#non-linear stories
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Reg Open: Non-Linear Story Structures from Non-Western Traditions
When: February 25th, 2024 | 10AM – 1PM Pacific Time
Can't make the live webinar? Register to get the recording after
Where: Online — Zoom Classroom
Price: $75 - $100
Scholarships are available - scholarship deadline is February 4th!
“Begin at the beginning,” the King said, very gravely, “and go on till you come to the end: then stop.”
― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland.
Carroll’s king was clearly not a Chinese king. Western storytelling traditions decree that a linear structure (along with the three act structure, the hero’s journey, and a rising self-esteem arc) are mandatory features of any satisfying story. This is Western-centric silliness. In this webinar, author Henry Lien will explore non-linear structures, specifically cyclic and nested structures, using examples from non-Western stories and films.
Students will come to understand how these non-linear structures allow for thematic stacking, embracing of moral complexity, and a synthesis between form and content to explode the idea that a straight line is the best way to tell every story. The webinar emphasizes practical craft takeaways for storytellers to apply to their own works in progress.
This webinar will run from 10AM to 1PM Pacific Time with short breaks in the middle.
Details and Registration at Writing the Other's website.
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I understand that literature nerd Jason Todd is kind of overblown in fanon compared to it's actual presence in canon (a few issues during his pre (and post?)crisis Robin tenure that highlight it) BUT consider that I think it's hilarious if the unhinged gun toting criminal has strong opinions on poetry
#ramblings of a lunatic#dc comics#Jason Todd#batfamily#it's just a fun quirk! it's a fun lil detail and I simply cannot slight ppl for enjoying and incorporating it into works#like obviously jason isn't the only one. I'm a big believer in the batfam having over lapping interests they refuse to bond over#i know dick canonically used the robin hood stories (which are pretty flowery in their language far as i can tell) as inspo for Robin#and i know babs was a librarian and even tho her area of nerddom is characterized as more computery she probably knows quite a lot-#-about literature as well#duke is a hobbyist writer i believe? i saw a fan mention that- which if so is great and I hope he's also a nerd#(i mean he is canonically. i remember him being a puzzle nerd in his introduction. but i mean specifically a lit nerd)#damian called Shakespeare boring but also took acting classes so i think he's more of a theatre kid.#Tim's a dropout and i don't think he's ever shown distinct interest in english lit and i can't remember for Steph?#I'm ngl my brain hyperfocused on musician Steph i forget some of her other interests I'm sorry (minus softball and gymnastics!)#and then Cass had her whole (non linear but it's whatevs) arc about literacy and learning to read#went from struggling to read in batgirl 00 to memorizing Shakespeare in 'tec and is now an avid read in batgirls!#she's shown reading edgar allen poe but we don't know if it's his short stories or his poems#point to all of the above being: i know Jason's not the only lit nerd in the batfam#but also i do need him to be writing poetry in his spare time and reading and reviewing it#jason at the next dead robins society meeting: evening folks today I'll be assigning all of us poems based on laika the space dog#damian and steph who have been kidnapped and brought to jasons warehouse to hangout: LET US GO BITCH#speaking of^ random poem i think jason would like: space dog by alan shapiro#wake up one morning in an unfamiliar more mature body with a profound sense of abandonment. the last four lines. mmm tasty
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just found out that jungkook interacts with people who aren’t me
#cold cruel world out there tsk tsk#also lil life update friends !#working full time n going to school full time n also doing extracurricular activities is really not the move#i struggle w toxic productivity and it’s really really destroyed my mental and physical health#so ive busted my behind to save up enough money#to be able to support myself on a part time work schedule until i graduate woohoo !#hoping to have more time to indulge in hobbies#which includes being on here and writing and interacting#i miss you all dearly#ty for everything#like the fact that yall still send sweet things in my inbox when ive been p inactive for like this whole year is super nice and sweet and ye#im sorry i haven’t been responding#but i read them and they do make my day and i love you#and i hope to pick things up again soon#glimpse of us is going to be a banger i fear#ive sat on it for so long that ive perfected this storyline#from metaphors to small details to foreshadowing to non linear storytelling that all forms together in the ends yep#just need to write it which is the hard part 👉👈#but im excited#this the type of story to leave you in a funk for a few days lol and im so excited to share#hope you’re all doing well#and you are also prioritizing your health and well-being#you deserve time for yourself#not even deserve tbh#it’s legit a necessity like pls#you deserve it
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Doctor who is my emotional support TV show
#like literally I was having a shit day at work and then that leela short dropped#and then I just HAD to info dumb abt leela and the gallifrey audios to my best mate#and actually how much I love how non linear dw stories happen#like I was telling him how awesome it is that this old Doctor companion became a main character in the audios and#how this short is a continuation of it and how fun it is that they shot new content abt the time war even if the time war plot was#'resolved' in the tv show a decade ago#shut up patrex#dw save me dw. dw.
