need trash like you, don’t think you have that much talent!

Because young people like the mortal Hua Cheng had a high mortality rate, Mu Qing thought that he did nothing wrong in chasing him out.

T/N: Faced with that, I think I can understand Mu Qing a little more...

Q24. 谢怜为何给自己取“花”姓？(Why did Xie Lian give himself the surname Hua in Halfmoon Kingdom?)

因为他喜欢花，还曾被称为“花冠武神”。以及，在最初的设定中，谢怜被贬时去做过花神，掌花开花谢。

It’s because he likes flowers, and he was often titled the Martial God Crowned with Flowers. Also, in the initial plan, when he was banished, he became a flower god, determining the flowering and wilting of flowers.

Q25. [SPOILER]师青玄是凡人了吗？手脚能恢复吗？如果死后轮回还会是烂命吗？师无渡是不是真的凉了？黑水拿走水师的头做什么？黑水岛上他最后和师青玄说了什么？(Is Shi Qingxuan a mortal? Can his limbs recover? When he reincarnates, will his luck change? Did Shi Wudu freeze? What did Hei Shui do with his head? What were Hei Shui’s final words to Shi Qingxuan?)

[SPOILER] 是凡人。不能恢复，他也不想恢复。天官没有轮回设定。15°凉了。头拿去当祭品。一个字都没说，因为师青玄当时呆滞了，说了也听不懂。

He’s a mortal. He can’t recover, and he doesn’t want to recover. There are no reincarnations for Heavenly Officials. 15 degrees frozen. [This is a pun Shi Wu being a direct homophone for fifteen]  Water Master’s head was taken for offerings to the dead. Because Shi Qingxuan was paralysed, even if something was said to him, he wouldn’t understand.

T/N: Press F to pay respects.

Q26. 对于《天官赐福》创作期间剧情结构的争议有什么想法？(What were the thoughts you had about the plot and resulting debates of HOB?)

T/N: This is really long. Hold your horses!

这个其实我很早写过相关的，有的放在JJ的作者有话说里了，有的本来想放在后记，但想了想还是没有放，正好趁这个机会整理一下，一起发出来。

Actually, I had written something similar to my thoughts on this. Some have been placed in the author’s notes (on JJWXC, the original website HOB was posted to), some I wanted to record down but didn’t after thinking, so I’ll take this opportunity to tidy up a bit and air my thoughts.)

讲实话，还是有点无语的，我感觉没有哪个别的作者会有我这种争议。一个作者几本你爱看几本你不爱看，这不是很正常的事么，我喜欢的作者（非耽美）我也不是本本都喜欢的。世界级的大师也不可能保证本本都是世界级名著吧（当然我这不是在脸大自比世界级大师，预警一下不要断章取义）。所以不太理解为啥有人会一本不喜欢就翻脸转黑，或者居然说怀疑我有团队代笔之类的。

To say the truth, I’m still a bit speechless about this. I feel that other authors wouldn’t have as much difficulty about the debates as I did. There are some books that you like and some you don’t from the same author, this is pretty normal. There’s this author I like ( 非耽美  ), and I don’t like every single book she has written. There is no author in the world that can be assured that every book they have written will become a bestseller (I’m not comparing myself with these authors, please don’t quote me to your liking!) So I can’t understand why some people object once they read a book that they don’t like, or even say that I have a team of ghostwriters.

但我发现争议永远都会有。在JJ，只要不是软萌甜文，评论区多半都有点乌云。至今记得我收到第一个负分，就是渣反刚入V时，有个妹子骂冰妹渣攻去死吧（。当时为攻渣不渣吵了几个话题楼，放到今天来看这种规模简直是小猫挠爪子，但当时比较没见识，真的被吓住了。魔道连载初期，我收到的第一个扎心的评论大概是这样的：“你已经耗尽了我的耐心，我不想再容忍你的回忆杀了”，那个时候我才在写第一段云深不知处求学，我心想妹子你这就容忍不了了，那后面你怎么办啊！也有人坦言“感觉大大你这本没什么意思哦，我还是比较喜欢渣反”，这种评论我看了不舒服，但我也不会说什么。到后期评论区人多了，乌云也多了，兵荒马乱，前面那点都觉得没啥了。也是从这里，开始养成了我说不看评论区就不看评论区的好习惯。

But I discovered that there would always be debates. On JJWXC, as long as it’s not a sweet fluffy story, there will always be some clouds hanging over. At least when I remember the first criticism, that is when Scum Villain was first published, there was a fan who told Luo Binghe to go die.

At that time, I wasn’t as mature, so I was really shocked. When GDC/MoDaoZuShi was being published, I received a heart wrenching criticism that went like this: “You’ve already exhausted my patience, I can’t stand all of these flashbacks!” This was when I had just written the first part of the time at Cloud Recesses, when they were all studying together. I was thinking: if you can’t stand this, then how are you going to stand it later?

There was also someone who wrote: “Big sis, this book doesn’t have much meaning, I still prefer Scum Villain!” These reviews are discomforting to me, but I won’t say anything. At the end, there were more people in the debate, more clouds over this novel, it was chaos, I was eventually numb to this. So at this point, I started having the habit of not reading the debates in the reviews corner.

所以你看，其实争议从来没有停止。永远有人不满。以前的争议现在淡去了，就给人一种“从来没有过争议”的错觉。就像总有人喜欢缅怀过去的时光如何美好，时间会加一层滤镜。

So you see, debates have never stopped. There will always be people who are unsatisfied. Previous debates that have become less intense, it gives the feeling that “there has never been a debate”. Like some who think that the past is better, time would give a nostalgic feeling.

写作中出现的困难有什么大不了的，没作者敢说自己写作过程中不会出现困难吧。但是有的作者很聪明，会扬长避短，就写自己最拿手的。这当然很厉害，不过我觉得，还是要不时走出舒适区试探一下的。

No author has dared to say that they have never come across trouble in writing, but there’s nothing wrong in troubles. But there are some authors who are smart, who would write what they are good at. This is very powerful, but I feel that there has to be some attempts at going out of your comfort zone.

