#if seal: plotting

[if-seal]

Hello IF Seal! I have a question about how to progress the plot along by having things happen to the MC, instead of having the MC initiate everything. I much prefer stories that work like this (and I think in the world of IF they're more compelling, because the MC can truly be a blank slate and then the player gets to choose how they react instead of being forced into an action), and yet, I really struggle to write them.

Dear Plot-Progressing Friend,

As with many things, it's my thought that a balance is a good thing to aim for with this kind of thing.

Certainly it is fabulous to have plenty of options in which the MC can choose how to respond to major events. For example, the MC may be quietly having coffee when an adorable fellow visitor to the establishment accidentally drops their tray! Or the MC may be on the run from magical law-enforcement having just completed their heist! Or the MC may need to figure out how best to do their job of mussel-diving in their local caves for the day.

A lot of branching narrative is all about giving players options in handling what the game throws at them and writing situations like this enables players to decide what matters to their MC, what their personality is, and more.

That said! If you are finding that you are always writing the MC responding to things rather than acting, I wonder if there is some imbalance going on. If the MC is always reactive rather than proactive, that will work for some players and paths, but at other points it's great to also give the MC agency to make decisions.

For example:

They've come to the coffee shop and have seen their friend whom they've been arguing with, their rival at the swimming club, and the mysterious visitor to town whom they've seen lurking around the local graveyard. Who do they want to sit with? Do they want to sit alone? What happens in response to each of those actions?

And do you have the scope and ideas to have the MC go "actually I don't want to go to the coffee shop, I need to get to the library and work on my assignment" and have an entirely different branch?

I reread your question a couple of times and wonder about a line of reasoning that I believe is "if the MC initiates everything, they're forced into an action". If the MC is always initiating everything and there's only one choice, that can certainly feel railroaded. But if the MC is given choices about what things they can initiate, that's a different kettle of fish altogether. I also believe that if the MC is only ever having things happen to them, that can result in the same kind of unwanted railroading.

And no one wants an unwanted railroad!

So what I would recommend is having a look at your plot and where you are in it, and think about how the MC could knowingly or unknowingly drive it forward - and how they could respond to having an event happen to them. I think having a combination of these approaches may help it feel more organic and responsive, and hopefully you won't be put into that struggling situation.

Best of luck!

[lastpositivist]

Opening narration: Flurgles are weird little guys and everyone hates them.

Sam Vimes: I hate those bloody Flurgles, shifty little bastards the lot of them.

<some plot events later>

Sam Vimes: if you say one bad word about Flurgles I will kill you; straight up, you'll be dead.

[marthajefferson]

♙♖♘♗♕♔

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Blazing Saddles (1974), Casablanca (1942), Aladdin (1992), Back to the Future Part III (1990), Blade Runner (1982), The Seventh Seal (1957), X-Men: First Class (2011), Independence Day (1996), Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011), Anastasia (1997), Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001), The Killing (1956), The Thing (1982)

[the-shotce-newsletter]

Scene from a fic I started. Selkie Soap is stuck as a seal and has a lot to say to Price, who’s hunting for answers. He can easily scoot and hop around, but why do that when he can make Ghost carry him like a sack of potatoes? Gaz is the only amused one.

[letyhide]

I am NOT looking forward to that Sunkissed talk today.

Already heard him explain it to Pangi and was not impressed. His plan was to "give Zam a taste of (her) medicine by helping the enemy team" or something like that (he implied, like Zam had done with the Bacon wardens , and the Jumper hearts etc..). And it was a way to show her how its "bad" to play all sides... which.. urgh....

Zams whole thing is about Balance: He helped Bacon because, realistically Bacon was doing something for the server (by making it active again) and was gonna get banned by natural causes. So Zam decided she wanted to be a helping hand in making everything more fun, and make Bacon last just long enough for everyone to be satisfied in the arc. Bacon was alone in his effort, a clear underdog. When He found the materials chest, Bacon was only on 2. He needed the help or he could have easily gotten banned

(ik he said he would have probably gotten the materials himself, but like technically he could've died obtaining them, while afking a farm. Or something. Ending the arc randomly, casually. In an even less satisfying way, as Bacon put his banning as the "stop spawning wardens" condition)

Without Zams help, things would've played out differently. And its not like she wasn't out for Bacon's blood, she wanted to ban him almost more than anyone. She Just wanted to give more time for him to achieve his true goal of understanding Subz.