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Ok last bit of TOTK saltiness for now but can we agree that trying to tell a linear story via the same collecting memories system was fucking dumb as hell
#fires posts#ramblings#totk#tears of the kingdom#It works in BOTW for a multitude of reasons#The story is non-linear and we KNOW what happens. We just don't know WHY#it serves more like snapshots of Link and Zelda's life than an overarching narrative. Meaning it's fine to get things out of order#and ultimately... the past is behind us. BOTW is as much about the future#MEANWHILE#TOTK is trying to tell a linear timeline of events in the most un-linear way possible#You HAVE to do the glyphs in order or risk being confused af#I can't imagine getting the 🗡 glyph early and having that plot turning point completely spoiled for eg#So you pretty much have to just traipse round the map to find the glyphs one by one (a boring chore)#Literally such a dumbass decision im sorry. At least the glyphs are pretty ig
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"the harsh sun beats down on dirt roads full of pebbles and dust.
its harsh rays peel the paint on the slowly decaying houses. all of the grass has long since died in the heat.
most of the houses are empty, and they have been so for a long time. some of the houses have sun-bleached curtains flapping in empty wind, shattered glass from once clean windows now littering the ground in thousands of dirty, yellowed shards like fallen, tarnished stars."
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or, squiddo and ashswag go ghost hunting.
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#where have i been? ive been ill#this isnt a drawing but i think its cool enough to be a daily >:)#i was going to copy-paste it into tumblr but the formatting is really important to the Experience#red-green-blue au#writing#non linear narrative#horror#(?) i guess#creative writing#short story#i guess???#poetry#(but not really)#squiddo#the real squiddo#daily squiddo#mcyt#ashswag#lifesteal smp
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i guess im not too involved in the zelda fandom cause seeing a post about rabid totk defenders is wild to me. from my perspective people were singing that game's praises for 2 months total before it fell to the "popular game bad actually" criticism wave and i don't think i've seen anyone say positive things about totk since then lmfao
#maybe it's just twitter's algorithm showing me discourse and criticism to try and spark engagement or whatever#ive experienced the same thing with mario odyssey which sucks cause i DID get into that game well after release but whatever#i think the game has plenty of flaws but is still like. one of the best games on the switch and that's not an insult to the switch#and most of my writing issues are 'well this sucks but also makes reasonable sense within the constraints of the game design'#like the lack of sheikah tech or the repetition with the backstory cutscenes with the sages#ive also never been super interested in trying to piece together the timeline or linked universe fan stuff but that might just be me#i feel like botw/totk is way better when you view it as a retelling of the zelda universe and give up on trying to reason with the timeline#for making a direct botw sequel on the same map w the same formula and still trying to make it fresh they knocked it out of the park imo#at least in regards to gameplay?#i acknowledge that there is a MASSIVE flaw in the non linear gameplay clashing w the linear story cutscenes this time#(... but that one didn't personally affect me since i saw the memories in mostly the right order and the story hit me weirdly hard)#but anyways yeah where are all the mean totk defenders i keep hearing about i thought that game fell out of the public consciousness#all i still see about it is NintendoMarioJimmy47536 on twitter calling it 'mid af' or whatever#and occasional gorgeous paintings of the light dragon on my dash
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Truth to tell, at any point in our lives we’ve forgotten more than we know about our own history. The world moves on, and so do we, and what was once important fades away.
Dathan Auerbach, Penpal
#book quote of the day#dathan auerbach#penpal#spookyober reads#horror books#creepypasta#non-linear story#stalker#book quotes#halloween books
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This is a very old and tired complaint but Shaun really was the stupidest thing about fallout 4. The synths were pretty bad too but the synths weren't supposed to be the characters motivation for doing anything. Shaun was several jukes in a contrivance trench coat that clashed with...everything else, to be honest.
So anyway, some dumb ideas i came up with in ten minutes to replace the "Find your son" plot, still using the basic ideas
The SS is still pre-war, and still is the only survivor of Vault 111. This time, they're the ones taken by Kellogg, and after undergoing something (basically just being conscious in the Institute for a bit) before getting thrown back out into the Wasteland. The motivation is figuring out who those science guys were, what they wanted with you, and later, are you a synth?