既然是探索，就不能保证每一步都走得稳。如果我摔倒了，我自己会爬起来。不能说因为我会摔倒，就不让我走这一步，非逼我另一条路，或者要夺走我自己走路的权力。

Since it’s an investigation, so you can’t be sure that every step you take would be safe. If I fall, I would climb up myself. I can’t say that because I’ll fall, I won’t take this step, I need to take another route, or make this cautious step prevent me from walking on my own.

如果实在不喜欢，其实放手就好，我一贯是希望好聚好散。但有的读者比较奇怪，一定要一边不喜欢，一边逼迫自己读，一边发泄负能量，这何必呢。毕竟，你不喜欢，有别的读者是会真心喜欢的。这样你自己也不舒服，其他读者也不舒服，还会引发掐架，这个时候我就很尴尬。因为人捍卫自己喜欢的东西是人之常情，我不能说拦着读者们不让他们保护自己喜欢的。我很明白自己喜欢的东西被人攻击会有多难过气愤，我心疼这些读者。

If I really don’t like this, letting go is always good. I hope that everyone will break up peacefully. But some readers are a bit strange, they don’t like what they read, they will force themselves to read while complaining about it and wasting their effort. Why do this? You may not like it, but there are other readers who love it. So you will not feel comfortable, so will others, and you get into a fight and I feel embarrassed about it!

People feel protective about what they love, this is perfectly normal and I can’t prevent readers from being protective. I perfectly understand the rage some feel when what they like is being attacked, and thus I worry about it.

可我也尊重读者发表评论的权利，所以对于很多不怎么友好的评论，我从来不会去反驳争辩（除非恶意造谣），有读者反应过激，我还会去劝阻。

However, I respect other readers with their right to disagree, so in debates that turn sour, I will not intervene (unless it’s to stamp a rumor) and I will try to allay those whose reactions are too energetic.

不过这里我还想说说，我可以无视负面评价，但我并不太喜欢所谓的“建议”。

为什么呢，因为写文这事，没写过的人真的就只是纸上谈兵。就像教人写作文，建议人家“用词生动，结构精美”，教人做数学题，建议人家要“举一反三，细心计算”。听上去都没错对吧？但这些都是太笼统抽象的东西，所有人都知道，太空泛了。真的要做到，只有一个办法：自己写。

I would like to speak up about “suggestions”. Why?  Because those who have not written before are only good at talking. Like teaching someone how to write a composition, you say to use phrases to invoke feeling and paragraphing to structure your essay. When you answer mathematical questions, the suggestion is to think of alternative methods and be methodical in your working. It sounds good, right? But these are too vague, the space for error is still too wide. If you really want to do it, I have only one suggestion: write it yourself.

而如果“建议”太具体了，比如“这个地方他说话用词应该文雅一点”“这个��方他应该同情而不是漠视”“全部用排比句看起来比较有文采”，这就越界了。

写文是很私人的事，一篇文有无数个读者，但只能有一个作者。大家是看来看作者写文的，不是来看一个傀儡写文的。每个读者心里或多或少都有自己想要看到的东西，如果每个人都对作者提出要求，作者到底该听谁的？为什么只听这个不听其他的？也许你会说要听正确的，但是谁的意见才是正确的？怎么证明他是正确的？阅网文无数的人可太多了。最关键的问题是，到底是谁在写文？表达者是谁？　

And if the suggestion is too general, like this: “This paragraph, the character speaking should be talking with more of a cultural flair”, or “This paragraph, he should be sympathetic rather than apathetic”, “You should use comparisons, this writing technique is better”, this is beyond the scope.

Writing is personal, a story has many readers, but there could only be one writer. Everyone is here to see the author’s story, not something that they suggest. Every reader has his own opinion and what he wants to see, so if everyone suggests what they want to read, who would the author listen to? Why him in particular and not others? Maybe you’ll get something good, but whose opinion is the best? What can determine that he is correct? There are too many people on this website. The most important question is: who is writing this? Who is the one expressing his thoughts?

作者谦虚是好事。但作者的谦虚，意思是作者要多读，多看，多写，自己把握，自己心里有杆秤，再自己去调整和练习就行了。而不是整天根据别人的建议改来改去。这种事别人插不上手。

以及，我不建议随便揣测作者心理。因为大多数都是错的，可揣测者却对自己的想象深信不疑，最后都会偏向恶意。

The author being humble is a good thing. But the author’s humbleness reflects that he needs to read, to examine and to write even more. He needs to practice and edit his own words. It’s not up to everyone else’s suggestions to improve his own writing. Others cannot intervene. I do not suggest trying to guess what the author is thinking at the time. Because the majority of what you think would be wrong, so the guesser would be confident in what he thinks is the right answer, and it would turn out sour.

无论我写什么，都会有人有意见。有人说我太任性了，故意折磨读者，整天写苦大仇深的东西，商业作者就该有商业作者的样子，不许这么任性，要懂得小心翼翼讨好粉丝。同时也有人说我变了，我无脑发糖，就知道讨好粉丝。真的很无奈。要不然，先统一一下意见吧。

No matter what I write, there will be opinions about it. Some have felt that I’m too flighty, I torture the readers, I write things about bitterness and revenge and published authors should have the behavior of published authors, I can’t be this choosy and picky, and I need to pacify the readers. Some have also said that I have changed, and I only know how to appease the fans. I cannot help but think: why don’t you unify your own thoughts on this.

但我也不喜欢评论区吵架。如果双方吵起来，又要被说这个作者粉丝好可怕啊见不得人家说不好，进而发散成粉丝脑残、作者好自大狂妄膨胀了——反正怎么说作者这边都有错，我很吃亏，很被动，所以我衷心请求大家，在评论区看到这样的评论，不要理睬，让它自然沉没就OK，不然越吵越久，打扰的还是大家看文的心情。

But I don’t like arguments in the review corner either. If two parties argue, there will be talk about how the fandom is quite scary, people here can’t agree, fans in this fandom will be braindead, the author is too proud. Whatever happens, the author is always wrong. I will always lose out, so I wish that everyone will not bother with this debate, let it sink and it’ll be ok, don’t argue more and more. All it will do is ruin everyone’s mood upon reading this.

T/N: This is the author’s thoughts about this. There are some parts I have trouble trying to translate because it is so hard for some vocab in Chinese to be directly interpreted. I did my best in this.

Okay. Back to other questions!

Q27. 《天官赐福》计划什么时候修文？(When are you editing HOB?)

