adarkershadeofwhitney

[adarkershadeofwhitney]

[adarkershadeofwhitney]

It me

[adarkershadeofwhitney]

I'm always so excited to share what I'm playing, reading, or writing. But at this point sharing those kinds of things on twitter just seems like advertisement. I've been off of Tumblr for some time, but I think i'm going to let this be the place where I post whatever the heck I want. And today I'm excited about the games I'm playing or that I'm about to start playing. Currently Playing: Vampyr This one is like Sherlock Holmes x God of War (any game wit ha skill tree really) x a more casual souls game. It's been a really great experience so far, but it is slow and sometimes I can get in my own head about not making a ton of progress on a game rather than just enjoying the ride, which I'm trying to focus on WAY more. Jusant This game is not what I expected at all. It's advertised as a climbing game, and just after all of the climbing games like Only Up (and others) were very popular. It's def a climbing game, but it is so atmospheric and there is a story to go along with it. To get that story though, you need to find hidden notes and such in the world which imo gives it a lot more depth. My only complaint is that the controls can be a little funk sometimes, but that's probably just a me issue let's be real. Playing Soon: The Messenger This one was picked by a viewer (and friend) who redeemed my "pick the next game" reward! I've had my eye on this one after multiple people had mentioned that it was good, so i'm very excited to start this one! Untitled Goose Game This one is going to be a super fun time I just have a feeling. Causing havoc as a goose? Yes please! This one got on the docket because of a community challenge. I feel like I tend to do a lot of intense combat or story heavy games and every not and again I feel like a game like this is a good pallet cleanser. I'm just excited that everyone else seemed to have good things to say about this game too! Link To The Past I'm not gonna lie, I'm a touch nervous about this one. Older games have a tendency to expect you to just "figure it out" and I've never played a Zelda game all the way through before. This one was a subathon reward to play a "retro" game. This one won the poll! I think it's going to be fine and honestly probably a great experience with the community because a lot of people seem to really love this game. vvv If you do wanna come hang out vvv https://www.twitch.tv/adarkershadeofwhitney

[adarkershadeofwhitney]

Hi friends! It's been a while and I've missed it here honestly. Just wanted to say hi, hello! Still a reader, still a writer. But now I also play video games on Twitch. So you'll probably be seeing posts about that too!

[adarkershadeofwhitney]

#this had to be done

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the elusive 7 act Structure

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i had to get just one more thing out of my system. this scene………those last words. uhg. griffin is so good.

[adarkershadeofwhitney]

So it has been a while since I posted on Tumblr, sorry everyone. I got distracted with my Instagram account. Anyway have some Red Rising fan art. Sevro au Barca and Darrow the Reaper

[adarkershadeofwhitney]

I tried my hand at making Red Rising custom Funko pops. I had to use clay to make the sling blade and mustangs razor which I thought would be a disaster. But they didn’t turn out too bad!

[adarkershadeofwhitney]

“I will need to ride with you,” he explained, pulling himself up and settling in behind her. “At least until we find another horse.”

He kicked the horse into a trot and despite his promise, she fell back against his chest, momentarily taken aback by the smoky heat and warm press of his body. He’s not dead, she tried to reassure herself. He can’t be.

[adarkershadeofwhitney]

allez c’est reparti pour un tour d’emoitude

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[adarkershadeofwhitney]

Outer Planettes: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, the Milky Way

Prints and posters

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why DO teenage girls go through a witch/occult phase? I had tarot cards and a spellbook and I knew a group of girls who messed with ouija boards and another who had ghost hunting equipment. “oh yeah Cindy’s just going through that girly phase where she tries to raise the dead.”

[adarkershadeofwhitney]

Ways to un-stick a stuck story

Do an outline, whatever way works best. Get yourself out of the word soup and know where the story is headed.

Conflicts and obstacles. Hurt the protagonist, put things in their way, this keeps the story interesting. An easy journey makes the story boring and boring is hard to write.

Change the POV. Sometimes all it takes to untangle a knotted story is to look at it through different eyes, be it through the sidekick, the antagonist, a minor character, whatever.

Know the characters. You can’t write a story if the characters are strangers to you. Know their likes, dislikes, fears, and most importantly, their motivation. This makes the path clearer.

Fill in holes. Writing doesn’t have to be linear; you can always go back and fill in plotholes, and add content and context.

Have flashbacks, hallucinations, dream sequences or foreshadowing events. These stir the story up, deviations from the expected course add a feeling of urgency and uncertainty to the narrative.

Introduce a new mystery. If there’s something that just doesn’t add up, a big question mark, the story becomes more compelling. Beware: this can also cause you to sink further into the mire.

Take something from your protagonist. A weapon, asset, ally or loved one. Force him to operate without it, it can reinvigorate a stale story.

Twists and betrayal. Maybe someone isn’t who they say they are or the protagonist is betrayed by someone he thought he could trust. This can shake the story up and get it rolling again.

Secrets. If someone has a deep, dark secret that they’re forced to lie about, it’s a good way to stir up some fresh conflict. New lies to cover up the old ones, the secret being revealed, and all the resulting chaos.

Kill someone. Make a character death that is productive to the plot, but not “just because”. If done well, it affects all the characters, stirs up the story and gets it moving.

Ill-advised character actions. Tension is created when a character we love does something we hate. Identify the thing the readers don’t want to happen, then engineer it so it happens worse than they imagined.

Create cliff-hangers. Keep the readers’ attention by putting the characters into new problems and make them wait for you to write your way out of it. This challenge can really bring out your creativity.

Raise the stakes. Make the consequences of failure worse, make the journey harder. Suddenly the protagonist’s goal is more than he expected, or he has to make an important choice.

Make the hero active. You can’t always wait for external influences on the characters, sometimes you have to make the hero take actions himself. Not necessarily to be successful, but active and complicit in the narrative.

Different threat levels. Make the conflicts on a physical level (“I’m about to be killed by a demon”), an emotional level (“But that demon was my true love”) and a philosophical level (“If I’m forced to kill my true love before they kill me, how can love ever succeed in the face of evil?”).

Figure out an ending. If you know where the story is going to end, it helps get the ball rolling towards that end, even if it’s not the same ending that you actually end up writing.

What if? What if the hero kills the antagonist now, gets captured, or goes insane? When you write down different questions like these, the answer to how to continue the story will present itself.

Start fresh or skip ahead. Delete the last five thousand words and try again. It’s terrifying at first, but frees you up for a fresh start to find a proper path. Or you can skip the part that’s putting you on edge – forget about that fidgety crap, you can do it later – and write the next scene. Whatever was in-between will come with time.

[adarkershadeofwhitney]

Here’s a concept for Osaron from Shades of Magic. Just digging into the 3rd book and so psyched.