#plotlines

[draqonsblues]

not to be dramatic but i fucking love the apothecary diaries so much

[thisfuckingdork]

Planning my next TTRPG campaign and getting a little too ambitious with it~ I wanna turn Lake Wallaby into a setting I can give out, and maybe even a full homebrew module. And as part of that I wanna include assets, such as these location backgrounds (I've only finished like half ;-; too ambitious)

[floretissogay]

unfortunately, i do not have plots in mind when i write. i come up with backstories and circumstances and i have a list of fun facts. then i throw them all into a pit and see what happens

[card-queen]

Story Craft: Process

Okay, so this post is gonna be brief but will hopefully help you if you start to feel overwhelmed. As I started to play my world-building post, I realised that I would need to touch on a lot of plot aspects because of how interconnected everything ends up.

But that's the key: ends up.

My fantasy story looks completely different to how it started. It's gone through deep, deep revisions and just slowly ship of Theseus'd itself into something almost new. My detective game on the other hand has barely changed, I've had a stronger idea of where I wanted things to go from the start and have only added new things that tease out character ideas, plotlines, conflict and drama.

Plot, basically. These are cool scenes and set pieces you imagine. They could come from your own imagination and desires, like when you close your eyes and day dream, when you're listening to music and envision cool scenes, betrayals, twists, reveals, fights scenes, cool encounters, rescue missions, etc. Of they could come from being inspired by other things you've seen. "I loved that scene and want to do something like it in my own story", "I hated that scene, it should have gone this way", "I thought there were going to go somewhere else with that scene and now I'm disappointed", etc.

Events, plotlines and themes are just skeletal frameworks: they're entirely universal, but they all have requirements that need to be met to work properly. All you need to do is look over the event, theme or plotline with a technical eye. "What underlying components are in play to make this theme/plotline/event have impact to me?"

While there is no one-size-fits-all solution to breaking down events to their core components, there are a number of things you can look at and see if they play a part. (I'll be using 'scene' as a catchall term here but this can apply to many different aspects of plot). This is especially helpful if you're starting from an Inspiration point and adapting an idea you liked/were disappointed in for your own story! Surface Details. Look over the scene and analyse it. What elements are at play, either obviously or under the surface? The characters in play often hand backstories and mindsets, so scrape away all the details and hone in on what the result is. Does the character need to be so cautious they don't trust anyone so that their rescue comes as a joyous surprise, or or focused entirely on work so they never see the budding romance, or rich and naive so that their betrayal comes as a complete shock? What about the situation between characters? Former friends and now bully & victim, or two battlefield generals on opposite sides of a conflict, or a group of co-workers who make nice and do what they can to get along being forced into a dangerous situation that relies on cooperation? And the emotional flow of events? Peaceful daily life that turns into a natural disaster scenario, or a serial killer on the loose in a quiet village, or all of the characters have been kidnapped and are in an unknown locations? Use generic words. The flavour comes from what you add, but to add flavour properly, you gotta understand the tools in your hands.

Power Balance. Does the scene use control or shifting control? Something like a betrayal, rescue scenes, reinforcement scenes, joining forces with a villain, or revealing a secret have an underlying battle of power and control. The scenes themselves often hinge on a reversal of power to have impact. Find where the power is and how it changes hands.

Realisation. This can be for the characters or the audience. We should take special care when there is a perception change at play. If we or the characters come to a startling realisation in this scene, you look over what the perception was, what the new perception is and how the change took place. (This slide's a little more vague but just.. just go with me on it)

Characters, basically. This works similar to plot. Where does your inspiration come from: something you saw or something you came up with? In my experience, those are the two places inspiration for ideas comes from. Whatever your origin point, I offer the same advice of cracking open the character and taking at peek see at the core components that get that character being ratings. Here are couple of VERY OLD slides from my early character work, but it should give you some confidence and ideas that things can evolve.

In this, you can see I use monikers like 'the honourable mage', 'merc boss' and 'wandering noble' but also refer to characters by their inspirations, like Dimitri & Felix (Fire Emblem: Three Houses). No one really has to know or see your behind-the-scenes work files, where you take inspiration is your business. I often refer to characters by their moniker or placeholder name based on their inspiration until I find a name that suits them.

This next slide is interesting because it shows that even back then, I had components in mind.