其实现在已经开始修了，修好后会统一贴上去并发通知的。但因为这文修起来工程太大，JJ对修文也有很麻烦的限制，不知道会多久，在老四前还是老四后无法保证。还要看三次元和老四的破壳欲了。

Actually, it’s already in the process of editing. Once it has been fully edited, I will publish it as one post and inform everyone. However, as this job is too big, JJWXC has some issues and constraints as well about editing, so I have no idea how long it will take be it before or after the fourth novel is published.

Q28. 《天官赐福》还有哪些番外？(What other HOB extras are there?)

很早就想写个民间故事集，一个一个短小的童话故事，不长。

I want to write something about the mortal realm. A short fable maybe?

T/N: The remaining questions are about the fourth novel and MXTX’s thoughts on CP and such. I will translate them when I have the energy; I think MXTX’s answer to question 26 has killed my mood to translate further.

#tian guan ci fu #天官赐福 #魔道祖师 #mo dao zu shi #scum villain #人渣反派自救系统 #mo xiang tong xiu #墨香铜臭

[extremedivas]

What’s gonna happen for Han Seo Hee in August?

1. What’s gonna happens with Han Seo Hee in the month of August?

The Three of Swords means Han Seo Hee will deal with a lot of heartache in August. She’ll go through depression because things will not go her way as plan. Han Seo Hee will suffer from regrets and loss in her relationships with people consider her love ones.

I see her going through a mental breakdown in social media that went viral.

2. What’s Han Seo Hee plan in August?

The Hangman reversed means I see Han Seo Hee has a martyr complex for her mission to expose celebrities in the Entertainment industry.

However, She need psychological treatment for her manic depression.

Why Han Seo Hee parents is not there for her? Han Seo Hee need psychological help for real.

She’s doing too much with her fighting at celebrities and people in social media.

Han Seo Hee is crying for help. And no one is not gonna do anything for her to get help before it too late.

3. What’s Han Seo Hee gonna do in August?

The King of Swords reversed means that Han Seo Hee gonna Exploitation and scheming even manipulative people to think celebrities in the Korean Entertainment are corrupt.

Han Seo Hee has a domineering attitude against YG artists and Korean celebrities especially the Korean rappers. She hate them for passion.

Han Seo Hee will do anything to expose every Korean celebrities dirty secrets to the press and the police even social media. She hate Korean celebrities so much especially YG artists.

Han Seo Hee gonna be exploiting other in August. Korean celebrities and Korean rappers especially YG artists watch out for Han Seo Hee. She is going to get you and exploiting you.

Warning: Han Seo Hee is going after celebrities families and their fandom.

If I was Korean celebrities, I will advise my fanclub president and fandom to not give info about me and my family.

Han Seo Hee use and pay people off to get information on her enemies.

4. What’s Han Seo Hee biggest problem in August?

The Queen of Swords means an intelligent journalist or powerful female CEO who is ruthless without feelings.

I see Han Seo Hee biggest problem is YG Entertainment new CEO. She’ll gonna deal with this female CEO from YG Entertainment. Who will cause her legal problems with gag orders and settlements in court.

This new CEO is no joke! She is ruthless and cruel to her enemies. It’s best for Han Seo Hee stay away from her and don’t say anything. Because this new CEO is listening and watching everything you say and did.

Plus this female CEO got spy surrounding you. When you are going to meet YG artists and their fans.

Advice: Don’t stupid with this female CEO. She know everything about you and she can destroy you with legal documents.

5. What’s Han Seo Hee biggest solution in August?

The Five of Pentacle reserved means good money is great for court settlement.

Han Seo Hee came from money .

So, I see Han Seo Hee family paid off her court settlement. However, I see Han Seo Hee is paying people off to do her schemes against YG Entertainment.

The Rich girl Han Seo Hee got money for people to do her dirty work for her.

I believe Han Seo Hee families wealth solved her problem in August.

6. The Outcome of August?

The Five of Swords means Malice gossip and court disputes about her connection with YG artists.

Han Seo Hee is so concerned about winning against YG Entertainment that she ignore the consequences of her behavior.

If you look at the beginning of Han Seo Hee tarot reading. You’ll see the Three of Swords.

Han Seo Hee will cause a heartache in August for her actions against YG Entertainment. She will lose it all, If keep on harassing YG artists and Korean celebrities. You’ll be outcast from the Korean celebrities and their company. She’ll have no one by her side when something bad happens to her.

It’s best for her to leave these Korean celebrities and their fans alone. This is my advice to her. Han Seo Hee got money to do amazing things. She can have her own businesses with her family money. Han Seo Hee should have to expose Korean celebrities secrets.

She should do her own career without Entertainment companies in Korea.

Han Seo Hee can hired ghostwriter producers her music and putting in YouTube or social media.

This is my reading on Han Seo Hee in August. Bye!

#Han SeoHee #Han Seo Hee #korean politics #korean entertainment #kpop #yg entertainment #psychic readings #tarot card reading

[moonraccoon-exe]

COON! You Play Horizon now? First DA:I and now Horizon? Ugh, all those awesome Gaming choices. I sadly didn’t play the game but I watched a playthrough and it is soooo stunning. I am so weak for games with such beautiful environments (one of the aspects why I love The Witcher). And YES for the badass female protagonist. Aloy is awesome isn’t she? I am glad that you are having fun after the initial problems. And i hope you‘ll be having a blast through the rest of the game. :3 -Peridot

PERIDOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!!!!!!!!!!!!! ( ´ ▽ ` )

*SMOOCHIE*

HEWWO PERIDOT AKSJFKLAGDJGALKGDJ ZOMG HELLO I’M SO HAPPY TO SEE YOU AROUND AGAIN!!!