Again to Zam it's all about Balance and helping the server itself function, so when a low-hearts player has a cool idea, even tho they're your enemy, if they're in dire need: you help them, because nobody else will. It gives people a chance to log on the server, and do stuff, and be active enough to have those ideas and put them into fruition (and make the server intresting. A way to make things HAPPEN). It's such a noble and important cause for a content-oriented-server. That recently seems to be more pvp-oriented (or that's how the chunpire's ideals would seem to make it).

And I would like to say that there is NOTHING wrong with not understanding Zam's goals and her view on the server. Nobody is expected to, and realistically, it is more interesting for people to oppose her.

But what is odd, is having a player, seemingly piece together Zam was helping Bacon. Confront her about it, and sit there and pretend to have a complete understanding of it, and promise to always be by her side. Just to go ahead and do something behind her back, and then claim to be doing it for Zam's sake ????????? The only way you could see these situations as similar, is by viewing what Zam did with Bacon and Jumper, as "Betrayal" yourself, which would again prove that Derap did NOT understand Zam.

It's not a crime to betray, it's more annoying how Derap doesn’t see it as such, and thinks he's somehow in the right, and is gonna try and make Zam feel bad for it, by "apologising" for all the wrong things. But, again, he has already kinda revealed his true thoughts in part. "I didn't like that you gave Jumper hearts". which, again, makes Derap's way of thinking closer to Mapicc's than Zam. Then, why did he lie back then?

If he TRULY understood Zam, he could easily see how giving Bacon hearts and giving Chungpire are not that comparable. If the goal is Balance, helping a team which is already significantly stronger than yours, and has goals that are fundamentally opposite to them, is not really,,, the move, per say... Atlas was the underdog. The chumpire would have probably won every fight and confrontation even without the extra information.

It's almost like Derap pretended to understand her just to be by her side, while not listening or respecting her enough to ACTUALLY understand her motives. Which is something that has been happening her season between sunkissed. Derapchu pushing this relationship, repeating the same phrases of "I care about you most" "ill always be by your side" Sweet stuff, said in a vacuum. But when you listen to the way he talks to other people, you see that mask fall.

Will never forget him telling Zam over and over again how "nobody respected you for how much care you put into rebuilding spawn!". But when Bacon was the one rebuilding it, Derap would get in the call and ask the same damn questions Zam was always so tired of other people asking. "Why are you doing this Bacon? What's the point?" And even started saying stuff like "why even rebuild spawn the way it was before? Why not make new builds?". The same type of questions Zam has been asked time and time again. The same questions that someone who actually understands her Knows not to ask. Because in a way, that is exactly the kind of disrespect Zam was shown by other players. The behaviour Derap was condemning in front of Zam, but practicing on another Spawn-repairer.

And then he lied to Zam about Bacon choosing to not repair Zam's builds? and trying to claim he was completely alone in the warden efforts. Says it was a miscommunication error, but it was really convenient how it was used to push this idea of "it's just us two against the world" sentiment that he had been trying to convince Zam of all season huh....

((Then the Flame fights happened, and Derap called her "insane" and "crazy" for basically throwing herself at the enemy time and time again, and said that She was "stupid" for not asking for his help. yet on Evbo-day when Mane, Flame and Clown were chasing her. Derap made some sly comment of dismissal when asked if he wanted to help Zam at all. (something like responding "probably somewhere getting killed by flame idk" when asked where Zam was... or he said something about there being no point. i don't remember exaclty and i'm not bothered enough to go check, sorry). But then seemed so proud of her after. convienent))

And let's not forget the whole “forgetting to tell her he had been using exploited items (prot-4 armour) for months” ordeal. Something Zam has been deeply against for YEARS. saying "no more secrets" but being caught in another lie again and again, and saying "he forgot" to tell her that one small detail... but it happened like 3 times in a row. I already said it somewhere, but to me, that day is when Sunkissed should've ended as a teamup.

