#Nonlinear

[ilikeit-art]

A Belousov–Zhabotinsky reaction, or BZ reaction, is one of a class of reactions that serve as a classical example of non-equilibrium thermodynamics, resulting in the establishment of a nonlinear chemical oscillator.

[archaeren]

Hello!! I hope you're having a good day ^^ I came across your post about writing non-linearly on Notion and I'm excited to try it out because the advice resonated with me! Though, I'm really new to using the app and, if possible, need help with how to do this part: 'where every scene is a separate table entry and the scene is written in the page inside that entry.' ;v;

Hello! Thank you so much for messaging!!! Since that post about writing non-linearly (linked for context) blew up roughly ten thousand times as much as anything I've ever posted, I've been kind of meaning to make a followup post explaining more about how I use Notion for writing non-linearly, but, you know, ADHD, so I haven't done it yet. XD In the meantime, I'll post a couple screenshots of my current long fic with some explanations! I'd make this post shorter, but I'm unable to not be Chatty. XD (just ask my poor readers how long my author notes are...) (There is a phone app as well which syncs with the desktop/browser versions, but I work predominantly in the desktop app so that's what I'm gonna be showing)

(the table keeps going off the right side of the image but it's a bunch of unimportant stuff tbh) So this is more complicated than what you'll probably start with because I'm Normal and add a bunch of details that you might not need depending on what you're doing. For example, my fic switches POVs so I have a column for tracking that, and my fic follows a canon timeline so I have a column for dates so I can keep track of them, and I also made columns for things like if a scene had spoilers or certain content readers may want to avoid, which they can access in my spoiler and content guide for the fic. (As I said, I'm Normal.) I also do some complicated stuff using Status and estimated wordcount stuff to get an idea of how long I predict the content to be, but again, not necessary. Anyway, you don't need any of that. For the purposes of this explanation, we're just gonna look at the columns I have called Name, Order, and Status. (And one called Part, but we'll get into that later) Columns in Notion have different types, such as Text, Numbers, Select, Date, etc, so make sure to use the type that works best for the purpose of each column! For example, here I'm using Select for Character POVs, Number for Order and WC (wordcount), and Text for the In-Game Date. Okay let's get into it! Name is a column that comes in a Notion table by default, and you can't get rid of it (which drives me up the wall for some purposes but works totally fine for what we're doing here). As you can see on the scene I've labeled 'roll call', if you hover over a Name entry, a little button called 'Open' appears, which you click on to open the document that's inside the table. That's all default, you don't have to set anything up for it. Here's a screenshot of what it looks like when I click the one titled 'I will be anything for you' (I've scrolled down in the screenshot so you can see the text, but all the data fields also appear at the top of the page)

(This view is called 'side peek' meaning the document opens on one side and you can still see the table under it on the left, which is what mine defaults to. But you can set it to 'center peek' or 'full page' as well.) All my scenes have their own entry like this! Note that I've said scenes, not chapters. I decide the chapters later by combining the scenes in whatever combination feels right, which means I can often decide in advance where my chapter endings will be. This helps me consciously give most of my endings more impact than I was usually able to do when I tried to write linearly. So hopefully that gives you an idea of what I mean by writing inside the table and treating the table as a living outline. The 'Status' column is also pretty straightforward, and might require a little setup for whatever your needs are. This is another default column type Notion has which is similar to a Select but has a few more specialized features. This is how mine is set up:

(I don't actually use 'Done', idk why I left it there. Probably I should replace it with 'Posted' and use that instead of the checkmark on the far left? whatever, don't let anyone tell you I'm organized. XDD)

Pretty straightforward, it just lets me see easily what's complete and what still needs work. (You'll notice there's no status for editing, because like I mentioned in my other post, I don't ever sit down to consciously edit, I just let it happen as I reread) Obviously tailor this to your own needs! The Order column is sneakily important, because this is what makes it easy for me to keep the scenes organized. I set the Sort on the table to use the Order to keep the scene ordered chronologically. When I make the initial list of scenes I know the fic will have, I give all of them a whole number to put them in order of events. Then as I write and come up with new scene ideas, the new scenes get a number with a decimal point to put them in the spot they fit in the timeline. (you can't see it here, but some of them have a decimal three or four digits deep, lol). Technically you can drag them to the correct spot manually, but if you ever create another View in your table (you can see I have eight Views in this one, they're right under the title) it won't keep your sorting in the new View and you'll hate yourself when it jumbles all your scenes. XD (And if you get more comfortable with Notion, you probably will at some point desire to make more Views) The Part column isn't necessary, but I found that as the fic grew longer, I was naturally separating the scenes into different points along the timeline by changes in status quo, etc. (ex. "this is before they go overseas" "this is after they speak for the first time", stuff like that) in my mind. To make it easier to decide where to place new scenes in the timeline, I formalized this into Parts, which initially I named with short summaries of the current status quo, and later changed to actual titles because I decided it would be cool to actually use them in the fic itself. Since it's not in the screenshots above, here's what the dropdown for it looks like:

