#the power of stories

[alpaca-clouds]

Telling Stories to better the World

*looks on the calender* You know what time it is? Yeah, it is time for the alpaca to rave on about the power of stories once again. Because I kinda feel that we cannot talk about that enough.

Say it loud and say it clear: Stories have power over us.

The baddies kinda understand that. Which is why they use stories as propaganda tools. I mean, there is a reason why the US Military funds the Marvel movies and stuff like Top Gun. Because it is propaganda that exists to serve their goal.

And humans also have always kinda understood it. Because guess what: Fairytales existed as teaching tools. Be it to teach kids to not run into the forest at night... Or do a Beauty and the Beast and exist to teach young girls that: "Hey, your political husband might be abusive, but you can try and tame him, girl!"

A lot of oral stories have once existed for such reasons. To both teach people about the world and reaffirm a society's values. And this is still true to this day.

I have been harping on anarchist ideas vs capitalist ideas for the last few days and the entire story thing plays into this a lot.

And yeah, I gotta crap on the MCU here once more, because it kinda is the most influencial offender here. Because those people know the power of stories. Which is why in most of the MCU movies the bad guys wanna change the system - while the good guys heroically defend the status quo without ever questioning whether or not the bad guys might actually have a point in some cases. (Worst offender is obviously Falcon and the Winter Soldier.)

Given that mass media right now very much is held obviously by the capitalist class, for the most part media only rarely gets to sneak in messages that are too anti-capitalist. (Which is also, why modern Cyberpunk, especially western Cyberpunk, does not have a ton of bite going on.) And in many cases it has to be sneaky and rely on the lack of media literacy in the folks financing the movies. Like the Matrix, for example. But in that case they obviously run the risk of the viewer also not quite getting that message, if they are not primed for it.

But we do need those stories.

We need stories in which people rebel against a system and win. In which those rebels are allowed to be heroic, instead of the narrative going: "Well, sure, their goal was admirable, but we just cannot condone violence!"

We also need stories in which people live in a less hierarchical society. In which people are aiding one another. In which it is not rugged individuals saving the world, but close-knit friend groups and communities working together.

And we need stories, in which climate change is stopped in time. In which people live actually on renewables and micro grids. In which people then also live without capitalism. Because we need to learn to view that world as possible,

So, if you are a creator... You know what to do!

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Illus. by Elenore Abbott for "The Two Brothers," Watercolor and ink on illustration board, 1917, sold at auction

* * * *

"Folktales, fables and myths show humans talking and working with animals, with trees, with rivers and stones, as if recalling or envisioning a time of easy commerce among all beings ... The trickster - Coyote or Raven or Hare - changes form as rapidly as clouds, reminding us how fluid nature is, and how arbitrary are the divisions between human and beast, between self and other. It is as if through language, the very power that estranges us from other animals, we are slowly working our way back into communion with the rest of nature."

- Scott Russell Sanders, "The Power of Stories" (Georgia Review, 1997).

[Guillaume Gris]

[novelmonger]

Stories About Stories

There's this certain genre (or subgenre? or category?) that I love, which I like to call "stories about stories." (At first I was going to say "books about books," but obviously it can also be a movie/game/etc.) You know - a story that revolves around the very power of stories, of reading, of the deep love of books and fiction in general, where books and stories and reading are central to the plot. Stories about stories are less common than you might think, considering...well, presumably most people telling a story have a deep love and appreciation for stories, or why would they bother writing their own? But every now and then, I come across one and add it to a little mental bookshelf in my head. Here's what's on my bookshelf so far:

The Fall (2006) - A man with a spinal injury starts telling stories to a girl with a broken arm he meets in the hospital. The epic tale that unfolds not only helps pass the time, but also hints at characters' motivations and backgrounds. I'm not exaggerating when I say the story they weave together saves lives.

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke - People known as Silvertongues are able to read characters and objects out of books when they read aloud - and something from the real world goes into the book at the same time. The main character, Meggie, has a father who is a Silvertongue, who accidentally read characters out of a book called Inkheart, and Meggie's mother went into the book. Ever since then, he's been trying to read her back out. This book is all about the power, danger, and beauty of the written word.