But back to the betrayal itself. From the way he put it, i got that, he didn’t agree with the way Zam thinks (despite telling her the whole season he did), and instead of communicating that, he was gonna go behind his back, to give the enemy team information, to “show her a lesson” on why playing all sides is bad. (again proving that He didn’t listen to or understand Zam at all, only pretended to).

It’s just so wild to me, because this is definitely targeted, he’s gonna say this was for “Zam’s greater good”, but you cannot tell me that this doesn’t come from bitterness. He didn’t like Zam giving hearts to Jumper at all. Then says “we need teammates Zam, sort things out with Mapicc”. But when the teammate who helps is ManePear, Derap isn’t happy (which.. Okay,, fair enough ig,, but how come Zam HAS to settle his differences with Mapicc, but he can’t with Mane?). When talking to Pangi Derap says “I would never work with Mapicc!” when that is exactly what he was trying to push Atlas into doing. Also, to add, he DID work with Mapicc When he GAVE HIM PANGI’S COORDS in secret, again when his goal was to teach “Pangi a lesson”, lying again.

And if we REALLY wanna compare this with the giving bacon hearts situation, there is ONE clear difference between those two situations. When Zam was confronted by Derap on whether or not she did it, Zam confessed everything. He was honest with Derapchu, explained his reasoning and everything, because he felt bad lying to him. But we know damn well Derapchu doesn’t feel bad lying to Zam, that’s all he’s been doing this season. When they were face to face, in that base, Zam asked again and again if Derapchu was betraying, and Derapchu goes “Are you crazy???? Are you insane? I would never work WITH MAPICC” now we know he was clearly latching onto a technicality, he wanted to work with Minute (who works with Mapicc, and told him everything), but he never misses a chance to make Zam feel lesser than for his paranoia, and talks down to her. Because he thinks he knows what’s best for her. During the Bacon confrontantion Derapchu insisted that he wasn't mad at Zam for the hearts themelves, but more of the fact that she didn't tell the team, which, when looking back, is pretty ironic. Because Zam in the end conefssed everything to him when confronted, Derap didn't.

Then when Zam tries to kill him anyway. Derapchu, after running away,  has THE NERVE to message her “i forgive you” before logging out. A slap to the face. (im genuinely going to rip my hair out thinking back to that).

Derap says to Zam. “I forgive you” beucase, at that point, Zam didn't have enough proof of the betrayal yet to be 100% sure (the killing attempt was a test after all), so he wanted her to doubt herself, and make her think she was somehow at fault (because someone who needs to be forgiven has to have done something wrong,, right?) By sending that message Derap was targeting the fondness Zam had for him at one point. And trying to manipulate his way back into the team. During all of this Derap is betraying, but doesn't think he is. Insane stuff.

Then Woogie comes in after shouting “what the fuck did you do” making Zam feel guilty for everything, as if she was the one at fault, which lead to her throwing herself into the void (the guilt tripping worked). And then, later, she gets the proof straight from Mapicc’s mouth, and Here comes Derap saying “I’m sorry I lied to you” in messages. Only sorry when caught.

Genuinly so frustrating, but intresting... Derap pretends to understand Zam to her face, to keep her by his side, but his actions are fueled by bitterness of his misunderstanding of her. he is the one who put himself in the situation of "always being by Zam's side" when he doesn't even make an effort to properly understand her, and only repeats sweet nothings to gain her affection and trust.

Last thing. At the end of the Pangi talk, Derap says that his goal is to "save everyone", to have everyone unbanned. and, again, nice goal. awesome, you unbanned a bunch of people. okay, but that "everyone" seems to be a little distorted. With the screenshot he posted on twitter, it seems he unbanned everyone EXCEPT Flame, Mane (and Evbo). Just like he didn't like Zam giving hearts to Jumper. hypocrite. It's more "Help everyone who hasn't been mean to me" which, isn't a bad goal, you can have that as a goal, but don't try to hide yourself behind a noble cause when you're as selfish as the rest of the server. nothing wrong with that again, you need to own up to it.

but this again prooves that he his and Zam's goal never truly aligned.

[hypertechnica]

star trek as a concept is completely sexless. it is utterly devoid of sex. not one drop of convincing sexual tension has ever graced the screen on any star trek show. the weird unintentionally homoerotic psychosexual mind game shit on the other hand,

[spark-circuit]

love that there's always some kind of secret storyline to everyone's animal crossing islands/towns. secret cults. soap dramas. if you have something up with your islands or villagers please tell me i always find these stories so so creative and funny 💙

[amber-angel]

What's the POINT?????

