Write A Piece About A Dollmaker Or Puppetmaster

Write a piece about someone who no longer needs to sleep

PACING IS ABOUT LOAD BEARING WALLS.

*staples violently to my own forehead*

Write a piece about something that takes a year to build being destroyed in a minute.

You are an evil doll. You were trapped under a lake by some kids for twenty years. You planned your revenge—but now, their lives are already so awful you don't need to do anything.

Text: The shop is half perfumery/half hypnotist’s practice. Give them enough details, a lock of hair, and they can make a scent that will jog memories from the day you were born.

I kind of suck at tagging, so I made this infographic to help make it easier.

One of my favorite D&D gags that I ever came up with is part of a oneshot I've run a few times where the party is hired by a young wizard to help clear out a few active security measures in a tower that the wizard inherited from her old teacher.

The first obstacle to be cleared is the re-animated skeletons that the old wizard was using for gardening help. It's a pretty straightforward fight, but during the encounter, players may notice one particular raised bed of herbs that is set back in a corner of the garden by itself.

Upon further investigation, this one raised bed is absolutely shining with magical protections. There are runes carved into the wood of the bed, gemstones inlaid in the top of it, this bed is absolutely protected out the ass... and an arcana check shows that the protections are all pointed inward, attempting to keep what's in there from getting out.

What's growing in that raised bed, you may ask? What is so dangerous that the old wizard felt the need to place all these protections?

Mint.

Tips for Writing Sad Scenes

Remember not all characters express emotions the same way. For example, some characters are more closed off than others and will act accordingly. What makes one character collapse into a sobbing, wailing mess, might make another grieve quietly in a way people who don’t know them well might not even notice. That doesn’t make either reaction less impactful, it simply highlights the differences between the characters’ personalities.

Avoid melodrama. Going overboard with intense expressions of sadness can make them unintentionally humorous. Basically, make the intensity of characters’ emotions suit the situation and don’t let characters endlessly wallow in sorrow throughout the story. While it’s perfectly understandable for emotions to linger, dwelling on the same one with minimal variation risks losing the reader’s interest. 

Use buildup judiciously. Sometimes, you might decide to reveal that a bad situation is even more dire than the characters’ first thought, leading them to feel hopeless. Other times, the sad event might strike the characters as suddenly as a lightning strike.Giving characters and readers nuggets of hope can be especially effective. That’s because those lead people to believe that a positive outcome is possible, thereby making it hurt all the more when things take a turn for the worse.

Show characters seeking and giving comfort. Whether they try to drown their sorrows in alcohol or hug their friends close, moments where characters seek or give comfort show how much a sad event is impacting them. This provides good opportunities for bonding and possibly more conflict. Plus, coping mechanisms speak volumes about characters. Do they try to comfort others when they’re practically falling apart themselves? Do they seek some kinds of comfort but avoid others?

Emphasize lost opportunities. What will characters’ find much harder or even impossible now? If a character dies, who or what are they leaving behind? Who misses them now that they are gone? What dreams did they leave unfulfilled?

HOLY COW!

kottke.org

The British Pathe Archive

Newsreel archivist British Pathé has uploaded their entire 85,000 film archive to YouTube. This is an amazing resource. British P

British Pathé was once a dominant feature of the British cinema experience, renowned for first-class reporting and an informative yet uniquely entertaining style. It is now considered to be the finest newsreel archive in existence. Spanning the years from 1896 to 1976, the collection includes footage — not only from Britain, but from around the globe — of major events, famous faces, fashion trends, travel, sport and culture. The archive is particularly strong in its coverage of the First and Second World Wars.

This is an extraordinary resource. (making a note to go hunting for some things...)

⋆˚࿔ excuse prompts 𝜗𝜚˚⋆

¹⁾ “we were so drunk.”

²⁾ “i was trying to protect you!”

³⁾ “i never thought it would go this far.”

⁴⁾ “this wasn’t supposed to happen, i swear.”

⁵⁾ “he swore he wouldn’t tell anyone.”

⁶⁾ “you’re- you’re never around anymore!”

⁷⁾ “if i’d have waited any longer, the outcome would have been so much worse.”

⁸⁾ “you started this shit, i’m only trying to get us out of it!”

⁹⁾ “i… i just wanted the chance to prove myself to you.”

¹⁰⁾ “yeah, ‘cause you’re all such fucking saints.”

¹¹⁾ “i was handling it fine until you got involved!”

¹²⁾ “i wasn’t thinking, that’s the whole point!”

¹³⁾ “you didn’t give me any other choice.”

¹⁴⁾ “i gave you a pass when the roles were reversed, so maybe a little understanding wouldn’t kill you.”

¹⁵⁾ “if this were anyone else, you wouldn’t be riding them half as hard and you know it.”

¹⁶⁾ “you’ve been under so much pressure… i thought i could take a little of it off you by taking care of it.”

¹⁷⁾ “all i did was put my trust in the wrongs person.”

¹⁸⁾ “if you hadn’t chewed me out so damn hard for asking for your help last time, maybe i would’ve felt safe enough to do it again.”

¹⁹⁾ “do you have any idea what it feels like to be lonely in your own house? of course you don’t, because you’re never fucking here!”

²⁰⁾ “i didn’t think you’d care. nothing else ever seems to make you, so why should this!”