The SS is not pre-war. Game starts with you traveling with some merc group (gunners maybe?) told to investigate Vault 111 and get out any survivors of the cryo chambers. You find the cryo'd people, but the Institute and Kellogg are right behind you. Kellogg kills everyone in your band, leaving only you, as you hide or play dead or whatever. The Institute takes all of the people you were supposed to save. Motivation is 1: avenging your team and killing Kellogg, 2: figuring out why you were sent to Vault 111 in the first place, and if this job was a set-up.
SS is a traveler who stumbles upon Garvey in Concord. You save him and his group, and can join the Minutemen as usual. If you accept, the Settlement radiant quests start to involve the Institute. Synths are constantly attacking your farms, you keep finding replacements in your settlements trying to kill the original people, and the Institute sends you letters requesting your cooperation or to disband the Minutemen, depending on your actions. Kellogg also keeps showing up and throwing wrenches in Minutemen business. Now, as the General, you're trying to find the Institute to make them stop fucking with your people. If you decline the Minutemen, the Institute starts attacking the major settlements, and now the Commonwealth is under invasion. The Brotherhood rolls in with no fake niceties, and you get roped into it by either the Railroad or BOS in a random encounter.
Back to Pre-war SS. The cryo chambers open after 200 years on their own, and all of the 'residents' stumble out to find the Vault staff dead. Someone has to go see what its like topside. You can volunteer, or everyone draws straws/flips a coin/etc and you lose, having to go up. You go find Codsworth, he tells you there are people in Concord. Find Garvey, etc etc. Vault 111 is now up and operational by Pre-war civilians, but you're tasking with getting supplies for them. Joining the Minutemen makes this easier, as you can send supply routes rather than do it yourself. The Vault interests the Institute, who send Kellogg to attack Sanctuary and the Vault after hitting a certain threshold of success. You go after the Institute once it looks like the Institute, before the war, had something to do with Vault 111, and are now trying to come collect those results. Motivation is figuring out what the Institute is actually planning for the Commonwealth, and why Vault 111 and its people seem to be their ticket to that future.
#fallout 4#fo4#this is coming from someone who does use the vanilla story for their sosu#like it works for me but it still feels hamfisted#'i must find my son' as i travel with preston to make settlements#'i must find my son' as i painstakingly decorate every settlement and play dress up with the settlers#'i must find my son' as i scour the Commonwealth for bobbleheads to fill my handcrafted stand for them#like bruh. linear stories go in linear games.#non linear stories go in non linear games#like. i can get MARRIED before i find shaun. how does oldman shaun feel about danse or curie or hancock being his step parent#SHAUN. I AM FUCKING ONE OF YOUR SYNTHS/A CHEM ADDICT GHOUL LARPING AS JOHN HANCOCK.#ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT ME TO TAKE OVER AS DIRECTOR???
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I think after my next story post I’ll go on a lil hiatus just until I have a decent amount of posts stockpiled
I didn’t realise how fast I’d be catching up so now I only have one (and a half finished) post left lol
#k.rambles#I also have to set up a lot of stuff for the next chapter 😃#I’ll probably still post lil non linear things but no consecutive story posts#I’m also still trying to get a feel for my new shader still not 100% sure about it lol
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I am. Pretty Tempted to talk about post-recovery for Heartless AU. About Heart learning to live again. About Heart, freshly emotional once more, grieving all that he lost so intensely that it almost sets his progress back again. About Perseverance and Penitence holding him up and moving forwards while finally finally acknowledging his emotions like he always wanted. About figuring out his new limits. About Heart trying desperately to remember the feeling of wings on his back because forgetting feels like the ultimate sin, but he's getting used to not having them and he doesn't want to forget.
About Perseverance and Penitence, being more thoughtful and accepting. About both of them helping Heart with these emotions, because they experienced something similar but lesser when Heart was unconscious. About them giving Heart gifts and how those little acts are what holds Heart together.
About them moving forward into the future. About how it's not perfect, but its mine.
...mostly I am just thinking really intensely about Heart's reaction to his lost wings.
#rambles#rand.writ#Heartless AU#Heartless story#yeah no I just really like writing the emotions of a scene#and Heart is absolutely perfect for it#rip me locking that ability away behind a lot of other things#but post recovery for Heartless is not going to be smooth sailing either#recovery is non-linear after all
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You ever go back to look at your WIP after ignoring it for a while and you're just like holy shit, what did I write?