(I've blocked some of the titles out for spoiler reasons)

Basically I only mention the Parts thing because I found it was a useful organizational tool for me and I was naturally doing it in my head anyway. Anyway, I could keep talking about this for a really long time because I love Notion (don't get me started on how I use toggle blocks for hiding content I've edited out without deleting it) but that should be enough to get started and I should really, you know, not make this another insanely long post. XDD And if anybody is curious about how the final results look, the fic can be found here.

[thirdity]

You must not think linearly... Nature doesn't; nature knows nothing of time. Time is an invention of the West.

Umberto Eco, Foucault's Pendulum

[quaintobsessions]

You Can Hear It Still

It hits me in the hush of 6 pm: your season drifting close. By now, you've switched it out

for closer access to the sun, but it smells exactly the same – apple chests, old books,

smoke and cloves. For a moment, it was last night that we laughed on stone steps

along a rippling canal in Amsterdam, the rosy moon as ripe and as full.

We can't fathom it, really, can we? How few more times we will feel the season shift,

how little longer the street's stillness will taste like scaling fences

and borrowed clothes – like woodsmoke blurring the stars, soup simmering on the stove,

and murmurs intense until dawn while your bandmates sleep on the floor.

[jamabushi]

[mc-conlang-alt]

Minecraft Conlang!

I recently started making a conlang in minecraft which will technically be my first “real” conlang.

It is still unnamed and mostly unfinished.

let me know if you have any questions, tips, and or suggestions in my asks.

goals:

my goal for this conlang was to make a system of writing / preserving information in a way that felt more like it was part of the world as opposed to just using text on signs.

I also thought it'd look cool for worldbuilding purposes.

It is meant to be accessible to those who are in the early stages of the game. If they have a crafting table and access to any type of wood and or stone, they can write in this conlang. (I try to avoid using stairs and fences/walls too much since those cost a lot of blocks and can't be substituted/remade into full blocks like slabs can).

this post covers basic grammar and vocabulary. For more, see these other posts:

Causality

Pronouns

Nouns

(from left to right)

-any type of block—also used to describe structures: (a block)

-a player: (two block pillar)

-a mob: (three block pillar)

-a projectile: (a two block pillar with one block adjacent to the top one)

-item / tool: (two blocks placed adjacent to each other on the ground)

Verbs

Verbs are placed such that the verb is above and adjacent to the uppermost block of the noun (subject) they are connected to on the side that points towards their object.

(left to right)

-to exist (at); to be still: (one block)

-to create: (two block pillar)

-to attack; to damage; left click: (a slab)

-to consume; to use; right click: (slab with another slab a half a block above it)

-to emit any type of (sensory) information; to be perceived by something: (a slab that is up by half a block)

-to turn into; to become: (one block with a slab that is half a block above it)

-to jump (over/towards): (a slab with a block above it)

-to move (towards): (a slab that is up by half a block with a block on top of it)

-to sneak (past/towards): (a block with a slab on top of it)

Simple Structures

in a simple sentence, the verb is connected to the subject and points to the object.

(left to right)

“mob is perceived by player” or “the player perceives the mob”

“player becomes items” or “the player dies”

Multiple Verbs & Multiple Objects

a noun can have up to 4 verbs connected to its main body. Below is an example of a noun with 2 verbs connected to its main body.

both of the above structures say “player-A hits player-B and consumes an item”

verbs can also be strung together as seen below.

this structure (also) says “player-A hits player-B and consumes an item”

these strings can be any length but it’s better for them to be shorter (2-5 blocks long).

placing a stair in a string of verbs means to skip the noun that the stair would’ve been applied to if it were a verb.

“the projectile damages a mob” (the player is skipped over)

strings can even “overlap” and form structures like this:

these events do NOT occur in a specific order. I’m just describing it this way so it’s easier to follow.