And hell yeah, I’m playing Horizong and I’m SO OBSESSED, YOU HAVE NO IDEA KLAJSKLGJFH. I’ve had a few days that I’ve stayed up past 1 am, which is like unusual in me because I love sleeping, just to keep playing. I haven’t gotten to play daily because my bro almost daily hogs the TV lmao, but when I do, dammit, it’s so difficult to take a pause! THIS ISN’T HEALTHY AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH

And hell yeah it would be an awesome gaming choice. You’re like me and I’m like you just in different countries. The world was like “Yes, I will just copy paste this creature because Ive run out of ideas and just drop one here and the other across the ocean lmao what are the chances they’ll find each other” but the joke’s on the world because now we’re buddies lol

Honestly, the stuff you like is like. A mirror or like I ghostwrite what you tell me HOW DO YOU DO THAT. Or is it me who is a mirror and ghostwriting? HURRR e3e

But I digress ahahah

It’s okay to have only watched a playthrough! There’s people that do just that and that’s okay. Everybody experiences games in their own way, and not just as in their subjective perceptions of it, but also how they got into it in the first place! I’ve known people into the XV fandom that don’t even have a console, but that doesn’t make their experience any less fantastic!! Same for you, it’s okay to not have played it.

However, I do suggest it if you ever get the chance! I’m a little sad that I got it as second hand because I think “I know it’s just some miserable pennies to them but how I wish I could have helped with the popularity rating in the developers’ offices!”, that’s how damn good and incredible it is. Well designed, every single thing is where it needs to be, everything is so thoroughly thought through (oh my god so many tho’s), it’s absolutely gorgoeous. but I think you don’t need me to say that, you’ve watched the whole thing already and I’m just starting the climax!

Lemme add a keep reading right here, aye buddy? :3

So yep, big recommendation over here!!

I’m SO SO SO SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO VERY WEAK FOR GAMES WITH BEAUTIFUL VIEWS AND ENVIRONMENTS TOO OH MY GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWDAKL SFJ DLKHAJ DLIFJA EGKLDJ BAKLDG

*EXPLODES*

SEE, PERIDOT? SEE? WE’RE LITERALLY THE SAME THING JUST SPEAKING DIFFERENT LANGUAGES, HOW DID WE STUMBLE UPON EACCH OTHER, this is like that one movie Parent Trap, and we’re the twins, except we’re not twins and you have your twin alskdjgk lmao why am i digressing so much today .3. 

But really, I really really really love games with big and beautiful maps. It’s one of the reasons it saddens and frustrated me so much to be unable to play Breath of the Wild, I’ve heard the setting there is absolutely mesmerizing and stunning!!! But yes. Games with big beautiful maps and environments are the absolute BEST, they’re my jam, I could buy a game with the most horrible of plots just for the map and I’d LOVE it.

And the environment here in Horizon? Fuknin.g Spectalcular! OH MY GAWD IT’S SO GODDAMN BEAUTIFUL AND SOOOOOOOOOOOO STUNNING, I CAN’T GET TIRED OF IT IT’S ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC AND GORGEOUS AND SO BREATHTAKING.

There’s lots of snowy mountains and paths, too, which makes me so happy and comfy because I LOVE SNOWY ENVIRONMENTS. And I love climbing to high places to look around (you can tell I love finding Observatories aksldjlkg). I’m in love with ALL THE RIVERS HAVE YOU SEEN HOW MANY RIVERS HORIZON HAS? MANY. MUCH. VERY. LOTS. IT’S SO MUCH WATER I LOVE WATER BODIES AND SPECIALLY LAKES AND RIVERS AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!

And all the nature all the plants and flowers and trees gawds fuck me I fangasm, such a BEAUTIFUL scenario!

HOLY HOH, THE WITCHER HAS A BEAUTIFUL ENVIRONMENT TOO HUH??? .3. I mean it doesn’t surprise me, it IS a fantasy plot and an RPG so naturally it has to have a BEAUTIFUL open world and wide map full of nature and gorgeous sights. GAWDS AKJFDG IKLJOLDKJFA GKLDJ KLJAD LK *GRABBY HANDS*

HELL YEAH ALOY IS SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO AWESOMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FREAKING...SUPERB FUNKY LITTLE CREATURE, MOST FANTASTIC AND SKILLED AND STRONGEST BADASS BEING, THAT WONDERFUL AND AMAZING OH MY GAWD OH MY GAWD I FANGASM AGAIN MY LOVE FOR ALOY IS IMMEASURABLY INSANE AND HUGE GAWDS DAMN ME I LOVE HER SO MUCH ALKSFJ KHD JHKLGF

Gods, she’s such a gorgeous example of a badass strong female lead role. She’s strong and has her own personality and determined and gawds damn me oh my god I melt I LOVE HER SO MUCH

She as a child was adorable and I was like oooh okay I like this, and then in that montage where she’s training, and you see her give a roll when she’s a kid and when she lands she’s an adult? OH FUCK ME TAHT’S WHAT I WAS ARROWED OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD SHE’S SO B ADASS AND SO STRONG AND SO SKILLED AND OH MY GOD IT KILLED ME

I at first was afraid that I wasn’t going to do well with this game, because I’m not very good with technology stuff, and that still counts for in game things. Like, give me a sword and an ancient spell book, I catch my grip. But give me a...the triangle artifact she finds in the beginning? Not sure what it’s called in english. That thing that scans and analyzes, and codes, and metal things and I’m...hngngh...l os t. I can barely understand a smartphone, you can’t give me futuristic gadgets and expect me to do well XD

But I’m doing strangely phenomenal!! I caught my grip really fast and I’m doing fantastic with everything. Agaklsjggadk, the more I type, the more I want to leave to go game, ahaha!! Aaaahhhhhhh, but yes, I was a bit insecure at first but gods damn me am I obsessed now alksjdf dglkdj

I do am having a blast!! I’m doing as usual and going for all available sidequests before progressing in the story, so I’ve been walking around for a while before reaching the Carja place and meeting the sun king and stuff. Current mission of main story is cleaning 1 more corrupted area. EASY PEASY. 

I’m surprisingly having more troubles with sidequests than main story actually ahahaha!! Like, “clean this corrupted area” yeah sure there you go. Sidequest, kill this one lonely machine that popped up from nowhere. Sure pal I’m- DEAD? WHAT DO YOU MEAN DEAD!?!? OH MY GO- OH MY GOD I DIED AGAIN STOP- HOW DO I HIT IT- NO- NO I’M DEAD AGAIN, OH MY GOD STOP!!!!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

Main story be like “go clean this corrupted area level 16″ pfff easy peasy. Sidequest be like “explode this zone level 8″ yeah okay OH MY GOD I’M DEAD, WHY, OH MY GOD THAT MACHINE IS GIGANORMOUS WHY IS LEVEL 16 FULL OF SMALL ONES AND THIS ONE HUGE IS- OH MY GOD STOP!!!!!!!!!!

