#how to write a plot-driving character

[rightwriter]

Ellen Brock again with another amazing video! If there's one channel you should binge-watch every video, it's Ellen's! Her experience in the industry is invaluable. This is a great video for writing a page-turning story :)

[taraxippos]

I think people tend to assume that any criticism of worldbuilding is ultimately a demand for a story to grind itself to a halt and give the reader 20 paragraphs of exposition, and like. Most of the time good-faith criticism of this nature is coming from a core aspect of the story not being grounded in the setting in a way that outright detracts from the story's quality. You fix it not by Explaining but by Showing it passively in the makeup of the world.

Like the last instance I saw this critique in was like 'you can't expect an author to stop and exposit the nuances of gender roles/Queerness in a fictional society' and it's like yeah I don't, and in fact this is actually one of the easiest things to show in the text without exposition. If a society has gender norms to begin with you'll see aspects of these norms baked into EVERYTHING. You'll see it in its stories, its religion, its taboos, its etiquette, its clothing, its family structures, its language, its insults, its labor, its leadership, etc. It will have massive impacts on how characters interact with one another and how they perceive themselves. It will help Shape your characters.

If you do this legwork to begin with for the core facets of your story, you will find very natural places for these concepts to be demonstrated without derailing the plot and with little to no exposition. THAT sort of thing is what's being asked of you.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Gaslight, Gatekeep, Girl found dead in a hidden room.

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[angelsdean]

don't know how people multi-fandom. dipped my toe into another one and immediately backed out bc everyone there was insufferable.

[greenleaf4stuff]

Of Convenience – Epilogue (Part 11.1)

(all previous parts of "Of Convenience")

Adar x Celebrimbor (silverscars) political marriage AU, 11th snippet / epilogue, part 1. The fight has been won, feelings have been shared, things are well. All that is left now is for Adar and Celebrimbor to start their future together – and while shadows of the past might still haunt them for a while, they have each other to keep them at bay.

Here be intimacy (making out) that will lead to smut in the next part! This is at least T rated and will move to M rating in the next bit. Please mind the ratings!

I thought I’d give those two not just a few kisses (though they share plenty of those in chapter as well) but a lil more intimacy. As a treat. That is basically all this is. I think I made it pretty fluffy and very heartfelt, so I hope you lovely people will enjoy this as much as the rest of the fic. I originally planned for this to be a one-part final (sexy) farewell but it seems I am incapable of writing this epilogue without some more plot and character moments, and therefore had to split it up into two parts. Once again a big Thank You to @plotdesigner for helping me with some ideas for this one. I was pretty fried by the end of this fic, so thank you for your support! <3)

The immediate aftermath of the fight against Sauron was a blur of activity. Once the uruk and elven fighters had arrived, worried by Mirdania’s and Glûg’s warnings, there had been shouts for healers and then, the beginnings of loud, elated proclamations of the shared victory over the Deceiver.

Celebrimbor had witnessed all this as if through a fog; his body needed a bit of time to realize that the battle was truly over, but when it did, he felt a wave of fatigue wash over him. His friends looked much the same way, though Gil-Galad at least tried to hide it.

Adar, a steady presence by the smith's side, also seemed to finally succumb to his own exhaustion. He didn’t outwardly appear tired, but kept his arm around Celebrimbor’s waist and used the position to occassionally lean onto him. The warmth of his body, the safety of his presence, quickly turned Celebrimbor from fatigued to downright sleepy.

Which was why he used the first opportunity that presented itself to take Adar aside and drag him to the smith’s spare bedchamber in the forge tower. He’d decided to have it constructed due to his perchant for getting too immersed in his work to mind the time, and was glad when he found that it had been left completely untouched in his abscence.

The elf pulled Adar alongside him, before he simply collapsed onto the bed, uncaring whether he looked particularly graceful in the process. He beckoned the uruk to join him. "I can tell you are falling asleep on your feet, same as me. I’d like to hold you while I rest. Please?"

