Enjoying The Pool In The Middle Of Strangerville Crisis.

@otome-reviews Remember when I asked you about Masanari and Saizo in a duel...Saizo pretty much owns the snake man in melee due to his long hair. 😀

Q&A: Long Hair

Is it not yet completely insane for someone who engages in combat a lot to have long, say shoulder-length, hair? I saw your posts about armour and put two and two together when you said anything that can be grabbed isn’t that good of an idea, so hair…?

This one’s pretty simple; you’ve identified one of the two main issues.

So, long hair is a detriment to combat effectiveness, but it’s not terminal. You don’t want hair that will get in the way, and you don’t want hair that can be grabbed. After that, do what you want.

So, long hair will, usually, get in the way. No matter your best intentions, it’ll fall in front of your face, get in your eyes, and, generally, make a nuisance out of itself at every opportunity. Before someone tries to come down on me for this: I’ve had long hair for most of my life. I know.

The simplest answer is: You bind it back in a tight ponytail; that will keep it out of the way. Historically, this has been men’s fashion in a number of cultures. Ideally a shorter ponytail is better than a longer one, but to some extent, it doesn’t matter. Buns are also an option, as are dreadlocks and tight braids. Anything that keeps the hair out of the way will do the job.

So, why bother? Because in colder climates, long hair will keep your head warm. Hair is a fantastic insulator, and if you’re living on a tundra, that will help keep your head warm when you’re out working. When you’re fighting, you’ll probably want to tie it back.

The other reason is, yes, someone can grab you by your hair. There’s a couple caveats here, and they depend on the kind of combat you’re in. In a fight with bladed weapons, going for someone’s hair is a good way to get carved up. You’re giving up one hand, and limiting your mobility, and hoping your opponent won’t use one hand to grab your weapon arm, and the other one to run you through repeatedly. This is less of a consideration if your foe is wearing armor, though, at that point, you probably are as well, and getting into the situation in the first place is going to be harder.

Also, ponytails blunt the effect of having your hair pulled. I suspect this has something to do with how it distributes the force across the scalp, but a ponytail will not offer the same control grabbing a fist full of loose hair will.

In ranged combat, somewhat obviously, you’re not going to be getting a grip on someone’s hair, and some the same considerations apply as the previous example. If you do get in close enough to grab their hair, they’ll probably pump a couple rounds into you.

Not, strictly related, but long hair can be a detriment when working around heavy machinery. If it gets caught, it can get pulled in. So, that’s something else to avoid. At that point, even the ponytail can be serious safety issue. This is more of a general, “yeah, long hair can be a detriment, than a specific issue, and shoulder length shouldn’t be a problem.

So, no, nothing insane about having hair, that’s normal, and long hair is common enough, but it does come with special considerations.

-Starke

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Q&A: Long Hair was originally published on How to Fight Write.

“People don’t understand the word ruthless. They think it means ‘mean.’ It’s not about being mean. It’s about seeing the bright, clear line that leads from A to B. The line that goes from motive to means. Beginning to end. It’s about seeing that bright, clear line and not caring about anything but the beautiful fact that you can see the solution. Not caring about anything else but the perfection of it.”

— Marco, Animorphs #30: The Reunion, pg. 71 (by K.A. Applegate)

5 ways to increase/decrease suspense in your writing

Suspense is one of the trickier parts of writing to manage effectively because, as the author, you can’t experience your story the way a reader does. If you don’t have enough suspense, it can be difficult to keep your readers interested. If you have too much, frustrated and stressed-out readers might throw your book against the wall. Too much suspense can even backfire - if you try to keep your readers constantly on edge, they can stop taking things seriously and the end result is as though you never included any suspense at all.

So how can you tell if you’ve reached the right balance? Unfortunately, I can’t answer that for you. Some things really do require feedback from honest and insightful readers. Once you have that feedback, however, there are easy tricks to adjusting the level of suspense without a drastic re-write. Here are my five favorite methods.

Promises and Payoffs

INCREASE SUSPENSE by promising something huge and then giving your reader something unexpected. To borrow an example from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, imagine a teenage boy and girl sneaking into an empty building. Everything from the costumes to the lighting is designed to make you uneasy about the girl’s safety but, in the end, she’s the vampire. Give the audience something sensational and they won’t be disappointed that you didn’t deliver on what you originally promised.

DECREASE SUSPENSE by promising less than you plan to deliver. For example, if you plan to kill off a character as they walk through a dark alley, let them worry about being mugged rather than murdered. Not only is it less suspenseful, the payoff is more shocking.