I half expected Misty's fucking chocolate martini to be poisoned, that's how out of left field these stupid plotlines are getting

[moeblob]

Merry, who I made for an AU, in another AU for a buddy.

[if-seal]

How long is the average chapter for an if? I'm a chapter 9, and idk if I could do another, unless I come up with something else. I'm really stretching myself thin here cus my concept is zombie apocalypse I don't really have much room. Most if's are (I think) 10+ so I'm a little concerned but I'm also planning for a s2 so idk. I just don't want to go in with low expectations of my work. Help <3?

Dear Measuring-Tape Friend,

I do not want to be hackneyed (actually that is a lie, I love to be hackneyed) but it is very much a "how long is a piece of string" answer.

If you are at Chapter 9 and you have explored the story of the game in a way that feels complete to you, there is no need to pad out further or introduce new conundrums that might feel artificial.

Once you've completed your draft, I recommend leaving it for a little while and then returning to play it yourself with fresher eyes. That will give you information about whether it feels like more story is required or whether it's exactly as it needs to be.

I'd also recommend keeping an eye on the ending sections to ensure that they feel satisfying, even as they allow for further exploration of the story in a game that comes afterwards. It would be a pity if after your hard work, it felt truncated not because of the length, but because of anticipating the later game a little too much.

Happy writing, zombie-apocalypse friend! And congratulations for getting so far in the project!

[boysofhyrule]

A Yiga foreshadowing

Link and Riju 100 years later after stunning Naboris

Riju: be careful Link!

Link: will do!

Link spends a while looking around Naboris

Link: Alright, so if Mipha spirit was in the last divine beasts so that means Urbosa should be here.

???:you would think that wouldn’t you hero

Link:Lady Urbosa?

???: try again

Link: Ganon?

???: Better!

Link: ummm Naboris?

???: what? No!

Behind link in a bluish green ghostly fire appears…a Yiga? Link immediately swings his sword through the ghost…it has no effect

???: Thats not going to work

Swing

???: yet you are still going to try

Swing swing swing

???: This is getting ridiculous

Swing swing

???: Do you have any bananas?

Link: huff…huff…huff where’s Urbosa?

???: Not here

Link: who are you?

???: you don’t recognize me?

Link:… … … … no … … …

???: IT IS I THE GREATEST ENEMY TO HYRULE! MASTER KOHGA!!!

Link: who? Wait what happened to Urbosa? I thought she died here?

Kohga: oh that, well I saved her

Bonus:

Kohga:Thanks for the bananas

Link: no problem but how ar-

Kohga tries to eat the banana to only have it go through him

[fishcalcart]

Happy pride and delayed mermay because I got trapped in the crystal time prison for like a month

Many Selkie!Au musings and ramblings <3

[waterlinkedgirl]

Musical Touken Ranbu: Hanakage Yureru Tomizu (The Shadows of Flowers Swaying In The Whetwater) english subs

About a month later than I'd have liked, but here they are! Even if its writing is a bit more messy than usual, its core is very solid. Of course, Chougi's live song more than got away with me (it's got Japanese Sign Language), so if you could, please watch it gently.

I dedicate this to the friends of mine who love Ichigo Hitofuri. May you be unapologetically yourself, right the way you are.

Keep in mind that this is only the subtitle file, timed and tled to the DMM senshuuraku and BD/DVD. The archive version will have a talk at the start, so the starting times of the subs will have to be delayed accordingly.

You can find the subtitles and my TL document here!