Seven-Day Magic by Edward Eager - A group of children find an untitled book in the library and open it to find that it's telling the story of them going to the library and finding this book. They use the book to make wishes and go into some of their favorite stories. It's basically every child's dream come true, if that child is a bookworm like me ^_^ I love every single one of Eager's magic books, but this was one of my particular favorites growing up.

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde - In an alternate version of our world, there are organizations that regulate time travel as well as literary crimes (such as gang wars over Shakespearian authorship, which is a big deal in this alternate history). The main character, Thursday, is a detective looking into one such complicated crime, and ends up going into the book of Jane Eyre. In this world, any changes made to an original manuscript will change all copies of the book, so you can imagine the kind of chaos that ensues. I actually didn't care for this book very much, but it was more because I disliked the characters, not because it wasn't fun to explore an alternate world where literature is so vitally important and you can meet literary characters for real.

The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman - There is a huge, seemingly endless library that is its own dimension, connected to an infinite number of alternate worlds. The main character, Irene, is a librarian who is tasked with collecting new works of fiction for the library. This time, she goes to an alternate London to pick up a version of Grimm's fairy tales, meets an alternate version of a certain literary character, and has to contend with a chaotic but really fun steampunk world. Ultimately, I decided not to continue this series after the first book, but...I can't deny that risking one's life for the sake of a book made Irene very relatable XD

The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep by H.G. Parry - The main character's brother, Charley, has the ability to read characters and important objects out of books. Which is all well and good until someone else ends up reading a very literal version of the Hound of the Baskervilles from the scene where it seems to actually be a spectral horror, and sends it to Charley's house to kill him.... An excellent book, which deals a lot with how different people will read the same character differently, colored by their own perceptions and understanding of the literature in question.

Alan Wake - A horror writer goes to a small town in the hopes of breaking through writer's block. Instead, he discovers that there is some kind of magic in the place that makes everything he writes come true. And...he's a horror writer, so.... This is an excellent horror game, with a really engaging story and one of the best (probably) unintentional allegories I've encountered in a video game. It feels almost like a cautionary tale about not letting writer's block get the best of you :P

Myst (series) - Okay, this one's maybe a little more metaphorical than the others. But the series is all about the D'ni, a hidden race of people who have the ability to create worlds by writing a book about them. It's like...sub-creation writ large. The point of the games is to explore these worlds, which are mostly abandoned after the fall of D'ni civilization, and to help the last few surviving D'ni find some measure of peace. The D'ni books aren't so much stories as just worldbuilding descriptions, but there's something so metaphorically resonant about touching the page of a book and then finding yourself in the world you just read about. And the people inhabiting these worlds being real people with free will and everything even though they were written by someone else...is that not how every writer's characters are?

Please add on to this! I always want more stories about stories. And I'm probably forgetting something super obvious anyway.

[ananke-xiii]

On Supernatural, getting what you want and the power of stories

I'm writing this post on the spur of the moment and I'm not exactly sure what my real point is, but I felt the urge to share my thougths with... well, I would say with someone, if by someone we mean any possible tumblr users that might stumble on my ramble.

It's all started after I've finished watching Supernatural and, among the many things that this show has made me think about more deeply, there is one that has just stuck with me and I can't seem to shake it off.

This thing is the idea that you can't get what you want. It's my own personal feeling, it might be the case that the show left you with something else, hopefully more positive. In my case, though, I was left dumbfounded after my discovery that the story I was passionately following for the past few months reached no catharsis.

Let's take Mary Winchester.

Mary: since life is about getting what you want? (from s12x12)

I'm sorry but when I heard this line my heart sunk a little. Her character starts off as a trope (the fridged woman that sets the action into motion), then gets back into the play in a fascinating way just to be literally erased from the face of earth. The show can tell us that she's happy in Heaven but this is not reassuring at all and doesn't change the tragedy inherent in her character.

The we have Dean Winchester, of course.

Pamela: How come you only want what you can't have? (from s14x10)

In this scene we are in Dean's "dream life" and yet, even there it doesn't seem possible for him to get what he wants. Why is that so?

Finally, we have Cas.

Cas: The one thing I want, it's something I know I can't have. (s15x19)

This was so hard to watch. I mean, not only does he want just ONE thing, but he also knows (or think of knowing which is the same for the audience as we don't know exactly what he wants), that by default he cannot have it. On top of that, because of the deal with the Empty, Cas had to actively choose between happiness and LIFE: it's just atrocious.

