So Guess Who Just Learned That When You Have A Sore Throat, It’s Not A Good Idea To Drink Extremely

Another dnd update!

One of my players has to explain in character how they killed their ex and how said ex not knowing that they were killed BY them and coming to find them because they believe they’re still dating is awkward because they are currently dating someone else.

TOO BE FAIR THEY HAD A VERY NICE VOICE AND I JUST LEARNED THAT ABOUT MYSELF (and it’s a kink not a fetish)

My friend just messaged me saying “PRIMROSE HELP I HAVE A VOICE FETISH” and I’m not sure what to do with that information

I was on a walk and as I passed by the local pool I heard one of the kids exclaim “Look! It’s Hedwig!” and all of the kids come over to look. I looked over right on time to see the pained face of a swimming instructor who had read all of Harry Potter. Like she looked at the owl and then back at the kids with a face that just said “oh…. You poor sweet souls…. You haven’t gotten to that part yet… oh no.”

Dive in Deeper: Irony

Hey, hey! Happy Monday! Hopefully everyone had a wonderful weekend and we’re all ready to tackle the week as strong people!

Sometimes, I forget If I’ve quickly covered something on this blog before.. I feel like I’ve done irony before but it’s probably me just imagining…

Let’s begin!

What is Irony?

The definition of irony as a literary device is a situation in which there is a contrast between expectation and reality

For example, the difference between what something appears to mean versus its literal meaning.

Irony is associated with both tragedy and humor.

What Are the Main Types of Irony?

Dramatic Irony: Also known as tragic irony, this is when a writer lets their reader know something that a character does not. In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, each young lover takes the poison, thinking the other is already dead—the dramatic irony comes from the audience wanting them to know the whole story before taking this final action. Similarly, in Shakespeare’s Othello, Othello trusts Iago—but the audience knows better.

Comic irony. This is when irony is used to comedic effect—such as in satire. Jane Austen was a master of irony and dialogue. Her preoccupation with social divisions, and the witty and insightful tone with which she revealed hypocrisy and parodied people contributed heavily to her voice. Austen opens Pride and Prejudice with a famous line implying that men are the ones who hunt for a wife; however, she makes it clear throughout the narrative that it is actually the other way around.

Situational Irony. This is at play when an expected outcome is subverted. For example, in O. Henry’s classic tale, The Gift of the Magi, a wife cuts off her long hair to sell it in order to buy her husband a chain for his prized watch. Meanwhile, the husband has sold his watch in order to buy his wife a comb for her hair. The situational irony comes from each person not expecting to have their gift be undercut by the other’s actions.

Verbal irony. This is a statement in which the speaker means something very different from what he or she is saying. Think of the knight in Monty Python and the Holy Grail: with both his arms sliced off, he says, nonchalantly: “It’s just a flesh wound.” He is ironically (and comically) underplaying the severity of his injury.

What Is the Difference Between Irony and Sarcasm?

Sarcasm is a conversational device characterized by saying the opposite of what one means.

The key difference between irony and sarcasm is that sarcasm characterizes someone’s speech. Irony can additionally describe situations or circumstances. There are some cases in which someone could say something that is considered both ironic and sarcastic, but sarcasm is not a literary device.

Five Tips For Writing Irony

Pay attention. As you read and watch movies, think critically about what is ironic, and why. For example, in the film The Wizard of Oz, the great and powerful Oz turns out to be just a regular man, while Dorothy, who has been desperately seeking his help so that she can get home, has had the power to return home all along. Think about ways in which you can incorporate situations like this into your writing, where you subvert the expectations of your characters, your readers—or both.

Use an omniscient point of view. Many novels written in the nineteenth century are told from an omniscient point of view. When a reader knows more than the character, as in Bram Stoker's Dracula, it generates suspense, because your reader waits for the character to learn what they already know. But you might want to invert that balance of knowledge and make the narrator a character in the story that knows more than the reader. Agatha Christie used this first-person strategy to create narrative irony.

Have a clear point of view strategy. Point of view strategy is deeply bound up with what story you want to tell and will guide how that story unspools. No matter where you are in the drafting process, devote some time to thinking through the risks and rewards of different point-of-view strategies and consider who in your story may be best suited to hold the narrative reins.