Anyway, memorized your smile lines snippet under cut because it's emotionally heavy and rated M (but I'm sharing anyway because apparently I've reached the rare-for-me stage where I crave external motivation in order to finish this one, ha).
Warning for implied past sexual trauma
His heart kicks as her hand moves to his belt. As she makes a game of it, fingers skirting back and forth, skin and denim and skin and denim until the difference is negligible because she’s touching him no matter what. Like there’s nothing between them, like he’s just as exposed and vulnerable now as he would be naked. Stops breathing when she reaches in; forces himself to breathe anyway. It’s not like—like that, not like it was. But it’s not really like Nancy at all either, and that’s the only other point of comparison he has, and now his stomach is all queasy knots again as she’s pushed to the foreground. Like time is a circle, and it always comes back to that first.
She doesn’t matter. She doesn’t. That doesn’t matter. It only has meaning if he gives it meaning, and no force on Earth can make him do that if he wants badly enough to let it go. It’s just the context. He’s a raw nerve around Cat, uncertain and hesitant. It’s all close to the surface with her—her and her friends who’d looked at him and seen something damaged, which is sort of infuriating; but not been repulsed, which he supposes, with the benefit of time, is better. Been attracted to it, though, which still isn’t.
She pulls at him slow, then she stops. Bats her eyes at him while he pants in her face, heavy and stupid, some kind of overburdened beast on the verge of collapse under a baking sun. There’s no sun here; he’s hot anyway, skin burning, aflame. She’s blurry, too close, his eyelashes wet—not crying, no. Not again just because a girl is touching him. Just damp, just so much feeling so it has to go somewhere, probably makes him look like he’s wearing clumsy dark mascara. He should wear mascara. That’d show his dad. His dad who’ll never see it because Jonathan doesn’t have to see him ever again. His dad who was standing over him the first time someone had broken him open this way, when he’d looked up on the other side of ruination into that serrated smirk, that sick pride.
She nudges his shoulder. Pulls her hand back. He looks at her face; can’t look into her eyes.
This island is so far from Indianapolis. What is he even doing here?
He pushes closer to Cat. Is it farther east? Farther north? He’s lost all sense of space; if his hips guide her into that wall, which cardinal direction is his dick driving? Maybe it moves him a few inches farther from home. A few inches closer, nothing degrees, barely any distance at all.
#trying to piece together this story from my notes and non-linear scenes#and i really dig this passage because i think it's doing a lot of work#but wow is it intense; this boy is not in a good headspace#please don't wake me series#memorized your smile lines wip#writing tag
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Christopher Nolan making movies: I'm gonna make a film that is so confusing and non-linear
#just watched memento :DDDDD#which i think would be his first bigger movie?#but it was so interesting bcs there were a lot of concepts in it that are so visible in his later films#like watching that after watching almost all of his most recent films was such an 'aha!' moment#lthe whole black&white vs in-color to delineate which part of the story we're in#in memento: black and white is the beginning of the story and then in-color is the rest of the story going backwards#and then he uses that concept again in oppenheimer but b&w is the current events and color is everything leading up to that and after#like yeah its really confusing first time around because you dont know that fully yet but then at the end its like OH!!!!!#and then both also have other stuff interspersed btwn those two sections that you only reallly understand by the end#and then with the plot going backwards. that was the same as tenet right?#like starting with the end of the story and them ending with the beginning of the story#i cant remember inception well enough atm but im sure it has traits of memento as well#his movies are like puzzles ig! like you really have to keep track of all the details and what takes place when#i think theyre really fun bcs more and more becomes clear to you#im not sure what the most confusing nolan movie is hmmmm probably tenet or inception right?#oppenheimer: much more clear in general since its following literal historical events but just in a non linear manner#the only real reason i found it a bit confusing is bcs i didnt know a lot of the characters and also was trying to figure out the timeline#and then interstellar is more just confusing in concept bcs it has to do with time in the 4th dimension and all that#but i think the story is pretty understandable its just hard to wrap your head around the different time/dimension concepts#then again....ive watched it probably more than 4 times by now! ITS ONE OF MY FAV MOVIES EVER#cant say much abt the batman movies bcs they have nolan concepts but arent really like his other stuff#haha someones said he did those movies so he could make absolute bank and then have a blank check to do whatever movies he wants#and someone also said that oppenheimer felt like memento and thats so so so true!!!#its cool that he can make the movies he wants. bcs as i said watching memento really outlines very well what concepts he likes#watching it was weird bcs im like oh yeah this is *so* christopher nolan and then realize this is literally only his second film#i need to rewatch inception and dunkirk and see if i can spot inspo from Memento in them#anyways: yay film!!! yay cinema!!!!!! movies are so fun!!!!!!#catie.rambling.txt
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Prompt: "I may not get another chance to say this."