Adar had fought himself, albeit briefly, "The uruk-"

"Know that we have won the fight. Your lieutenants are more than capable. They’ll understand," and then Celebrimbor smirked, just a little. "If they aren’t celebrating already."

That seemed to do the trick. Adar laughed, low and warm, then trudged over to the side of the bed. When he made to take off his boots, Celebrimbor scoffed and just tugged him down on top of the covers. "We can have that cleaned tomorrow, or whenever it is we will wake up next," he decided, and then pulled the uruk close.

They ended up in an embrace, with Celebrimbor’s head tucked underneath Adar’s chin and his nose at the uruk's throat, their arms tightly woven around one another’s bodies, legs tangled. Adar soon placed a hand onto Celebrimbor's nape and carded his fingers through the elf's blond-brown locks, a touch that lulled both of them to sleep.

They awoke in much the same position the next morning, to gentle breaths and steady heartbeats, which just went to show at how much they had needed to rest after the last few weeks.

That day, too, was a blur; this time for how busy it was. Celebrimbor and Gil-Galad both had to address Eregion’s citizens and make sure to explain the situation to them, including the presence of the uruk in and around the city. Adar himself rejoined his troops to tell them in detail how the victory of their alliance had been achieved, and from what Celebrimbor had been told by Gurlak later, he’d been held up in the celebrations afterwards.

The uruk were loud in their festivities, the sound of battle songs and large drums drifting over the city walls. Celebrimbor found himself smiling as he heard it, leaning out the window of his private quarters.

He and Adar both knew that the responsibilities towards their people could not be neglected – not even for the sake of the newfound closeness between them. Despite that, the elf was already aching to see his husband again.

Which was why he was quite delighted when, come evening, Adar finally returned to Eregion. Supposedly to give Gil-Galad a report on the uruk army, but judging by the amused expressions on everyone else’s faces, they were quite aware how neither Celebrimbor nor Adar could stop staring at the other. Or how they barely followed the conversation between the rest of the elven leaders.

Eventually, Ereinion had simply rolled his eyes and shooed them off. "We will continue this tomorrow. It is clear you two need the time to discuss other matters first," he stated, but his exasperation came with a fond undertone and was accompanied by a smile.

Celebrimbor flustered, especially since Galadriel also felt emboldened to throw him a knowing smirk, but he ultimately did not object. Adar, too, might have held himself up straight and attempted to affect a scowl, but was quick to incline his head and follow Celebrimbor’s lead when the elf left the other leaders to their talks.

It was already getting late. The smith dreaded the thought of sleeping alone in his own bed after he and Adar had spent so much time together in their tent, sitting and dining and talking, their cots standing close enough to hear one another’s breaths during the night.

"Would you…" he briefly faltered, then swallowed and looked at Adar with a hopeful expression. "Would you stay?"

He hadn’t even intended it to be more than a request for company, for Adar sleep in his bed with him, but, alas-

When they had closed the doors to the elf’s quarters behind them, they had been unable to keep away from each other. It started with them holding each other close once again, and then their lips found themselves pressed together just as easily.

There was no urgency, per se. Celebrimbor felt lighter being close to the uruk, and warmth was spreading through him as they kissed. It was a slow progression from chaste pecks to something deeper when Adar’s tongue asked entrance to the elf’s mouth, which he granted with a small moan and a shiver.

Adar had his hands on Celebrimbor’s hips, while the elf had placed one hand between the uruk’s shoulderblades and moved the other to his cheek, which he cupped in his palm.

The uruk’s scars were rough under the elf’s hand. He stroked curious fingers along the raised tissue, then moved his hand into Adar’s hair. It was as soft as he remembered from their wedding kiss. The smith delighted in finally being able to card his fingers through the strands at his leisure and felt a stab of heat when his husband groaned in obvious delight.