Ahahahah but I’ve managed to clear sidequests! Some after many attempts, but cleared them. Gods is the explosive trap a miracle .3.

But anyways, that’s that dear Peridot!!! Thank you for whishing for me to enjoy the rest of the game, I’m SO sure I’ll have the blast of my life with everything yet left to do!!

I’m queueing this for an hour that suits you better, dear friend. Hopefully you’ll see this in your morning :)

Anyways!! Dear Peridot, that’s that about Horizon!! As always, it’s such a joy getting to talk with you. Thank you for dropping by, you superb muffin

Talk to you later, buddy!! Hugs for you!!

#Anonymous #Peridot #coonreplies

[theraistlinmajere]

THE “”GOTHIC”” REC LIST

Edited for my own use.

LET’S START WITH THE GATEWAY DRUG BOOK

1. Flowers in the Attic (VC Andrews): Published in 1979 and technically considered contemporary Gothic. The style closely resembles a lot of “original” Gothic fiction I’ve read, but the themes, story arc and style are distinctly contemporary and very psychological. Gets a bad rap because it’s over the top insane and averagely written (which most Gothic is, tbh). Flowers is light reading, and I think it’s a good gateway drug into heavier Gothic. Has several sequels but stands alone as well. I wish I could call this Victorian-inspired Gothic but honestly it’s just knockoff Victorian in a contemporary setting. If you don’t enjoy this book, it probably means you don’t like the over the top insanity and average writing. Skip it if you like!

1.5. But if you do like it, I hear My Sweet Audrina is pretty good. All of VC Andrews and her ghostwriters are like a hellhole people sometimes don’t escape tbh it’s a raging aesthetic disaster down there.

Note: I have a strong suspicion that “contemporary” Gothic published between 1965 and 1989 will eventually have its own movement name; you will see a decent amount of it on this list.

THE VICTORIAN GOTHIC PART OF THE LIST Most of these are available for free online due to copyright law being born late or whatever. 2. Carmilla (Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu): Considered the first English vampire story (Germans invented the European vampire allegedly), and published in 187…9? 1871? Something like that. A novella. Arguably a same-sex romance (VERY arguably), but can also be read as a close friendship. The writing is good, but not the absolute greatest I’ve ever read. The real strong point here is the imagery and the dawn of the English vampire. Great Halloween read; I read it almost every autumn. 3. “The Trifecta,” according to Gothic fans: Dracula (Bram Stoker), Frankenstein (Shelley), and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Swift & Stevenson): First mainstream vampire, original English monster movie fuel, and the dawn of psychological fiction. Shelley’s the best writer out of all of them but she’s a Romantic and I’m sort of biased against Romantics. She’s a precursor to true Victorian Gothic. Dracula is still one of the creepiest books I’ve ever read and it’s the only one in the trifecta I really really love (and finished).

Note: If, by any chance, you find yourself seriously obsessed with vampires at any point in time, please consult me for an extended list of vampire fiction because I have a shit-ton of it in my reading history and left most of it out so vampires wouldn’t clutter this list lmao.

4. Edgar Allan Poe, Completed Works. The Cask of Amontillado, The Masque of the Red Death, The Pit and the Pendulum, and The Tell-Tale Heart are all notable. His poetry is lovely–Annabelle Lee and The Raven are most culturally significant. Just solid and wonderful work that I like a lot but haven’t explored in a lot of detail. Will appeal to your interest in darkness imagery.

5. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Stories (Washington Irving): QUINTESSENTIAL HALLOWEEN READING. SPOOPY. WONDERFUL. I truly love this anthology. Will also appeal to your interest in darkness as a concept and a physical thing. 6. Nightmare Abbey (Thomas Love Peacock): an 1818 novel that makes fun of the Victorian Gothic movement. Hilarious, contains all the typical Victorian Gothic tropes and has the added benefit of actually falling into the Victorian Gothic movement ironically. Usually comes packaged with another novel called Crotchet Castle which is similar. 7. If, somehow, you haven’t had it with Victorian Gothic yet (and I got to this point, it happens, Victorian Gothic is a slippery slope)… Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (Susanna Clarke): A really bizarre story behind how this was published, at least it is to me. Published in 2004, Over 10 years in the making and is written in the Victorian Gothic style but with a quirky and modern twist. The writer takes a page out of contemporary social commentary and includes pages-long footnotes, heads up (they’re funny and entertaining though). HUGE. You could kill a man with this volume. Excellent writing; I’m halfway through. I hear there’s time travel (?) and there are about ten thousand characters. Neil Gaiman is a fan. 8. The Phantom of the Opera (Gaston Leroux) is not technically Victorian (Technically Edwardian? Also French; I’m not familiar with French literary eras) but of course it has a huge following. I’ve read a little so far; I like the style and I think it’s culturally significant. You might want to read this because it’s heavily inspired by a French opera house, the Palais Garnier in Paris. Amber tells me she read literature in French to help sharpen her skills in the language; you may consider picking up an un-translated version of this? A BRIEF INTERLUDE FOR MORE CONTEMPORARY 9. Interview with the Vampire (Anne Rice): One of my favorite books of all time! Possibly the dawn of the romanticized vampire. Falls into that 70s contemporary Gothic bracket and is pretty amazingly written, but markedly more angst-ridden than anything else on the list (save for maybe Flowers). Lots of “what is evil?” and “what does immortality imply?” type speculation. Also gets a bad rap because Anne Rice made it big and haters are rife tbh it’s a very solidly built book in my opinion (BUT SUPER EMOTIONAL VAMPIRES). If you like this, continue with The Vampire Chronicles (The Vampire Lestat, Queen of the Damned, Prince Lestat, and about 8 others in between that concern minor characters). Lestat is one of my favorite fictional characters of all time. 10. Coraline (Neil Gaiman): Quick, cute, I found myself actually afraid for a little while despite the audience being middle grade readers?? I enjoyed it. The only Neil Gaiman on the list because his other work doesn’t impress me very much. 11. The Spiderwick Chronicles (Holly Black and Tony Diterlizzi): More middle-grade creepy aesthetic stuff. Cute modern fantasy stories, five volumes. I can read these books at twenty years old and still enjoy them (like Coraline)! The only good thing Holly Black has ever produced, in my opinion, though many people like her and her ~aesthetic.