Inspirations is obviously what I refer back to when I keep thinking of their core concept. It's what helps me write the flavour text and description, and would probably be used in conjunction with typology for me these days. The Aspects part is a term I got from the FATE system of RPG books and I use it here to explain a strong core piece of the character in a term or phrase. These Aspects should be clear on their own and give you an idea of how the trait can be used to win the day or cause things to come to a crashing halt, how it can be used to create comedic scenes and have it can be used to win people over. It's important to find balance in your characters. A new rule I have in creation is 'You gotta know how your character is gonna eat shit'. I like to see the comic potential and dramatic potential in all my characters. If a character doesn't eat shit, they seem special and above the rest. Are they too good to make mistakes, be over the top or be funny to use? Think in three dimensions, friends.

Setting, basically. These are the great facilitators. They are the unsung heroes that nonetheless, must remain mostly unsung. Parts of the world and setting are of the backdrop and instigator of events, carry the physical embodiment of theme, provide resistance, encouragement and biases for characters. You often put a lot of work into world-building but if you share to much of it, it becomes a never-ending wall of text, a slew of infodumping. But by tying your aspects of your world-building and setting into aspects of the story or character.

I like to think of story creating in a node-based way. It's all about outlets and inputs. This is a very, veeeery basic example but check out this image.

It's a simple diagram for the components of a betrayal. We supply two characters and stakes. And in the case of things like countries or groups being factors in the betrayal, then I highly recommend having a representative from the group or nation that is the architect or at least responsible for the betrayal in some way. This is one of the MAJOR problems I have with games like Fire Emblem: whole countries start behaving like a single person and the action ends up feeling hollow and the world empty (FE4, I am staring at you specifically). We can, of course, feed more into the action device: emotions, stability, power, objects within the story, characters within the story, etc. But we're keeping it simple here: two character plus stakes in, the results for the betrayed and the results for the betrayed. These components can join into other events, decisions and moments. The newly empowered stance of the betrayer might been the actions he needed to take to get the money to propose to the Princess, so he could get closer to the Prince and carry out an elaborate revenge plot against he man who killed his entire family. The newly weakened stance of the betrayed might end up with her on the run and seeking new allies in places she would have dismissed in her earlier life, granting her new perspectives and showing her the world she never knew.

Keep these words in mind when creating: "...but..." "...and therefore..."

Nothing ends unless you say it ends. Everything can get worse or get better. Events, characters, themes, plotlines, setting, and systems all form a kind of butterfly effect where things happen because of what came before and will affect what comes after it. By taking out elements or feeding new details into them, you get a slightly different outcome. And things will change over time to fit better, more cleanly, take you in new directions, better directions, revisited directions -- it'll be a journey. And a fun one, if you let it be.

Happy creating.

Want more writing advice? Check out this post!

[that-one-random-writer]

Video

Ladies and gentlemen, I have another prompt! Video for reference.

Prompt idea!!!!

First responder AU.

You have to go to school to be a first responder and every type does the same thing. They have volunteers sign up to act like victims for training for the new job. So you know what happens they meet and fall in love while one is playing the victim.

Please, someone make it happen!!!!

TAG ME (NOT FOR CREDIT I DONT CARE I JUST WANT TO READ IT!!!) PLEASE!!!

[pizzahutchan124]

Theres a WHOLE SAGA?!

IM DONE 🤣🤣🤣

I am utterly captivated by this video series that Taryn Delanie and friends have been making on TikTok

[some-old-psyker]

Thinking about complicated plots today.

Basically, one idea that I have in mind is that there’s a group of Radical Inquisitors who think they can harness the power of the god-being that’s sleeping underneath Sonora for the good of the Imperium. Ana and some allies may or may not come into conflict with them at some point.

[mourn-and-watch]

ekko describing jinx from his timeline to powder as someone who's just different but whose ideas change the world. jayce saying to machine herald!viktor that his imperfections are a part of everything that made him so admirable. powder getting mesmerized when she sees different timeline!ekko before he leaves. jayce building his whole life around the idea he got from different timeline!viktor when he saved him. love does transcend reality after all

[lovelyloveliesss]

You’re telling me that in a series with the main lesson being the power of love, Harry saving the day with Draco’s wand is supposed to mean nothing????

[stevenrogered]

finding out about family drama that doesn’t involve you

[stopiwanttotalkaboutcheese]

actually the best part of the new season is that the jayce/heimerdinger/ekko plotline is My Plant Is Dying And I Don't Want It To :( meanwhile jinx is on the run from the cops, mel is getting kidnapped by witches, viktor is becoming jesus, and caitlyn and vi are speedrunning fascism

[underthetree845]

The scene I imagined in my head: —

What I have to write to get there: ———————

[jarwithdragonteeth]

also had a fun idea about sam beign one who will jolt awake out of malleus sleep spell because of shitton of magical amulets he wears.

attempt to illustrate.

[summertimemp3]

they're so gay.

[heynhay]

pkmn