When Adar reached for Celebrimbor’s tunic, the smith readily nodded at Adar's silent question and raised his arms to let the other shed the garment from him. It felt easy as breathing. In the candlelight of his room, the elf watched as Adar took him in, pupils already dilated as his eyes moved across Celebrimbor’s torso. His hand, when he reached out, was gentle as it moved over the elf's arms and chest.

There was a tiny frown on his face when he found the purpling bruises on Celebrimbor’s neck from the day before. The elf let the other take them in, tilted his head to the side as Adar felt around the skin of his throat.

"It’s not as bad as it looks. It’ll be gone in a day or two," the elf reassured his husband. When the other looked at him, Celebrimbor smiled and pressed Adar’s hand to his chest instead, right over his heart. "It’ll heal. I’m alright."

The uruk watched him for a moment. When the smith continued to look at him evenly, and did not flinch under his touch, he nodded and drew Celebrimbor into another deep kiss.

Their embrace felt good to the elf, but it also felt slightly cold now, without his tunic and while the chilled metal of Adar’s breastplate was digging into his chest. He slowly pulled back from the kiss and tugged at the laces that held the chest armor in place, a silent question of his own.

The uruk understood, and made quick work of his armor. Celebrimbor felt greedy as he saw his husband take off his breastplate first, then the chainmail, with practiced and easy movements. He hadn’t often seen the other without his armor before, which made him all the more eager to take in the outline of his muscles, the shape of his body underneath the heavy layers.

He put his hands on top of Adar’s tunic and let them move about, felt the hardness of his upper arms and pecs through the fabric. The elf’s breath came out in a shudder. He had no doubt his own pupils were blown wide by then as well.

Celebrimbor looked at Adar as he moved his hand down to gently tug at the hem of his top, but stopped himself when he saw the expression on his husband’s face. He’d squared his jaw and his eyebrows had furrowed.

"Adar," the smith said, quietly, and waited till the uruk would look at him. "We don’t have to. I only intended to have you sleep in the same bed as me – we can do just that. It would be more than enough."

The uruk had been very delicate when it came to ensuring Celebrimbor’s comfort, after he’d proposed the political marriage to him. And during their wedding. Perhaps this had been as much for Adar’s benefit as his own, or perhaps the uruk had made experiences in the past that made him cautious.

Celebrimbor had absolutely no objection extending the same courtesy to him – he wanted this to feel good for Adar as well. "If you only wish for us to kiss, or even just share a bed to sleep, that is alright. Truly. I do not expect anything from you."

The uruk looked at him with deep fondness, and cupped Celebrimbor’s cheek. "It is not that- at least, not precisely."

He took a deep breath. "You might already have guessed it, but my face isn’t the only part of my body that is scarred. I do not wish to frighten you."

Celebrimbor was stunned speechless for a moment, but then quickly cupped Adar’s cheeks and brought their foreheads together. He implored the other with his eyes to believe him as he said, "You could not frighten me. I take you as you are, if you will have me. I wish to learn your body just as it is, whatever it may look like."

Adar still seemed unsure, so Celebrimbor stroked his cheeks and gave him a moment. Finally, the uruk nodded, and then slightly drew back.

Without another word, he lifted up the hand with his gauntlet. Celebrimbor watched him unlace the strings that kept the gauntlet tight on his hand, and then take it off.

He knew what Adar had meant, then.

His hand had been mangled and remade multiple times, it looked like. Patches of the skin were black and hardened, the nails of his fingers short stubs. It seemed he only had limited movement to his fingers as well, which the gauntlet had either mitigated or managed to hide from Celebrimbor’s sight. Scars criss-crossed the uruk's hand, from below his sleeve, over his wrist and up to his fingertips.

Adar’s face had turned expressionless once more, a mask he wore to protect himself. Celebrimbor hated it and wanted to see it gone, so he smoothed a gentle thumb over Adar’s cheek before he reached out to take his newly uncovered hand in both of his own.

Just before touching it, he stopped, and looked at Adar. "Can I touch you here?"

The mask fell away, replaced by a look of appreciation. Adar nodded. "Yes. Of course."