11.5. Should you find yourself in the mood for more quick middle-grade aesthetic-y stuff, Pure Dead Magic (Debi Gliori) is really an adorable book with two sequels. Victorian Gothic tropes such as the creepy mansion, creatures in the dungeon, family drama, and Weird Newcomers are all present, but it’s set in modern times. One of the main characters is a hacker. Addams family-esque.

THE SURREAL-ISH FICTION PART OF THE LIST

Not true surreal fiction; these are contemporary surreal-inspired works. 12. The Bloody Chamber (Angela Carter): An anthology of short stories which retell fairy tales. Falls into the contemporary surrealism movement and is not traditionally considered Gothic, but this is definitely your aesthetic. Very quick read, very vivid imagery, lots of second-wave feminism and some brief eating disorder symbolism. Carter was a phenomenal writer! My favorite story is “The Lady of the House of Love"

12.5 (Just as a reminder since I’ve mentioned these) See also: Nights at the Circus (Carter) and Mechanique: A tale of the Circus Tresaulti (Valentine) for your interest in circus books!

13. The Palace of Curiosities (Rosie Garland), which I also rec’d before. Similar style to Chamber, similar themes. Both beautiful books. 14. Deathless (Catherynne Valente): Oh, Deathless. Technically contemporary lit, but hails to Russian Gothic (one of the earlier Gothic movements which I haven’t read much of). Retelling of about a million Russian folk tales. I could go on about this book for a thousand years. Stylistically similar to The Bloody Chamber as well, but far more poetic. (Very) structurally inferior to every other book on this list, but so heart-wrenchingly romantic you won’t notice or care on the first read. Visually breathtaking, absolutely the closest thing to death and the maiden imagery I’ve found in fiction. I’m fairly confident you’ll appreciate this one! Might as well read it to test my theory!! There’s controversy surrounding the fact that the writer is not Russian–something to be aware of. 15. The Enchanted (Rene Denfeld): TREAD WITH CAUTION. This is contemporary literary fiction (not Gothic) written from the pov of a death row inmate. Nominated for approximately a billion awards in 2014 (and won a few); high caliber of writing. Incredibly visceral, horrific, psychological imagery that was too much for me, though I still liked it. Short but dense–I had to take a two-day break to ward off the anxiety it caused. But you are darker~ than I so you might like it more!

THE SOUTHERN GOTHIC PART OF THE LIST 16. Beloved (Toni Morrison): Contemporary Southern Gothic. Incredibly creepy imagery, explores the connection between women’s issues and racial issues. Uses abortion and slavery as metaphors for each other. Gracefully written, but Southern Gothic (even contemporary) tends to be textually dense so it’s something to really think about as you read. 17. As I Lay Dying (Faulkner): “True” Southern Gothic. DENSE AS HELL but I think Beloved is a good precursor to Faulkner. A lot of almost comedic family drama, similar to Flowers in that sense, but very srs bsns nonetheless.

17.5. Basically all of Faulkner is considered Southern Gothic. He’s the father of Southern Gothic. If you enjoy this, you might also like Absalom! Absalom! and other such works. I loved As I Lay Dying but it’s possibly his easiest read, and while I love a good challenge I haven’t stepped up to this one yet.

Note: I use reading guides for all my classical works and Shakespeare, and I think there are good ones for Faulkner too, so that might be something to look into if you wanna vanish into this hell lol.

AN ADDENDUM: OTHER WRITERS

HP Lovecraft: Father of horror or whatever. Awful writer–anyone will agree. The guy had no command of language, but he’s known for over-the-top horror imagery that people really enjoy. Honestly I hate his writing so I haven’t bothered with much of it.

Oscar Wilde: If, by this point, you still want more Victorian-era writing, Wilde is here for you. Lots of social commentary, wrote basically one piece in the Gothic style (Chapter 16 of The Picture of Dorian Gray, my favorite novel), snarky as hell, incredibly gifted writer.

Neil Gaiman: Modern surreal in my opinion, sometimes called modern Gothic, well-loved and writes creepy things. I think he’s average because I’ve read too much Murakami (who does “modern surreal” way, way better) but many people really love him.

THE BLACKLIST Knockoff Gothic/Gothic themed things to avoid. I apologize if you like any of these okay ._.

The Grisha Trilogy (Leigh Bardugo): Contemporary YA, tries to be Russian Gothic and fails. Stick to Deathless. This book makes a mockery of Russian culture whereas at least Valente exhaustively researched her novel. Also doesn’t do romance very well.

The Night Circus (Morgenstern): What the hell is this book, tbh. 400 pages of obtuse and cliched imagery which you don’t have time for in your life. No plot. Two-dimensional characters, bad writing.

Those Across The River (Christopher Buehlman): Terrible. Just terrible.

[seenashwrite]

Dearest Nash, I've touched on this before in (I believe) in a discussion re: why some mainstream fics get oodles of notes while more original ones do not, *but* I wanted to get a bit more specific here. There are certain writers here whose writing has a definite vibe to it (if you will) that separates their work from others, and your name is one of the first that comes to mind. Bear with me, because trying to detail what makes your writing stand out is difficult while trying to articulate a Q

^ this is a gif with parts 2 - 4, just FYI

Hmmm… this is a bit of a brain buster. But I can answer it, and I think succinctly, maybe with a touch of that Spidey sense you mention:

Thank you for your inquiry, hope that helps! 

I kid. But this is a brain-turner. And a characteristic which, like you say, ain’t limited to me. I’d honestly throw comedians under this umbrella, too, not because I’m necessarily gunning for a laugh every time, but because it’s pretty much their job to take a “basic” (a tenet or fact of life or present reality or whatever) and present the observation with a twist. I think of storyteller comedians specifically, your Patton Oswalt-s, Maria Bamford-s, Kathy Griffin-s, and John Mulaney-s.

So if I can sum up, assuming I’m tracking with you, what you’re more or less driving at with the “how” is this –> Is there anything beyond simply personality, or an auto-pilot thought cascade (for lack of better terminology) that contributes? Are there things someone could do/be proactive about, to perhaps cause this same sort of reaction to happen in their brain?