(if read from left to right) this structure says:

“projectile-A damages mob-A.

mob-A attacks player-A and creates mob-B.

player-A creates projectile-A (skipped mob-A because of the stair).

mob-B damages player-A.”

this could be describing a fight between a bow-wielding player and an evoker (since evokers “create mobs” (vexes) )

Describing Things by Using Hypotheticals

this part of the language takes inspiration from UNLWS and is also kind of like of how someone might describe particularly complex things in toki pona.

hypotheticals can be used to add context to what something is by placing that thing in a hypothetical scenario.

like the most recent sentence, one can imply what is being spoken about through context (that the above sentence could describe a fight between a player and an evoker).

but, if someone feels as if there isn’t enough information to imply things through context or that they just want to describe a standalone thing in detail, they can use hypotheticals.

all nouns have an alternate form for when they are being used in a hypothetical scenario.

(left to right)

Hypothetical forms:

-any block: (a stair)

-player: (a slab with a block above it)

-mob: (a slab with a two block pillar above it)

-projectile: (a slab with a block above it and another block adjacent to the above block)

-item / tool: (two slabs that are adjacent to each other and half a block above the ground)

when real nouns are used alongside hypothetical ones, the hypothetical nouns add context which describes the real noun.

the above structure says "a mob (which attacks a hypothetical player)" which could describe a hostile mob.

the above structure says "a mob (that attacks a hypothetical player and damages hypothetical blocks)"

this could describe a creeper (since they both destroy blocks and attack the player).

notes

this is pretty much all I have right now. This language is 3 dimensional but most of the examples are 2D since it's easier to take pictures of them that way.

this is a shortened version of what I have as of now and I left some things out.

things that I made for this language but I left out/might change:

number system

ways to describe coordinates

describing the size and shape of terrain and builds

a crude way of ordering nouns chronologically

things I might want to do:

time (night, day, etc.)

tenses

negation

some of the current verbs seem basically useless so may I want to either change their functions or alter their meanings

[b0bthebuilder35]

[posthumanwanderings]

[ Shenmue Passport - Passport Menu Music (Extended) ]

[anoelleart]

WIP Intro - The Protolith

Finally doing a WIP intro :0

Genre: Adult [18+] Fantasy Nonlinear Romance

Subgenres: gaslamp fantasy, dark academia, forbidden romance

Progress: First draft, 100k words so far!

Blurb: See this post :)

Tag: Protolith

Characters:

Charlotte [26, she/her]: impulsive, outspoken medical student and disgraced noblewoman. Seeks to re-enter the high court with her new husband, leaving her salacious past behind

Edith [26, she/her]: witty, feminist, polyamorous mathematician who works as Charlotte's lady-in-waiting and confidante

The Stranger [42, he/him]: a stoic war priest with a playboy reputation, money to burn, and hidden secrets

Nathaniel [22, he/him]: new-to-town rich boy with ties to the church and a new marriage to Charlotte to launch his career at court

Setting: Lorenzia, a marble city at the center of the Empire, a theocratic and oligarchic state

Vibes: late nights, summer rain, smoky scotch, cigars after sex

Excerpt:

Charlotte spent her nights one of two ways: seducing wealthy men at lavish parties or studying the cardiovascular system of a stolen cadaver. Though she vastly preferred the company of cadavers to men, tonight, Charlotte attended the former.

Read More Here:

The Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Excerpts: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 (not chronological)

[I only post the first scene from each chapter, so please click the "read more!" link to read the entire chapter]

Writeblr Intro w/ Prolotith Links

[TW: This story contains discussion of sex work including graphic sexual content, survival sex work and sexual assault. Additionally, there are discussions of depression, suicidal thoughts, suicide, self-harm, and heavy drug use.]

Tag List: @broodparasitism, @socialmediasocrates, @asablehart, @anarchyandroses, @leighvalentin, @seasteading, @authoralexharvey, @local-writers-corner, @namelessscribe, @chishiio, @amaiguri, @innocentlymacabre [Just ask if you want to be added to the tag list!]

[theladygia]

New Fic: Star Wars Platonic Soulmates AU

Back when I still had my intense writing mojo going (early 2023), I had been plotting out a month of soulmate fics. Unfortunately, between a promotion at work and my depression acting up, that idea got indefinitely shelved. Still, I'd decided on fandoms and pairings for around 25 of the 30 fics, and I'd started writing about 10 of them.

This platonic soulmates AU centered around Anakin Skywalker and Leia Organa (or, in this fic, Leia Naberrie-Skywalker) is one of those 10 that actually had a semi-coherent draft. So since I've been trying to get back into the habit of writing, I dusted this one off and finished it up.

