Best Couple E.V.E.R.

Fight Sequences - Wonder Woman

This isn’t a post going in depth into the new Wonder Woman film. I’ll leave my overall opinions elsewhere, but I cannot stop thinking about the action/fight sequences. People. I love action and fight sequences. My eyes dilate, I squeal and bounce in my seat when watching a good one. Like, I honestly couldn’t tell you the plot of Season 2 Daredevil (zombies?), but I can damn well remember that fight in the stairwell. 

They are such a great study of film basics on a micro scale: Pacing, Editing, Blocking, Camera Direction, Character, you name it. It’s fucking thrilling when it’s done well, and beyond frustrating when poorly-executed. Full rant below:

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as requested by quite a few people - a masterpost of educational podcasts. links go to either the site or the itunes podcast store. an excerpt of the description is included with each.

* indicates a podcast that i listen to regularly

entertainment

*welcome to night vale - twice-monthly updates for the small desert town of night vale

*muggle cast - everything harry potter

general information 

radiolab - investigation told through sounds and stories, and centered around one big idea

*stuff you should know - about everything from genes to the galapagos

*stuff mom never told you - the business of being women 

tedtalks

good job, brain - part pub quiz show, part offbeat news

news

no one knows anything - the politics podcast from buzzfeed news

wait wait…don’t tell me - weekly current events quiz

college

*college info geek - the strategies and tactics the best students use

*getting in - your college admissions companion

math

math for primates - a couple of monkeys who decided that arguing about mathematics was a better use of their time than throwing poo at one another

math mutation - fun, interesting, or just plain weird corners of mathematics

science

60 second health - latest health and medical news

the naked scientists - interviews with top scientists, hands-on science experiments

60 second science - the most interesting developments in the world of science

startalk - astronomy, physics, and everything else about life in the universe

nasa science cast - science behind discoveries on earth, the solar system, and beyond

history

*myths and legends - myths, legends, and folklore that have shaped cultures

stuff you missed in history class - the greatest and strangest stuff you missed

the podcast history of our world - from the big bang to the modern age! …eventually

witness - the story of our times told by the people who were there

the history chicks - two women. half the population. several thousands years of history.

entrepreneurship & finances

practical money matters - better managing their finances

the internet business mastery - learn how to create an internet based business

social triggers insider - the fields of psychology and human behavior

listen money matters - honest and uncensored, this is not your father’s boring finance show

writing & literature

professional book nerds - it’s our job to discuss books all day long

a way with words - words, language, and how we use them

grammar girl - short, friendly tips to improve your writing

classic poetry aloud - recordings of the greats poems of the past

language

esl (english) - improve english speaking and listening skills

language pod

coffee break

search in your podcast app for specific languages!

art

99% invisible - exploration of the process and power of design

tips and tricks photography 

the arts roundtable

hobbies & other

stash & burn (knitting)

practical defense - staying safe in our increasingly dangerous urban environments

zen and the art of triathlon - a triathlete’s view on living the multisport life

the art of charm - make you a better networker, connecter, and thinker

the indoor kids - isn’t just about video games, isn’t not about video games

rationally speaking - explore the borderlands between reason and nonsense

the dice tower - board games, card games, and the people who design and play them

motivational & inspirational

back to work - productivity, communication, work, barriers, constraints, tools, and more

personal growth podcast - classic and contemporary self development audio

what it takes - conversations with towering figures in almost every field

here be monsters - exploring the dark corners of the human mind

on being - the big questions of meaning with scientists, theologians, artists, teachers

Kimi ga Inakya Dame tte Itte

aishiteru <3

That moment, though, when that screeeeech came...

The face of Shizuku’s brother in love is way tooooo cunning :$

Kanojo wa Rokurokubi

How to Give Your Story “Heart”

Here’s where things get fluffy. This is the moment you unleash your feelings, tap into your inner light, and weep onto the page, using your sparkling tears as ink. Ready?

Edna would never allow us to do that. And that’s good, because contrary to conventional wisdom, that’s not how you give your story heart. We’re going to do it the real way.

So if it isn’t raw emotion, what is “heart”?

1) It’s what your character NEEDS (not wants).

2) It’s the HIDDEN STORYLINE.

3) It’s what you want to TEACH.

Those sound intimidating, I know. But if you don’t treat it like a mystical magic, it’s very doable.

So, what do those mean?

1) NEED =

Your character has flaws that are ruining their life and future, right? Flaws in their heads that only hurt themselves, flaws in their characters that hurt other people. Something is missing within them, something they don’t understand, something they need to learn. Once they realize their flaws, and learn the thing that will overcome those flaws, their lives will be saved.

Take Mr Fredrickson from Up. He’s so grumpy and stubbornly stuck in the past, he’s willing to leave a small child clinging to the porch of his flying house, rather than let him into his life.

He needs to learn that in order to live a fulfilling life again, he must let go of the past, and go have another adventure. Which Ellie helps him learn.

Great. Now I’m crying.

2) HIDDEN STORYLINE =

It’s what the story is really about. The journey going on below the action-y surface. It’s your character’s inner change from one kind of person to a (hopefully) better kind. The reader believes the story is about the tangible goal, and the actions taken to reach it — the surface. Yet inwardly, they’re processing the hero’s inner journey too. It’s sneakily hidden from them.

On the surface, Hamilton is about a revolution and the founding of a nation.

Underneath all that, it’s about a guy learning what a worthwhile legacy really is, and how to build one.

3) TEACHING =

Storytelling is the most powerful teaching method ever devised. Scientifically speaking, teaching is the purpose of stories, whether we like it or not. This fact usually makes people react like Gollum when approached by nasty hobbitses.

“Moralizing, precious? We hates it!”

Which is a reflex aversion that I understand, and have shared in the past. Books and movies that teach something positive are scorned and mocked in the world of “high literature” too. But when I thought about what stories have done for me, and why they were capable of it, my opinion changed. 

Tangled saved my life. If I had never seen that movie, I would still be in a horrible cult-like situation which I’d been trapped in for twelve years.

Narnia helped me escape depression.

The Harry Potter books were my home and my friends when I didn’t have either.

And those are all stories with strong hearts.

Why wouldn’t I want to create stories that could possibly help someone, like I was helped? Why would I let “avoid teaching at all costs” become my ultimate goal? (When really, that’s another way of saying “be pretentious and egotistical”?)

Nope. I’m choosing to write things that people will call schmaltzy and childish – but maybe life saving for another kid.

(I said I wasn’t going to get emotional. Sorry Edna.)

So, how do you figure out the heart of your story?

Answer these questions: — What does your character need to learn, to stop ruining their own life? — What do YOU want to say?

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To other people, it sometimes seems like nothing at all. You are walking around with your head on fire and no one can see the flames.

Matt Haig, Reasons to Stay Alive (via studyandcry)