I think there just might be.

Folks reading this, let me ask you a question, and you cannot look it up:

What was the name of the Sherpa guide who led Sir Edmund Hillary up Mount Everest?

.

.

.

His name was Tenzing Norgay.

Nash, what in the name of the frozen corpse of George Mallory does this have to do with Lion’s question?

I shall tell you.

My father told me that fact when I was quite young, so young I legit couldn’t even ballpark my age for you. The context was that having little facts tucked away in your brain may come in handy. Not in a Jeopardy kind of way, more in a conversational way. I’ve no idea why the man thought the Sherpa guide who led Hillary up Mt. Everest would ever come up during a conversation with enough regularity to justify my knowing that fact (aside from him randomly quizzing me throughout my life) but hey, I guess it just did.

But speaking of Lil’ Nash, the situation for her was that she was the eldest of all the Nash litter by miles… like seven or eight years, I’m not bothering to check. So I had a lot of alone time, and my grandmother was my chief babysitter, so prior to kindergarten and then til I was in about second grade (so: all day long during the week, then every weekday after she picked me up from school), I was pretty much always at her house. Yeah, there were toys, but not a lot to do. And I’d read. I’d been reading on my own for a decent while, not because I was some prodigy but because my dad read to me *constantly* when Lil’ Nash was Itty-Bitty Nash, and it “took”. My mom also, every time she went to the grocery store always - and I mean always - brought back a book for me. It might’ve been an Archie comic—-

Mandatory #fuck the CW’s Riverdale tag

—-or a Babysitter’s Club, or Sweet Valley High, Judy Blume, Madeleine L’Engle, Zilpha Keatley Snyder, you get my point. Some small paperback. It would piss Dad off because he’s a cheap bastard and two buck books once or twice a month were really gonna cut into the savings [eyeroll] but also, in a way, because I’d kill it in a half day/a day. Wouldn’t put it down. After awhile, I started writing my own silly little kid stories, then - and this is where the creative writing love came about -  I started writing soap operas for my Barbies. (When I was older - like, 5th grade? 6th grade, maybe? - none of my peers were still playing with Barbies, and I got made fun of when, at a sleepover, they saw my stash. And I was like - No, no, no. Those aren’t for playing. That’s my cast.)

Time went on, and when I was bored at post-church lunch/dinners, I would also read the old encyclopedias at my grandmother’s, the ones from the late ‘60s/early ‘70s that she had for my mom and my aunt. As I got even older and became fascinated with rooting through the boxes in gran’s basement, looking at all the cool old clothes, I stumbled upon my aunt’s collection of Whoa-Hooooo Shit There’s No Way My Grandparents Knew You Read These books. Those kinda Harlequin-esque ones, except my aunt’s tastes run close to mine, none were the same shtick with different covers, shmultzy-sappy romance, there was always some sort of intrigue along with the sexy times, and she also had, like, every legit V. C. Andrews (meaning: not the ones from the ghostwriter, this was way before her death) book.

What is my point? I read a LOT. Now-a-days, other than fanfic (which… straight up: I don’t read a lot of that, either. I peace out on probs 80% of it before the third-to-fifth paragraph. It’s gotta sell me fast, yo) I haven’t read fiction in probably, oh…. 12 years? I think the last ones were the first couple Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. Wait, no! I lie! I read the 50 Shades books when I was traveling 2x/wk for a job about 4 years ago, and I needed the laughs. It worked. Oh my days, that woman can’t write. The screenplay might’ve been worse, it goes her, then Buckleming, then everyone else. It’s bad. In any event, past decade or so, it’s more historical stuff and true crime and science stuff and all that old fart jazz.

Okay, so that’s #1: Read. And not just anything, be well-read, and that doesn’t mean developing some level of expertise, by “well” I’m saying to cover the spread. You’re building your tool kit, is all. You won’t use most of it, but it’s nice to have options. You also don’t always have to get this stuff from reading now-a-days, because podcasts. Cover the spread there, too. Lemme look at my bookmarks…. 

[Spongebob narrator voice: A few moments later]

I’m back. Science - Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe; General current stuff without being news - CGP Grey’s Hello Internet; current events with shittons of pop culture, past and present - Greg Proops’ Smartest Man in the World; fun history stuff - The Dollop; entertainment stuff - How Did This Get Made.

#2: Keep a notebook with you and jot down turns-of-phrase that spark something in your brain - things you read on websites, on twitter, in articles, things you hear people say (real life, TV, movies, podcasts), and write it. Don’t snap a pic with your phone or make a note in your phone. There are studies behind this, I’m not hunting them down, you’ll just have to trust me, but there are, and it goes to being reflexive, a brain “muscle memory” thing, if you will. You’re not doing it to plagiarize, you’re doing it to dissect it, kind’ve like you did with the example you gave on me —> went from punch action to punch spiked with booze to a punch with a spiked gauntlet.

Which leads to #3: Mental dictionary. I have a large vocab repository, and it stems from the tons of reading - I stop and look up stuff if I either don’t know it, or it’s used in such a way that I think they’ve got it wrong and want to double-check that maybe there’s another usage I don’t know - and also stems from a drive to combat the (still fairly thick) deep South drawl I can’t kick, and not for lack of trying. But see, I couldn’t have whipped out that progression if I weren’t aware that one definition of “spike” is “to add alcohol to”, or of the common shtick in stories of spiked punch like at high school proms typically, or knew about the existence of spiked gauntlets / old school armor. 

And I guarantee you that a good chunk of people didn’t really “get it”, and just thought “Nash Be Nashin’, that nutty gal”. So they “get it” on that level, but don’t Get. It., if you see what I’m saying. And that’s fine. Maybe it got something cranking in the back of their mind and it’ll hit ‘em in the middle of the night, or they’ll be watching Game of Thrones or something, see a gauntlet and be like “Oh goddamnit, I just got a throw-a-way one-liner from three years ago” and have a chuckle.