These characters, like many others on this show, were killed off without reaching the end of their becoming. Or, worse, the completion of their becoming was death.

So this got me thinking.

First of all, as far as storytelling is concerned, we as a collective have taken death too literally. Writing this in a silly post about frigging SUPERNATURAL where characters have died and come back countless of times seems CRAZY but hear me out.

There are two immensely powerful things that are intrinsically connected to the image of thread: stories and Destiny. They both inevitably lead to an ending. But death is not a fucking ending!

And it's precisely because of that, among all shows, Supernatural was THE perfect show that could have finally showed&told us this truth.

Think about it: we do not need to end stories with death. In the stories we have the incredible power to show death figuratively. So, for instance, a character that goes through their becoming can come out the other side both very much alive AND very much dead, because their past SELF has died. It's called metamorphosis, look it up!

In a story (and I would argue in life but I don't want to get too philosphical here) death is just a step in the process, it doesn't have to equate with the literal ending.

So why are we scary of this? Because it's frigging frightening!!! And exicting!!! And revolutionary!!! And I think we should start telling stories where people get what they want, become what they want and yes, a "self of them" dies in the process but this is good!!! It should be celebrated!!! And this death doesn't need to be literal/physical, more specifically this is a kind of death that doesn't cut off the becoming but enables it.

Stories are power. If we can't get what we want in our stories where does this leave us? No, I won't accept that. I think people are starting to realize this, too. We don't want silly stupid stories with silly stupid happy endings (and I would argue that, symbolically speaking, marriage is a form of death, too, but I digress). We want powerful stories vouching for the possibility of transformation, of catharsis, of getting what we want.

(so unfridge Cas, Mary and Dean, please)

[somestorythoughts]

“Those of us old enough to remember tell stories about where we were when we learned that President John F. Kennedy or Martin Luther King Jr. were assassinated. Following events of 9/11, stories abounded about how New Yorkers coped as disaster struck, what first responders saw and did, and how those who were lost experienced their last moments. Disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and the Boston Marathon bombing launched stories of our reactions to those events. Black Lives Matter and the #MeToo Movement started a story sharing storm that has yet to abate. These memories, these stories, anchor us to other people with similar life experiences. Currently we are struggling through the Covid-19 pandemic, and the stories are just beginning. We tell each other stories because stories connect us across national and global tragedies, even when we experience them differently. Stories affirm our understanding of each other’s humanity.”

[storytellingcourses]

Why Join A Storytelling Course

Storytelling is a very popular topic nowadays. Stories have been told since decades by elders to their younger generation. But now storytelling is used for various purposes and they are different from the previous one. It is not about telling some fairy tales or reading a passage from the book. At this age and time, storytelling is considered to be the most strong tool of communication. It has proved to be effective for people of all ages irrespective of their purposes. Stories can help you inspire and influence your audience. Through storytelling you can share important facts in a unique manner and teach others. Critical and numerical facts are hard to remember but when those facts are narrated by stories, people will memorize them forever.

Persuasive stories can be helpful for both personal and professional reasons. You can overcome many challenges and critical situations with the help of storytelling. Many people for different purposes benefit from storytelling but only after they have joined a coaching. An experienced coach can help you to unleash the power of storytelling. They provide one to one online coaching sessions that you can join from your comfort zone. There are coaching for various purposes such as:

Coaching for one who is appearing for a job interview. Storytelling helps candidates to qualify an interview and craft a CV as well.

Training for people who have a wish to follow their passion in life. Through storytelling one can make his or her dream a reality.

With age people lose their memorizing capability. They start forgetting past incidents. The power of stories is indeed huge, can boost up the memory and will also help individuals to take care of their overall well-being.

Leadership coaching for business leaders that helps to promote their team work and operational efficiency.

Steps that are followed in a storytelling coaching:

In storytelling skills training you will be provided with tailored coaching sessions and here three steps are followed. The first stage where the coach will be using two or four images related to your life’s event. Here with the help of a coach you will learn to define and refine your story. In the second stage you will be crafting an engaging, meaningful and purpose-driven story. In the third and final stage you will learn how to narrate your story with confidence and courage.