Anakin is one of those characters that I loved reading about but have always been wary of writing the POV for fear of getting it wrong, so this was an exercise in getting tf over that or at least giving it a go anyway.

twin flames or suns or other things that burn is a 2.5k complete oneshot featuring Anakin Skywalker's non-linear contemplation of his relationships with the people he cares about most and how being soulmated to his daughter has changed his perspective of himself.

twin flames or suns or other things that burn

Star Wars, G, Gen, alternate universe - soulmates, platonic soulmates, introspection.

They are like the twin suns of the planet he hates, Anakin and his daughter. Because that is him and Leia, twin flames, two beings burning brighter than the surfaces of all the suns in the galaxy combined. Their heat is not the gentle, life-giving warmth of his wife or his son. No, theirs is a blinding, suffocating blaze that could snuff out all sentience and sapience in its beautiful destruction.

[agentnico]

We Live in Time (2024) review

Not going to lie, I got really excited when the carousel-horse-that-became-a-meme appeared on screen.

Plot: An up-and-coming chef and a recent divorcée find their lives forever changed when a chance encounter brings them together, in a decade-spanning, deeply moving romance.

Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield are both very talented young actors, who offer some consistently great performances. Pugh should be giving all the credit in the world for being one of the only interesting characters of the modern era of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Garfield never fails to impress with his post-Spidey roles in films like Hacksaw Ridge, Tick…Tick…Boom! and Silence, so when it was announced that these two lovely chums were going to be starring together in a romantic drama, I naturally was enticed. And after seeing the trailer I went into this movie expecting to see Andrew Garfield’s character watch his girlfriend (Pugh) die from cancer. What I got was Andrew Garfield’s character watching his girlfriend (Pugh) die from cancer. Why the hell did this movie think it was okay to meet my expectations??!

That’s the primary issue with We Live in Time. It’s the kind of depressing romance about a lover seeing their partner die from an illness which we have seen countless of times before, with the movie putting its focus on setting up scenes to have a dramatic and emotional gut-punch. But because every other scene has to have that aforementioned gut-punch, as a whole package it loses that emotional effect. However additionally We Live in Time makes a bold narrative choice by employing a nonlinear structure. Evidently a creative choice to add complexity to the story, making the experience feel like a series of fragmented memories or dreamlike flashbacks, it comes at the cost of emotional connection. The constant jumping between different moments in the relationship prevents the audience from fully immersing themselves in key events. As such I found myself not really caring much for what was happening.

For example I wish we had a deeper dive into Almut’s (Florence Pugh) career as a chef. We are told that cooking is her passion, but the film does not spend much time exploring why this is so important to her, nor providing much of an backstory to it, so when the final act of the film revolves around her going for her supposed dream, again it backfires a little, as we as an audience we’re not given any hook to actually connect with her determination.

Despite its shortcomings, the two leads are fantastic. Both Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield are the kind of actors that are really good at finding chemistry with any actor they are partnered with, so when these two are couple together it’s sparks flying. They manage to convey raw emotion with depth, managing to at least get some emotion out of a script and a film structure that do everything to limit said emotion. Also, is it just me or is this now in Florence Pugh’s contract to show off her boobs on screen? This is the second time in a row she’s done so. On the other hand Garfield must have a clause in his contract that he must have a scene where he has a passionate argument with his partner. So I guess every actor has their kinks, just saying.

We Live in Time is not a revolutionary movie, and it’s something we have seen plenty of times before, only here it is also hindered by questionable directorial choices. I really wanted to love this due to being a fan of both the actors, but this movie was a slog.

Overall score: 5/10

[hp-fanfic-archive]

Yours is the Earth (Hold On, Hold On) by chickenlivesinpumpkin Pairing: Harry/Draco Rating: E Word Count: 127k After a serious accident in the Forbidden Forest, Draco's personality begins to undergo subtle changes. At first, Harry credits this to a new enthusiasm for life. But as the days pass and Draco's behavior becomes more and more mysterious, Harry begins to suspect that something bigger--and darker--is at work.

[vivianaster]

Raindrops

The War is over, but Hermione can only reminisce as she lies in the grass with a knife wound in her side. Oneshot, non-HEA

[hellcheerficdatabase]

A Very Hellcheer Christmas

Author: @intothetrees

Rating/Warning: Teen and up audience

Chapter Count: 7/7

Description: Each chapter is titled with the one-word prompt for that day…this was a really fun, fluffy challenge! Hope you enjoy!

Tags: Alternate Universe, Eddie is a sweetie, Chrissy is a sweetie, fluff, different moments in their relationship, nonlinear, mutual pining, domestic fluff, Christmas au, alternating POV, multiple chapters, status: completed

[nichrome-media]

Nonlinear Storytelling

Slice #200

[theabusediary]

You have to unlearn what the abuse taught you.

All of it.