Related, re: looking stuff up and things that people “get”? I didn’t know fuck-all about Twilight, but it seemed of import to the folks around 5 years younger than me, the Nashlings wouldn’t shut up about it, so I got a good working knowledge of it. Same with Harry Potter, and through it I got to “know” J.K. Rowling, who I find to be an exceptional writer, so that was great, and I’ve watched the movies for the most part over the years at Christmastime, and I don’t give the first shit about what “house” I’m in, nor do I care about what Patronus I’d fart, but I have a working knowledge of what those are, and horcruxes and who Snape and Voldie are, you get my point. I can keep up. But to do it, I had to take the time to look it up. One thing I would not trade for gold is Michael Sheen chewing the goddamn scenery in that battle segment from the last Twilight movie. Have I watched the movie? No. But that scene is the shit. And that baby CGI is horrific on several subtle levels. And not-so-subtle. I’ve digressed.

Back to those notes: So if you’ve got these notes jotted, you might see something else and think “I feel like that could’ve been snappier…. why do I think that….” And you’ve got a resource at your disposal, that little notebook. Hell, jot that thing down - things you think could be done better. I have in many documents a highlight around chunks of scenes for my big dog story where it says in bold above or below “DO BETTER”. Meaning: there’s a better way to get from A to B, but I’m just not quite there yet. I’m pretty quick on the uptake and can crank out something snappy on the fly (like say, in CASPN chat or when banging out a short reply or thank you note) but there’s definitely times I gotta slap a DO BETTER on it and walk away til that snappy something-or-other light bulb goes off. 

Here’s a recent one where I backtracked, matter of fact - that noir spoof thing I wrote? Along with my co-writer, Moscato? There was a line that I couldn’t hit with a good zinger, so I just said moments were going by like a fat hamster on a wheel, which is cute, but not really grooving with the setting/the vibe. Less tipsy, when I was correcting some inelegant formatting and a misspelling [sigh], I went “Oh! Why didn’t this occur to me last night? Right. Wine.” So the line is now about moments dragging like a rolling donut with a copper on its tail. Get it? The cop’s a fat ass. The donut-cop stereotype.

…….Fine, it ain’t my best, but it fits better. Moving on.

And this leads nicely into #4, and a specific tip I can impart - assuming you’ve got a passable-to-high level of vocabulary in your tool belt, practice messing around with making nouns into verbs, and twisting random stuff into descriptors and using bizarre words/things in metaphors/analogies. Like, I say “adulting” quite a bit. Ali - @littlegreenplasticsoldier - I thiiiink was writing recently about Sam being drunk, and he’s a tall wobbly Jenga tower on his last Jenga. Going back to the noir, pulpy detective style, try messing with the whole “S/he was like a ___ that ____”. Add on to stuff that’s well known - He was like a dog with a bone, if the bone was a ____ and he was a ____ and we were in a ____. (I have *nothing* in mind to fill those blanks, by the way, feel free to twist it into sumpin’)

What else…. okay, here’s a #5: In drafts, let yourself wander, and see what kicks out. It can be fueled by silliness or anger, but I don’t reckon you’re gonna get the “snappy” you’re aiming for if you’re down in the dumps and going full-court-press angst. The best stuff, IMO, comes from the space in between goofy and pissed, and that is The Land Of Snark. You can always re-style it to bend more dry or wistful should you need to, certainly, depending on the situation.

Have a sample of a primo Nash Digression that was fueled by ire in a recap from Season 12 (episode 19). I had said - RE: the random inclusion of the character Joshua, which still pisses me off because they burned a character that held massive potential for future stuff as he’d been shown to be the only angel with direct access to Chuck, so, y’know, that could never come in handy, like ever again in the series, right? - the following.

Mandatory pre-emptive #fuck Dabb

[Spongebob narrator voice] A few moments later —> 

On god, I have no idea where that came from, and here’s where we go back to ol’ Spidey up there, because end of the day?

All that other stuff’s the foundation, sure, but there’s always gonna be the weird iggy, the thing that can’t be learned or taught, whatever the quirky synapse is that fires off in my/our brains. In my experience, it’s an ADD-ish sort of jam mixed with the Nostradamus effect. Meaning, (A) we’re at Level 10, rapid fire thought processing >50% of the time, and (B) throw out enough stuff for long enough, some of it’s going to stick. And I whiff it plenty. Multiple times in CASPN chat I’ve been like “Whoo, tough room” when something falls flat.

A specific example: @mrswhozeewhatsis - and I think you saw this, but anyone else seeing this may not have - gave probably the most fantastic analogy I’ve seen regarding the whole “getting it” thing, and while it was on the topic of meaty plots that get too far into the weeds (my specialty) and how it can lessen appeal to a broader audience, it still applies here. 

She said “Sometimes, when I’m reading something of yours, I feel like there’s a joke I’m missing. It’s like watching Spaceballs without having seen Star Wars.” I say that to say - nobody’s gonna land references that cover the spread 100% of the time. And, y’know, fine. I figure maybe it’ll prompt someone to do a quick google for - well, let’s use Spaceballs. Most folks will no doubt get the Star Wars part, but maybe not Spaceballs. Maybe they’ll check it out, find something they enjoy. Or learn a new word. Or get a brainstorm for a story. Who knows?

Last tip: Don’t actively mimic anyone’s style. Much fail. And I don’t only mean because if they’re on a social Venn diagram with you, would likely recognize themselves in your stuff——

Takes a moment to wave to the peeps still trying with me! #bless your hearts

—–but because it’s fucking hard. I did it broadly on the noir thing, that’s not a hard thing, to homage generalities, but the way I’m messing with doing this on that silly Princess Bride series? Purposefully styling it like Goldman? It’s good  challenging and all, and it is making it feel more in the groove with the book/movie, but I have to be in the right frame of mind or it’s like fingernails on a chalkboard, and when I have pushed it, then gone back, it’s sloggy, soggy garbage.

I say all that to say: it’s an amalgam of brain-wiring/personality, and world/life perspective(s), and knowledge acquired over time. The first just is; the second will evolve in myriad ways, maybe for the better, maybe for the worse; the last is the one where you/we have control, we can fill bucket after bucket of information, and the well won’t ever run dry.

Sorry this took so long. I kept adding and subtracting. This is the edited version, if you can believe it. Welcome to Nash Brain. 😉

#Dear Nash #becominglionhearted #Writing Advice #and / or #Writing Stuff #maybe #Writing Tips #unsure #we'll go with all of it #ah I know #Writing Style #that's the ticket #Queueby Dooby Doo #Dad's on a blog post and #he hasn't been queued in a few days