So whatever may be your purpose, you should join a storytelling coaching which will prove to be extremely helpful.

[transassdemon]

[My art, don't steal, tag if reposting]

[audreyassumptions]

HOW I MANIFESTED MY DREAM REALITY IN A DAY

WHAT I MANIFESTED:

- name change

- trilingualism

- 5”10 height

- thin and slender body

- a RAGING golden tan

- face like adriana lima’s

- top grades + intelligence

- dp has a FAT crush on me

HOW I DID IT:

- robotic affirmations in my head (for example repeating ‘I have everything I desire’ over and over in my head whenever I’m free throughout the day)

- visualizing

- law of assumption

- the belief that I am God and I am the creator of my own reality

- PERSIST, PERSIST, AND PERSIST SOME MORE I SWEAR TO GOD THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING

- being crazy delulu

I never actually used the void state for this, because I found that putting the void state on a pedestal was limiting my beliefs. Please refrain from thinking too much about the void or from putting it on a pedestal because this can really hinder your progress. Remember, you are the void. The void is inside you. You don’t need to ‘enter’ it because it is already there!

That’s it, just remember to have a positive mindset and be literally as delusional as you possibly can be. Worked for me!! This took about a whole day to work, and the next day I woke up and it was all manifested (sounds crazy but it’s true and I literally started jumping and squealing like a five year old when I realised it worked). Most importantly, remember that manifesting is supposed to be fun, so go have fun and enjoy yourself!! :)

[ruegarding]

one thing abt thalia and percy's dynamic that is often overlooked is that percy was punished for the same things thalia was rewarded for. there's a prophecy abt one of the big three kids? percy is treated like a liar and thief and ppl refuse to talk to him. thalia? everyone respects her (including gods!) and assumes she'll do a great job saving the world. thalia is accepted immediately at camp and threatens the place percy spent two years proving he deserves. percy wants to go on a quest to save his friend? he's an attention seeker and glory stealer. thalia? well, she's the obvious choice. thalia comes up w a plan to win capture the flag that's basically "leave everything to me" and percy comes up with a plan that's basically "if you see a good opportunity, go for it," but percy is viewed as the control freak.

what i'm saying is percy had every reason to resent thalia and he didn't. he chose not to. and thalia had every reason to look down on percy and didn't.

even when they were fighting, i never saw it as a power struggle. they were being pit against each other, and instead of doing what everyone expected them to (kronos was fully expecting thalia to kill percy), they chose to love and respect each other. because they're not their parents. they're just two kids who started cracking under the pressure but refused to break.

[eggsploded]

heiress eternal

[nerdpoe]

Kon was visiting small town and trying to take a little bit of a breather.

Sometimes things got to be a little too much. For instance, he recently found out that due to some weird niche law, he wasn't a person. He was property.

So even if he ever got tired of essentially being owned by CADMUS, it was them or some government branch called the GIW.

And no one knew anything about the GIW.

So even if he wasn't really with CADMUS anymore, he would never be free of them. Which was. Not great.

So he was just. Taking a small breather.

Sitting on a curb, eating some burgers, and just vibing.

Then someone grabbed both of his shoulders in a death grip.

"Dude, what-?"

"-I'm sorry, but I need you to stay still or I'm gonna get got." A panicked teen voice hissed.

Kon turned his head; there was a scrawny teen with unnaturally clear blue eyes, black hair, and a white knuckled grip on Kon's shoulders as he desperately tried to...keep his feet on the ground?

Then a van came tearing around the corner, with the letters GIW stamped across it. The men that left it were wearing white suits, and were clearly keeping an eye on the terrified kid trying to pretend like he wasn't about to float out of some sort of fear response.

Oh.

Oh, this was another clone. One without the protection of CADMUS or Kal.

Yeah, no.

He's got the kid in his arms and was flying over the mid-sized city in an instant, right before pivoting and retreating to Metropolis.

He needed Kal for this. The man was over his thing about clones, and Kon couldn't face the American Government alone.

[bixels]

Scary Sunset.