Use the “meanwhile” device. If you are using an omniscient narrative point of view strategy, your narrator may recount a parallel event happening simultaneously in another place using the “meanwhile” device (e.g., “Meanwhile, across town...”). Because this device lets the reader in on happenings that one character has no knowledge of, it is a great tool for generating dramatic irony.

Use a flashback sequence. When your narrative or characters recall a long memory from a time before the story began, you may want to pull the reader back into a past scene. This is called a flashback. It important to mark the beginning and end of a flashback to make your time jumps clear to the reader, which you can do using past perfect tense to introduce the change—e.g. “he had gone to the marina.” Past perfect tense uses the verb “to have” with the past participle of another verb (in this case “gone”). After a few lines of this, transition into simple past tense—e.g. “he climbed onto the boat.” Generally speaking, using past perfect for a long section of text is jarring for most readers. It’s enough to use it only at the start of the flashback before switching to simple past tense. At the flashback’s end, use a reminder that the reader is back in the current scene.

There you have it! Please reblog, like and comment if you find these helpful!

The world is made for the boringly average and I refuse to elaborate.

Writing… opinion?

Ok so this isn’t a tip but I do find this important. Please don’t romanticize kidnapping and stalking or at least if you do please note that such activities aren’t, in reality, romantic. I have been around so many people who have copied such actions or have not been able to recognize the danger because stuff like obsession, possessiveness, and generally unhealthy habits have been so heavily romanticized. I’ve even had friends who have been stalked and yet not realized it because of these sorts of things! Please be aware of the messages your putting out through your work and don’t promote dangerous activities!

Opinion over.

Glass is spiky

Fuck this shit Imma eat a jar

“What do you need?”

“A hug.”

“I was talking to the dog”

“Oh……”

practical writing advice

part 2

avoid writing in bed if you can. writing in bed is the mind-killer. writing in bed is the little death that brings obliteration. you may think "but i can write AND be cozy" you will get sleepy so fast. 98% of the time when i try to get a nighttime writing session done in bed i go to sleep. maybe 70% of the time if it's an afternoon writing session. also it fucking kills your wrists.

STRETCH before writing. stretch as many parts of your body as possible ESPECIALLY YOUR WRISTS! i have chronic tendonitis in both of my arms from not doing this and it is manageable but it is Not Fun!

plug your phone in on the other side of the room. better yet, plug it in and leave it in another room. better yet, power it off and leave it in another room. "i'll just check one quick thing" do not underestimate the power of the doomscroll.

do a warmup. look up writing prompts (i like one-word prompts or prompts that focus on a general theme as it's easier to integrate into my writing style), set a timer for fifteen minutes, or ten, or five, and go ham. make it shitty or incomprehensible, as long as you make it. create a dump document for all your warmups. i currently have two novels in the works that started as one of these fifteen minute little warmups.

pick your background noise ahead of time if you use it, and look for something long. i listen to 3-hour-long silent hill ambient mixes on youtube dot com.

take breaks. around every 45 minutes, as i'm noticing myself begin to lose focus, i get up, grab a drink, get my blood flowing, and give myself some space to breathe.

sometimes i sit down to write and i think "every atom in my body is averse to doing this right now. i would rather dance barefoot on a bed of nails than open my laptop and start typing." and you know what i do? i go do something else instead. don't force it! it will become a chore.

that being said! write as often as possible. try to write every day. try to write at the same time. don't beat yourself up if you can’t, BUT the more often you write, the more often you'll want to write.

if you're stuck on a scene or a page or a chapter, go back to the last place where you felt like you knew what you were doing and start writing from there. keep a copy of your other writing in case you want to reuse it or refer back!

i don't know if this is something that will be helpful for other people but i start mentally preparing myself for my writing session a few hours ahead of time. i will say to myself, "today, at this time, i'm gonna sit down and write that scene where mina walks out on her book club, and it's going to be awesome and i'm looking forward to it." then, by the time i actually begin, i basically have the whole thing written out in my head and can just put it down to paper. it's a good way to at least kickstart the session !

ok thanks bye

everyone knows the real hell in creation is creating