[ganondoodle]

you know, i had a totk thought (uh oh)

soemthign thats really bothering me about the whole "actually, ganondorf didnt like the guy appearing out of nowhere marrying a hylian and just saying yep das our kingdom now and we can mine it barren under your nose and also i got laserbeam pebbles that i totally wont ever use on anyone come join me or die just bc of all of that but mainly bc the guy brought some weird tech with him that he dont like" - thing is that ......... we see almost not a single tech thing in the past (and for that matter see nothing of the oh so perfect and peaceful paradise hyrule was before big evil desert man didnt want to join our paradise- like what is the point about making the whole point of the game be -we need to restore hyrule to this paradise it once was- when you dont even see it or get to care about anything of it)

it might sound like a weird hangup but no really, the most we see is like two servant constructs, thats it, when they 'prepare for war' im pretty sure all you see is some lightly dressed ( ... is it just me or does their whole get up look alot like native american/other indingenous people too ... i still dont know how to feel about that- kinda adjacent to some of the sonau armor, the battery one i think??, also having that look...) hylians with spears, where the heck is all that tech?? is it implied to be all down in the mines hollowing out the underground (for no real reason either bc .... theres only two sonau left and no one else seems to want use nor need the tech otherwise there should have been more traces or soemthing left of it -unless it all just magically appeared out of nowhere in mostly prime condition while all shiekah tech jsut vaporized for bs non reasons just for it to be in tha game but oh dont you see its always been there lmao- so whats the point really????)

or up in the sky as most battle constructs are and they cant get them down in time bc *gestures vaguely*

or is it intentionally kept out of view bc idk seeing an army of robots on raurus side he can send out on a whim might not make him look as oh so good and perfect as they want him to look when he already got laserbeam pebbles (most of which hes been hoarding until ONE falls into hands not under his control) ?? like it just ... feels weird?? so many battle constructs that can even be a threat to link are jsut fully functioning strolling around in the present still, why wouldnt you want to use any of them to battle gan and if they DID why wouldnt you show that (no the 3 second unicorn cutscene doesnt count bc its just .. gan and his monsters isnt it) ?? (also ... why isnt there a big like battle ground , like fine you dont have to animate an army of monsters and robots clashing but... wouldnt it be cool to have you discover a giant flat plain in the underground (that magically got put under ground like gan just decided to stroll down there to get sealed lol) and its the only mostly empty field in the game littered with thousands of monster bones and dead constructs intermingled?? just to give it all a bit of weight?? evidence that it happened?? cool ass discovery????)

(also also i cannot let go of ganondorf apparently being sooooo anti tech but then clamgan uses the shiekah stuff??? shouldnt he also be against that then or is that suddendly fine bc- oh woops sorry, forgot clamgan is actually just something, not connected to gan at all actually, i mean why else would miasma turn into malice only to turn into miasma again haha none of that is connected actually what is a calamity anyway? also im sorry to bring this up again but i just cannot let go of the ppl in the present being so obsessed with using sonau tech in every part of their life now- they just lived through an apocalypse of a barely understood strange tech but CLEARLY this other even less understood strang tech is not dangerous at all lets make CARS OUT OF IT and what theres no danger in miasma and that tech existing at the same time LIKE SOMETHING ELSE BEFORE THAT IDK SEEMS LIKE A BAD COMBO--- oh sorry forgot that ceased to exist in both the world and peoples minds for *gestures vaguely* plot reasons- why why why are monsters mining the sonanium?? they dont even work with the yiga no that is also completely disconnected we dont wanna draw and interesting connections after all- whats the point if it means nothing but to be a loot box for the player-- actually, so much of totk is just a so built around throwing you into a box of toys with no substance to it- listen i know games are kinda like toys but if it doesnt make sense and offers you nothing interesting to think about even slightly whAT IS THE POINT)

[sosadraws]

So, I was trying to visualize how many signalis ocs I've created and

...well, that's a lot... 😅

The characters in bold are the most developed and the arrows mean that the character leaves the social circle/group they're in.

It's a shame that Sasha and Luchs are from different planets (and potentially different timelines as well), they wold have been besties...

[queenvhagar]

I saw a supposed leak that says Elinda is planning to hang up posters in kings landing to find more dragonseeds. I wanna know two things. How are team black members constantly getting through to King’s Landing without notice. Secondly how are the smallfolk going to read the posters when pretty much all of them are illiterate. Are they going to do picture posters?

LMAO it's all just hieroglyphics like:

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🫵 🪞🧑🏻‍🦳❓

🫵 💭 🐲 🏇❓

🫵 🚶🏻 ⛵️ 👉 🐲 🪨 (🌋 🏝️)❗️

(⚠️ 🐲👉🔥🩸💀🪦)

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