In Fairy Tales And Fantasy, Two Types Of People Go In Towers:  Princesses And Wizards.

universe swapsies

tbh this is proof that social media has completely ruined my sense of humor like i could go see a stand up comedian live and not laugh as hard as i did from reading this one fucking tweet

Y’all I read a lot of scripts. And the one note I give over and over and over and over to the point that I can pretty much copy and paste it from one review to another…. let your characters lie. Let them omit, stumble, and circumvent. Allow them to be completely unable to express what they’re feeling. Make them unable to admit a truth. Let them sit in silence because they can’t think of anything clever to say! Let them say the exact wrong thing!

Dee Rees talks about it in her BAFTA lecture (which you should ABSOLUTELY WATCH): that what your character actually says should be three degrees of separation away from what they mean to say.

I read script after script after script where characters articulate their needs, desires, and objectives with perfect accuracy off the cuff 24/7 and there is not one single human person on this planet who is actually able to do that. This is the #1 thing that’s going to make your script sound stilted and the #1 thing that’s going to make shit difficult on your actors. Let them shut up, and let them lie.

I think it was before I started posting story concepts on tumblr but I had an old concept called ‘apocalyptia’ which was a dark comedy about a world where every apocalypse movie premise happened simultaneously

Some Show/Story Pitching tips for young creators.

The Final Agni Kai is great for a lot of reasons but it’s also a great example of how to write a fight scene because it was about more than who “won” the fight.

Zuko lost that fight, technically speaking. He took a hit for Katara and wasn’t able to defeat Azula within the bounds of the Agni Kai. He got knocked out and would have died if not for Katara. You could make the argument that Azula defeated her brother here but

She didn’t win.

It’s tempting to write fight scenes as a contest of might where characters try and deplete each other’s imaginary health meters until one of them comes out on top but the most interesting fight scenes, to me, are ones where there is more at stake. Where fighting is a method to resolve a dispute of ideologies rather than a contest of physical brawn. 

This was a fight for the soul of the Fire Nation and even though Zuko ended up flat on his ass, electrocuted, with a second scar from a family member for his troubles

This is where Zuko won. 

This is where the Fire Lord sacrificed himself for a waterbender and member of an “enemy” nation. This is where he wrested the soul of his country away from a century of imperialist rule. 

Yeah, Azula got him with her fifth level Lightning Bolt spell; big whoop. She won the Agni Kai but when has an Agni Kai ever meant anything? 

From Season 1, the Agni Kai has been shown to be a futile dick-measuring contest between firebenders. Ozai “won” the Agni Kai with his son, but defeating a defenseless child is not a victory worth winning. Likewise, Azula’s defeat of Zuko here was the end of their Agni Kai but it doesn’t matter. 

Zuko doesn’t need to beat Azula to win. 

If this was a video game, this would have been the end of Zuko, but it’s not. It’s the moment where Zuko wrests control of the Fire Nation’s destiny away from his father and sister and reunites it with a whole and peaceful world by intentionally losing to protect a friend. 

The Fire Nation fell when Azula knocked Zuko out. It rose again when Katara brought him back to life. 

Azula won the final Agni Kai but in the end, Zuko won the Fire Nation’s future

my turn on the local bog hags 

C2, F1, G3, Z1

Finally have a chance to get this answered!

C2 - I can’t help but immediately think of that stereotypical butt-in-the-air sleeping position because it would be hilarious, but in a serious sense Hawthorn probably sleeps in whatever position he hits the bed in, usually on his stomach.

F1 - Like a true dwarf, he loves to carouse, but in his spare non-party times, Hawthorn likes to watch birds - there aren’t many in the Khemhara and certainly not underground, and he’s fascinated by them.

G3 - He’s so thoroughly unaffected by alcohol that you always have someone watching out for your drunk ass, and he’s fiercely loyal. Once you earned his trust he’ll kill for you. Seriously. He’ll do it. Just point him at the bastard.

Z1 - As mentioned before, he’s fascinated by birds, of all kinds. But his heart lies with giant lizards. They’re like the horses of Khemite Dwarves. He used to ride them all the time and that is an experience.

I end up coming up with a new chain oc pretty much every stream but most recent is Footpad. Koursirian street urchin with an aptitude for magic. Ostensibly joined the chain to get themselves off the streets and earn fortune although if they’re honest, they were just too curious and had too much of wanderlust not to join up with the Helltroopers.

Always liked footpad as slang for a thief and seemed to fit pretty well as a chain name. They’re probably just a rank-and-file soldier but if I were to actually build them mechanically they’d be 3rd level arcane trickster rogue. Idk if the rank and file actually report to specific junior officers but I like the idea that their magic and curiosity makes them get along well with Buts.