thatgayguywholikesyourcontent

[thatgayguywholikesyourcontent]

Arguments with your mom can never just be about one thing it always has to be about your entire life and her parents and your siblings n shit under the guise of like, somebody needing to do the dishes

[thatgayguywholikesyourcontent]

[thatgayguywholikesyourcontent]

[thatgayguywholikesyourcontent]

still not over the stephen colbert thing, the way they're punishing him so much by not only essentially firing him but cancelling the show he loves in its entirety, which means also punishing all 200 people who work for and with him on the show.

it is setting an example. it's saying, "this is what happens when you speak truth to power. we will not only punish you. we'll punish the people around you that you've led and loved. is it worth it now, stephen? would it be worth it, other late night talk show hosts? if you don't keep quiet, we will quiet you". the other late night talk show hosts are not all under paramount (iirc, it's just the daily show), but this sets a precedent that tells them they are all vulnerable.

"it's not a big deal" idk man it really seems like it is

[thatgayguywholikesyourcontent]

I love how Westerners will be like, "Japanese VNs are filled with one-dimensional fantasy Anime Waifus who have no depth and are all homogenous- even a 30 hour visual novel with multiple branching routes where you have to delve deep into the trauma and secrets and insecurities of a character is just Wish Fulfillment Slop! Check out my quirky subversive Queer visual novel that spans two hours, has characters that fit neatly into clear boxes of gender identity across an arbitrarily defined list of categories as advertised in the trailer, provides realistic and authentic romance wherein characters joke that this isn't a dating sim and recite their backstories to you in a coffee shop after 1.5 conversations, and provides Cutting Social Critique like, "Damn dude, Capitalism Sucks, but I guess we Still Gotta Love".

[thatgayguywholikesyourcontent]

I'm sorry, I don't believe that anyone who has read regularly since childhood would still count Harry Potter as the best book they've ever read.

[thatgayguywholikesyourcontent]

oh. oooh no. category five carpenter event.

[thatgayguywholikesyourcontent]

Fun fact: in Europe, charcoal makers or colliers were considered somewhat of an odd job. While not rejected outright, despite the very specialized skill set and knowledge needed to do charcoal kilns, they seem not to be highly considered. Charcoal making needs constant attention and is often a solitary job next to sources of wood like forests, so colliers were considered solitary men, the German word Köhlerglaube ("collier’s faith") means a person with blind faith on something, because colliers often didn't have time to go to church to learn what they believed in, they just did.

This solitary lifestyle and connection to the forest, at least in Scandinavian folklore, seems to make colliers a favorite 'target' of forest spirits such as the Hulders or Huldras. Hulders are described as beautiful women (sometimes men, huldrekall) with a hidden non-human trait, like a hollow back or a fox or cow's tails. Colliers who left gifts for them and were kind were repaid by the Hulders tending to their kilns.

[thatgayguywholikesyourcontent]

Hi! Just wanted to get your opinion on something. I've always had trouble with pacing and looking to improve it and my friend gave some advice. He said a chapter should be a scene in the story's timeline, and no longer than 5k words. Would you say that's good advice to follow, and do you have any tidbits to help pacing?

I am going to be the bearer of bad news. Chapters are completely arbitrary in nature when it comes to storytelling. NOW, before everybody starts yelling, chapters do lend a hand in external structure and they can be a good indicator of pacing, but how they are used is entirely up to the individual author. Creating hard and fast chapter rules is not going to really help in this situation.

When we talk about pacing, we are talking about the flow of the story. Does this scene last too long, or not long enough? Is there a consistent rise in tension, or are your characters treading water for too long a time? Does the beginning take to long to, well, begin? Let's completely forget about chapters for now.

What is the main goal of each scene? Take a step back and summarize each scene in your project. What is the main goal of the scene? If you can't identify it, or have too many, you either have a scene that goes nowhere or a scene that needs to be split up into several scenes. For example:

Main Goal: Lisa discovers Ted is lying to her.

How Does It Happen? He said he was at the soccer game, but his wife told Lisa that Ted called and said he had to work overtime.

Importance to the Plot: Ted is not the prime suspect for murder.

How do you know if a scene is too long or too short? - Did we already establish what was needed only to spend two more pages on meaningless small talk? Are you taking a long time describing plot irrelevant details, like a room we never see again, or a one-time character who isn't even named? If a scene happens and nothing is accomplished - the main character learns nothing, goes nowhere, or reiterates a fight we've seen her think about a dozen times already - you'll need to rethink it.

Is a scene too slow or too fast? Fight scenes are action-packed and fast-paced. No need to describe the detailing of a henchmen's coat when it's pitch-black and your Main Character's being punched in the face. On the other hand, did you rush through a scene where a major clue is discovered through painstakingly searching a room? Slow down a bit, focus more on detail. If you bring the wrong energy to a scene, your pacing will be thrown off.

Other things to think about:

Vary your sentence lengths within paragraphs to help with better flow - the same types of sentences quickly make reading them boring. This requires focusing on each paragraph, but it is worth doing.