"Thank you," Celebrimbor replied, and then took the hand between his own, gentle as if he were holding something fragile. In a way, he supposed he was.

He moved the pads of his own fingers over the raised, uneven skin, felt it's differences against his own. Truly, great harm had been done to this former elf, and yet compassion and kindness had survived in his heart. He’d managed to turn his pain and rage into protectiveness, even if it had been misguided at times in the past.

How could Celebrimbor revile the signs of that? Or fear them?

Carefully, slowly, he lifted the uruk’s hand to his face. He placed gentle kisses upon it, first onto Adar’s knuckles, then his fingertips. And then, he turned up the palm and pressed it to his lips. He closed Adar’s fingers over his cheek and held the other there with his own hand.

His eyes finally turned back to his husband and watched him from beneath his lashes.

Hoping, willing, the other to understand without words.

Judging by the way Adar drew a deep, sharp breath, and then tilted forward to draw Celebrimbor into an urgent kiss, he had managed.

[ghostlycod]

“I have this scene in my head for my fic that I really love but i don’t feel like writing all of the other stuff to get to it.”

I see this comment like 5 times a day in fic writing spaces lol

a scene that you don’t want to write is a scene you don’t want to read. don’t write stuff you don’t want to read.

me, personally: wait until the scenes that get you to that first initial scene you were excited about are just as interesting as that scene too. it won’t be the first, second, or third thing you think of. if u have a scene you really want to write, write that, and keep writing only those exciting scenes that come to you. eventually you have a million interesting scenes for your fic and they become puzzle pieces for you to arrange and then eventually the strings come together and you realize you really do have an interesting way to get to that original scene, and you’re just as excited to write it, if you haven’t already written it when you were brainstorming other scenes earlier in the writing process that you didn’t even realize could carry your story like that.

[eebie]

the underwater episode of bojack horseman makes me so SAD ..

[amelikos]

Episode 100.. soon.

[langfield]

personally i don’t think max being the protag of de is a problem? i understand people who think that safi would’ve made a great protagonist and i agree with that -- but i also think she works best as a non playable entity in de. while maya’s, vinh’s, and safi’s stories would be fun to explore i do not necessarily think it’s full game material? it was rather mundane seeming besides the whole book stealing shit and maya killing herself … and as for safi on her revenge tour post book canceling, i struggle to see how that would work either because safi works as an isolated party the entire time and nobody would’ve been willing to help her anyway, considering everyone’s stances on it afterwards. and safi deciding to choose peace would feel so odd because she has way more healing to do than de allows and fits better as a character who leaves the narrative after it’s wronged her repeatedly. there’s also the case of the lis protag standard which would be two love interests and with maya dead and vinh’s relationship with safi unable to ever be any sort of end game, it’s like … well who would they pick? i do think there’s more max could’ve done in the narrative and i do think it’s obvious that she was a cash cow, but i’ve never struggled with her inclusion in de the way most seem to tbh. in fact it’s her being there that helps fuck everything up and causes a climax of any kind ( safi was sort of lost without max’s investigation skills and wouldn’t have ever thought to go on stage to spill her truth without her, etc etc ) — of course, people can be creative and imagine different scenarios! it’s the fun of projects and rewrites! but also max not being there causes more of a hole than anything at this point imo

[thedevotionaltour]