Characters are Crucial

INCREASE SUSPENSE by shifting the focus to a character who’s more involved in the action or one who has more at stake. Even if you have a single POV character, another can come in and demand that character’s attention, along with the readers’.

DECREASE SUSPENSE by focusing on a character who’s more concerned with a secondary goal. Subplots are a fantastic way to give your readers some room to breathe.

Calm vs. Chaos

INCREASE SUSPENSE by cutting back on the action. Suspense flourishes in the quiet moments when your characters have time to think and to anticipate what may be in store for them.

DECREASE SUSPENSE by giving your characters a big, exciting mess to deal with. Even when that mess causes more problems and puts more pressure on your characters in the long run, you’ve still created an oasis where both they and the readers are too distracted to worry about how the big picture will pan out.

Devil’s in the Details

INCREASE SUSPENSE by concentrating on the details of the setting. Horror movies are great at this - every creak of a door, every shadow across a wall keeps the audience immersed in the experience and tense with anticipation.

DECREASE SUSPENSE by breaking the “show, don’t tell” rule and allow exposition to help you move things along. You don’t need to take readers through every aspect of your story in excruciating detail. It’s okay to gloss over some things and it helps readers relax because they know you’re not going to be springing any surprises on them just yet.

Ticking Time-Bomb

INCREASE SUSPENSE by imposing a deadline that your characters struggle to meet. It’s one of the oldest and most obvious tricks in the book, but very effective.

DECREASE SUSPENSE by allowing your characters to believe that the deadline has been met or pushed back. If they (and the readers) believe that they’ve accomplished their goal or bought themselves more time, it relieves pressure and allows everyone to relax until the truth’s revealed.

“Totalitarianism begins in contempt for what you have. The second step is the notion: ‘Things must change—no matter how, Anything is better than what we have.’”

— Hannah Arendt, “Interview with Roger Errera”, The New York Review of Books (26 October 1978)

Hi, I am Katerina

Please add me in IkeVamp

P8LNQ8EM6

Err...aren't they the same person?

Tag Game - 5 Things

From @otome-comments ❤❤

5 Things In My Bag:

Small Notebook

Assorted Pilot G-tec Pens

Assorted Stabilo Highlighter Pens

Small Perfume Bottle

Lipgloss

5 Things In My Room:

Old Laptop (10 years in service)

"Malleable" study lamp (you can twist its neck on all sides without problems)

Hand lotion

2 Pillows and 1 mini-pillow

1 Comforter

5 of My Favorite Things:

My Dad's Laptop (its powerful and game friendly)

My VIVO Android Phone

Colorful gel pens, ballpens, sign pens, markers...etc..

Coloring Books

BOX of Talecraft Cards

5 Things I am Currently Into:

SLBP

Six Flying Dragons

Coffee Shops

Sleeping

Playing

5 Things in my to-do list:

CLEAN the floor under my bed

Exercise

Read some books

Create Fanfiction

SAVE money for 2019 Christmas Gifts

Tag Game - 5 Things

Tagged by @serenity-writes​. You’re absolutely amazing! 💕

5 Things in my bag:

Wallet

Tampons 😂

Granola bars

Kleenex

Portable phone charger

5 Things in my room:

3 blankets

A giant plant

An EXO poster

Olive oil (how did that get in here?!)

A bunch of water, just in case

5 Of My Favorite Things:

My bae :)

Soft fuzzy warm blankets

Instant hot chocolate

Nice smelling shampoo

A relaxing weekend

5 Things I’m currently into:

Marie Kondo

Romance is a Bonus Book

Attack on Titan (thanks @sharksmirk​  😂)

Off-season DIY pumpkin spice everything

Cheesy otome stories :)

5 Things in my to-do list:

Call my parents

Taxes

Clear out my fridge 😬

Move! ^_^

Make a DMV appointment, lol

Tagging @sharksmirk, @luallice, @himiko-kaze, @ard-kancha, @reinasescape, @lxvescramble, @aedysa, and anyone else who’s interested! :)

Source: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2256688471076332&id=104685412943326

Playing Cinderella Phenomenon be like...

Newbie me: Wow! The stories are good and the CGs are awesome! I wish I could romance that white-haired knight Fritz cuz he looks cool....What!? I can unlock him after playing two routes?? Yaay!!

After playing Fritz route:

...This cant't be happening 😭😭😭😭