Let dialogue scenes focus mostly on dialogue - don't have your main character describe the distant mountains between spoken word unless those mountains are relevant to the conversation.

Don't pack your beginnings with backstory - chunk it up and reveal it throughout the novel when it becomes relevant.

Exposition is the main killer of pacing - explain things when they need to be explained, like when they are plot-relevant or needed for action.

Bring those chapters back to your advantage. Once you have a handle on your scenes and how they should flow, look at how you can shape your chapters to provide necessary time skips, cliffhangers, and narrative changes. Vary their lengths to the advantage of your story, not some pre-chosen page number.

[thatgayguywholikesyourcontent]

How to write hospital scenes 

From someone who’s definitely been in too many and would very much like a refund...ツ

⊹ Waiting rooms are emotional purgatory. They’re too bright, too quiet, and weirdly timeless. Fluorescent lights buzzing, TVs playing muted news no one watches, coffee that tastes like burnt stress. People aren’t relaxing in there, they’re just existing, awkwardly pretending their phones are interesting while dissociating at 40% battery.

⊹ Everyone talks in a whisper, but not because it’s respectful, no, it just feels wrong to speak normally. Like the walls might be listening, like if you talk too loud, something worse might happen, even the loud people get quiet in hospitals.

⊹ Overnight stays are hell. hospital chairs? medieval torture devices with upholstery. even if someone’s trying to nap next to a patient, they’re not sleeping. They’re half-listening to the symphony of beeping machines, nurse shoes squeaking, the occasional cough, and distant Code Something crackling over the intercom. it’s anxiety with a blanket.

⊹ The smell is unforgettable, like it’s not just antiseptic. it’s plastic and cafeteria meatloaf and sweat and fear and the smell of a place where people are very much not okay. the first time your character walks in, it’ll hit them like a wall. later, they might not even notice, or maybe it’s the only thing they can smell for days after.

⊹ Talking to doctors is a weird performance. You're trying to be calm, they’re trying to be calm. But no one is calm, your character wants to ask 47 questions and not sound desperate. The doctor explains things like they’re narrating a science video, and when they leave, someone will immediately go “wait... we forgot to ask” every. single. time.

⊹ Monitors beep constantly. half the time, it’s nothing. A wire got loose, someone rolled over. But the second it is something, the vibe shifts fast. Nurses appear like ghosts, machines start going off, and everyone starts moving. And your character? they might freeze, or panic, or forget they have lungs. Go with whatever makes sense for them, but make it visceral.

⊹ Time goes full funhouse mirror. Ten minutes waiting for test results feels like a year. A full hour stretches into eternity, meanwhile, three hours can pass without anyone realizing it. You can use this in your pacing, make it drag when the waiting is unbearable.

⊹ Hospital cafeteria food: Garbage. It’s either offensively bland or stupidly overpriced. The grilled cheese is six dollars and tastes like regret, and someone will 100% cry into a cold sandwich at 3am, because grief doesn’t care where you are.

⊹ People start fixating on tiny, random things. They can’t control the big stuff, so their brain zeroes in on a sock slipping off, a crooked IV pole, the repetitive drip-drip-drip of medication. Let them obsess over something small, it’s how the brain copes with being completely powerless...

[thatgayguywholikesyourcontent]

She drinks red bull I drink monster she's cheer captain and i am a lobster

[thatgayguywholikesyourcontent]

it is honestly amazing how much of writing and editing is just. logistics. like... do i use a name here or a pronoun? if i move this dialogue tag to the middle of this line and break it in half, does the end of the line hit harder that way? what if i move the tag to the front? what if i remove it entirely? ...wait, whose point of view am i in; can i reasonably say this character is appalled, or must i say they look or seem or sound appalled? is this a deliberate action or a step-removed one; is her hand closing on his shoulder, or is she closing her hand on his shoulder? environment environment environment, we need to break all this dialogue up with some narration, the scene is coming untethered. what! are! they doing! with! the rest of their bodies that are not hands! fuck fuck fuck FUCK i forgot we covered this two chapters ago and now i either need to cut this whole chunk or find a reason to reprise the conversation from earlier. name or pronoun? name or pronoun? name or pronoun? move this clause around in this sentence? oh i'll add this phrase-- nope, never mind, past!me added the same phrase two lines down. okay, if i add too much environmental narration it's going to take away from this bit, but not enough and it won't feel grounded. what if i move this to its own line? where the FUCK are their hands?

[thatgayguywholikesyourcontent]

[thatgayguywholikesyourcontent]

i think it's really fun when a rly specific trope is super popular in one particular medium but in other ones it's just totally unheard of. it's the time knife. visual novel players are suuuuper used to death games but many others encountered them for the first time in squid games. the other day my mom showed me all excited the summary of a super original novel she found and it was about a girl who got reincarnated as the main character in her favorite fantasy book

[thatgayguywholikesyourcontent]