I'm concepting things way outta order in this story, but I'm sure you can piece things together. Context is for a storybeat where, after defeating and capturing Adagio (thus having all three sirens in her possession), Sunset enacts her revenge plot to release the sirens on Canterlot as Thea discovers she's been manipulated. In a confrontation, the two scuffle and fight over the siren orbs while Sunset struggles with her conflicting wants and emotions.

[novelmonger]

Book Review: The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep by H.G. Parry

The quote that should have been on the back of the book: "'Uriah Heep's loose on the ninth floor,' he said. 'And I can't catch him.' My brain was fogged with sleep; it took a moment for his words to filter through. 'Seriously, Charley?' I said when they did. 'Again?'"

Premise: Rob Sutherland, a lawyer in Wellington, New Zealand, has a younger brother, Charley, who is an English professor at the university. His brother, a literary prodigy, has the peculiar and often alarming ability to read objects - or characters - out of books. This causes lots of problems, as you might expect, especially because they're trying to keep this ability secret from the world. But things start to go especially crazy when Charley reads Uriah Heep out of David Copperfield, and he hints at a "new world" that is fast approaching....

Thoughts: I. Love. This. Book. Seriously, if that premise alone isn't enough to make you want to pick up the book and read it for yourself, I don't know what's wrong with you.

At first glance, this book might sound a bit like Inkheart, and while there are certainly similarities when it comes to reading characters and things into reality, it has a very different feel. Yes, both are stories about stories, about the power of really connecting to a book you're reading until what's happening on the page is as real as the world around you. Both are about villains trying to take advantage of this power, book characters trying to make a life for themselves in the real world, and the chaotic rush to stop the world from being overrun with the worst horrors books hold. But I guess I would say that The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep feels a lot more grown-up. Not to say that it's boring by any means; there's still a lot of beauty and whimsy and wonder. But it deals not just with accidentally reading stuff out of a book or the power of a good story well told. It also deals with how every single reader will have a slightly different interpretation and imagination of a character, some more nuanced than others. It deals with what it means to be a person. What it means to be a family. What it means to have a life. It makes absolute sense to me that the main characters are a lawyer and a university professor, rather than a twelve-year-old girl and an itinerant bookbinder.

Of course, one of the main draws to this story is all the wonderful literary references. These are mostly from British literature, particularly Victorian literature, which meant that I was familiar with (or at least could easily identify) most of the characters you end up meeting. These include Sherlock Holmes, Mr. Darcy, Dorian Gray, the Artful Dodger, Matilda, the White Witch, Dr. Frankenstein, Dracula, Miss Matty, the Scarlet Pimpernel...I'm probably forgetting somebody else super obvious, there's just so many of them! Even for the ones whose stories I haven't read, like Uriah Heep, it's not vital to the main plot to understand what they're about. Rob isn't familiar with all of their stories either, and so gets any necessary explanations from Charley, usually.

I adore any story that praises the power of stories. Of course I do. And this one makes it so clear how powerful they are, how comforting and edifying and exhilarating the written word can be. But even more, I love that this is first and foremost a story about brothers. I'm a sucker for those kinds of stories on the best of days, and so this book got me hook, line, and sinker from page 15 when Rob says, "I would do anything--I would kill the whole world--to keep him from being scared or hurt." a;ldkfjsd;kfljsd;fklj YES PLEASE.

Not once did I have to worry that the brothers' relationship would fall to the wayside for the sake of the plot. The story opens with Charley calling Rob for help in the middle of the night, and the entire story revolves around these two helping each other, fighting with each other, saving each other, pulling each other down and then dragging them back up again...it's everything. Their bond is the bedrock of this story, and I can't get enough of it. The bio in the back says that H.G. Parry has a sister, and I have a hunch that they must be really close. You can tell that she knows what it's like :')

There were so many quotes, especially in the climax, that I wanted to scream from the rooftops (and instead just sobbed quietly in my room as I ugly-cried my way through the ending). They were all so simple that, out of context, they wouldn't seem that remarkable. "I don't care" "I still want him back." "You're my brother." "I know you."

Or this quote from Sherlock Holmes: "Your brother thinks you the best and wisest man in this world. As I said, emotions are antagonistic to clear reasoning." Which is just a;lkjg;dslkgj;sdklgjds;afkj I CAN'T IT HURTS IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL BECAUSE HOLMES AND WATSON AND ROB AND CHARLEY AND AAAAAAHHHHHHH TT_______TT al;kdfgjas;dglkjsd;flkjds;klfj

In conclusion: If you love a good book, if you have ever found yourself sucked into a story till it felt more real than reality, you need to read this book.