Fandom: Fanf Security Breach, mafia au
Rating: T
Warnings: alcohol, crime and murder mentioned.
Eclipse sat staring into the depths of his hard liquor.
His consumption of such was , in the eyes of humans, pointless but the acrid smell and instant combustion upon hitting his system made him feel alive even when nothing else would.
It was in this brooding state that you approached him.
The scrape of the chair against the wood floor only further filled Eclipse with dread.
This was it.
You had come to tell him you were through, that your debt was settled and you were leaving.
Perhaps you'd pack up and leave this city entirely, he couldn't hold you here anymore, nothing could. He had made sure you had means.
Surely you would use them.
"You're back." You say and the sweet sound of your voice makes him weak in ways that shouldn't be possible for a machanical being.
When he risks a glimpse at you, his condition is far from improved.
The way the light catches your eyes is doing things to his processors.
He continues to trace sensless patterns into the table top. Normally he would be quick to reply with a clever remark but he is speechless. His voicebox crackling with each failed attempt at a greeting.
This seems to amuse you and your bell-like laughter leaves him reeling.
"It's...good to see you again. For awhile I thought-"
"I may not get another chance to say this." His words felt too loud.
The din of the club around them seemed to fade out whenever he met your eyes. They were perfect pools of light, dappled with shade like the pond in that park you liked. Stars, everything in this city would haunt him after you were gone.
"I know we're square and that you probably are getting on the first train outta here after this but I need you to know..." he took your hands a bit more roughly than he meant to and felt you flinch. He relaxed his grip immediately, softening in a way that only you could make him soften.
"I would have died a contented bot back there. You, you're worth more than any racket I've ever run. I-I just- I can't..."
Then you leaned forward and you were kissing him.
Eclipse pressed closer. Arms moving to pull you closer. He took all you gave him greedily. As if it was the very fuel he ran off of.
When you pulled away, you brought a hand to the side of his faceplate and he couldn't help but let his optics shutter.
You had so seldom been the one to initiate anything and this might be his last taste of-
"Come with me."
Eclipse opened his eyes with a start. You were looking at him with the most serious look you had every given him.
No games.
No jests.
Just you.
"Come with me 'Clip. We can run, go anywhere and just be ..." you were choking up, tears in your eyes.
If someone had told him that he'd ever consider walking away, away from everything he had fought and killed for in this city? Well, they probably would have lived to finish the thought. Yet in this moment, he found himself nodding along, acutely aware of how your thumb brushed along the whorls decorating his cheek.
His systems were stuttering and he found himself uttering the words.
"Okay, darling. For you? Anything."
#fictober23#fnaf eclipse#mob boss eclipse#sleuth jesters inspired#part of something bigger but submitted out of order#non linear story telling coming right up#stay tuned
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Y'all don't understand, Tango in a witch's hat is making me lose my mind for many reasons. Partially because he was just so damn excited over it but also
There was a Witch & Familiar Traffic Life AU I'd written up like - a few months back? Maybe? It started with Martyn and Ren and expanded from there. But W&F Tango grew up thinking he was just A Normal Non-Magic-User for like years. And then one day, POOF, he has magic, and he finds out because he meets (Avian Familiar) Jimmy and their magic just clicks instantly. And like.
Sausage calling Tango a lower-level witch or something in his record book?? Guys it's making me want to add it to my actual fic list even though I already have three MCYT stories in the works
#I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR ANOTHER FIC#maybe one shots#maybe I can do a non-linear spattering of stories#MAYHAPS#Team Rancher#TangoTek#HC x Empires#Trafficblr#Renchanting Duo#Witch and Familar AU#Witch!TangoTek
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regret to inform you Witcher s3 is so good it makes the near-slog of seasons 1-2 worth it
#it has everything. tender yearning romance. found family. lots of lesbians. non linear episode set at a ball#where we see the story from several perspectives with new info revealed every time.#ciri finally kicking ass. a siege episode with so much cool fantasy magic violence. sexy war crimes#I could go on!!!!#like I enjoyed many parts of 1-2 but they were NOT well structured or paced and the characters and tone were everywhere#but like. maybe if you haven’t seen any of it just read the wiki for 1-2 and go straight to 3#you wouldn’t be missing a ton
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