even for period typical ableism it still drives me nuts for karen to go oh poor matt how can he deal and get around as if he hasn't been blind most of his life at this point and living on his own by himself as an adult for his entire adult life after college and has also lived in the city his whole life like girl use your damn brain he can get around by himself just fine. good god. like take five seconds to use your brain. literally adult man who lives by himself if nothing else that should tell you he is fine and when he needs assistance has the knowledge and ability to go get it you act as if he can't even walk on the sidewalk by himself. he literally shows up to work by himself. it drives me up the wall sometimes how she sees proof of him functioning fine independently literally witnesses it on the daily and still thinks these things. like again foggy isn't great either bc again the period typical ableism (and just general ableism in the world outside of this period as this is a common attitude of viewing disabled people as helpless and unable to function even if they are people who do live independently (and im not touching on people who do need extra support and caretaking in this context. as this post is about these characters in the context of a story. so im talking about what we see there instead of any truly meaningful nuanced way) but the writing here is like. Particularly this way due to the time) he has a modicum more of understanding that matt is literally a capable grown adult man. literally told karen matt is a big boy who can handle himself and then karen went b-b-but you forget he's blind as if foggy hasn't known him for years of his life and is his best friend like PLEASE SEE HIM AS AN ADULT. I AM GOING TO GO INSANE. PLEASE RESPECT HIM IF YOU LOVE HIM SO DEARLY. AND EVEN IF YOU DIDN'T. JUST RESPECT HIM AS A PERSON!!!!!!

[leori-the-unlearned]

rereading IDW sonic is giving me a better picture of just how skewed tangle’s recent characterization is :(

i know continuity marches on and all but man. tangle is the only one getting THIS bent out of shape all the time and it sucks. she’s the everyman (she really shouldn’t be) and keeps getting mistaken for a different character trope by each new arc’s writers

[violentlydefending]

genuinely always so shocked to see mirei hate. like literally god forbid women do anything.

[full-pockets]

Wait wait okay so Mineru's ability is she can seperate her soul from her body and put that soul in something else. I believe in game she calls it her spirit but soul is like the same thing. Also spirit sounds more 'mystical' and soul might have religious context to it? Whatever. The stones amplify the holders already present power, not giving them 'new' ones, meaning she already had some power relating to spirit magic.

Two questions.

One, what was the extent of her power BEFORE she got the stone? In the scene she describes it as the stone gave her the ability to take her soul out of her body, not like she always had the ability to do that.

Two, if she can do that, why couldn't she separate Ganon's spirit from his body as a way to stall for time or temporarily stop his rampage?

It still doesn't make sense to me that Rarau, the light guy, was able to put Ganon in a stasis when Sonia's thing was time. Thou with Ganon killing Sonia and stealing her stone that couldn't be done. But it felt like, a kinda crappy way to go about that. The whole scene felt, not planned well. It felt like a first draft they went with instead of really dissecting the possibilities and making a more compelling and imo, more 'logical makes sense' of a story. If Sonia wasn't used as a sacrificial lamb for the story, SHE could have used her time powers to stall+stasis Ganon. She could have used her time powers to stall the malice infecting Link's arm, slowing it but never fully able to stop it due to her weakened power from keeping a lock on Ganon all these years and giving us the same reason to get the orbs to purify Link's arm.

This could also serve as a mirror back to Zelda's plight from BotW, stalling the big bad (she wasn't using time powers but still) but her power waning, unable to fully end it, just slow it down. Fighting the same foe, failing, and stalling, relying on the hero to finish business.

However, I feel like part of the reason Rarau was chosen to stop Ganon and give Link his arm was that he's Zonai, he's new, and the developers wanted to push that rather than the ancient Hylians. After all they did give us *too much of the Zonai and also still not enough. Even thou Rarau ends up playing such a small part in Link's encounters and is like, never seen again after the tutorial area then once more at the very anti climatic ending for Zelda.

Incase you couldn't tell, I have NOT finished the game, I probably never will and I've only spent 45 hours on it then never picked it up. 5 of those hours was spent on the tutorial sky island (I messed up so badly my first time that I *had to start over). I have also not seen many ending scenes so maybe there was a legit reason Mineru couldn't trap Ganon's soul but with the crappy writing of this game, I wouldn't be surprised if it was some dumb reason.

[ssaalexblake]

my other controversial disco s1 opinion was that Georgiou (Captain) was below the belt level cruel to Michael before she died and it's very easy to see how her evil counterpart became Emperor.

[llycaons]

many fics are also bad bc they don't recognize wwx is a beast