[cemeterything]

to this day i think one of the best writing decisions the magnus archives made was making it explicitly clear that your bloodline made little to no difference to whether you would develop any kind of connection to the entities and their powers. even so-called "avatar families" either had to produce multiple heirs in the hope that at least one would be inclined to continue their work (like the lukases) or end up with imperfect messiahs despite all their efforts (like the cult of the lightless flame), and in most cases being born into that life only made you more at risk of ultimately rejecting and/or being consumed by it. there was no direct runs-in-the-family line of succession ending in the perfect chosen one. even generations' worth of preparation and legacy-building could be brought to an end by a single act of defiance or doubt. it's the perfect theme for a podcast all about choices and their consequences.

[yandere-writer-momo]

Yandere Short Stories:

Hell Fire

Yandere Priest x Herbalist Fem Reader

TW: abuse of power, yandere behavior, manipulation, and forced relationship

Pale hands affectionately cupped the soft cheeks of the sleeping maiden that rested on the bed in the dungeon. A bright smile on the young priest’s face as his fingers traced over her soft lips.

“You are finally here…” Aurel voice was as soft as a breeze. His blue eyes gentle and his lips pursed in thought. “You’re finally within my grasp.”

Aurel glanced around to make sure there were no other eyes watching before he crawled into the small bed beside (your name). His lanky arms wrapped around her vulnerable form in a vice like grip. Aurel buried his nose into her hair and deeply inhaled her sweet scent, a moan escaped his lips from how delectable (your name) smelled.

“I wonder if you’ll be happy to see me once you wake up.” Aurel thought aloud as his hands wandered her sleeping form. “We used to be so close when we were kids… we can get married just like we always wanted.”

Aurel brushed a few of his silver strands away from his blue eyes. His cheeks heated up at how beautiful (your name) had grown to be. “I’ve crawled my way to become a Cardinal, but I’m willing to bend the rules for you… so you just have to accept me.”

Aurel buried his face into her shoulders while he clutched her closer to his chest. His tongue clicked when he felt his she thinned out a bit. These heathens haven’t been feeding (your name) properly, have they? He’d punish them once he married her…

Aurel pressed a few stray kisses to her shoulders before he smiled to himself. He had destroyed her reputation as an herbalist by spreading rumors of her being a witch. It was a desperate and cowardly method, but she refused to be with him. What other choice did Aurel have? (Your name) had forced his hand for the last time and now she had the biggest choice to make.

Become his wife or burn at the pyre.

[storytellingcourses]

The Power of Stories That Can Help Change and Motivate Your Life

Each of us has a personal story that we don’t share to the world. Life is not the same for everyone. Different incidents happen in our daily lives that make or break us. So, incidents can influence us positively or negatively. Everything is a story we tell ourselves or others about what’s happening in our lives. The power of stories helps us grow, learn, and find new motivations to walk the path of life.

How have you ever considered stories an influential element that determines your life path? These feelings that we express in stories can determine our actions and results. Storytelling classes regularly show people various ways to use storytelling and change their mindset. Stories also help people overcome challenges and achieve big goals. You can also apply your storytelling skills to improve.

The most important part of storytelling is defining your life path. Telling others how you will deal with challenges and issues can guide them. Storytelling isn't only for entertainment purposes; however, narrating stories in the correct way can assist you with accomplishing your life goals. Furthermore, you can acquire the ability to change your life.

Stories also help us solve different problems and provide opportunities to take different positive actions. This is especially true if you are sharing stories to motivate others and want to teach them a lesson.

When creating a story, they might speak about a different action they have taken for the same incidents. What will be the outcome of the story with this new twist? What might others learn from their suggestion or solution? Joining storytelling classes helps people solve a problem or situation by writing about it or creating a story.

Storytelling Expressions, good or bad, can help you learn about others, and you can also find empathy for them and their situations. Whether you know or don’t know the individual personally, hearing their stories evokes your feelings. Learning how to relate to and create connections with others is an important part of storytelling that allows you to develop social skills and make friends.