The Skellingcorner

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See, that’s what the app is perfect for.

Sounds perfect Wahhhh, I don’t wanna
fantasy-writing jellydoggo

How to make a character’s death sadder

the-right-writing

  1.  Don’t have them die of old age after a long, fulfilling life. Many people don’t even think of this as sad (note that this can still work if you have enough of the other factors).
  2.  Leave one of their major goals unfinished. The more enthusiastic they are about completing the goal, the sadder.
  3.  Give them strong relationships with other characters.
  4.  Make them fight against whatever is causing their death. Their ultimate loss is sadder if they struggle.
  5.  Kill them in the middle of their character arc.
  6.  Don’t describe their funeral in detail. Maybe it’s just me, but I find that long descriptions of funerals kill the sadness.
stevraybro

That’s enough Satan’s publisher…

iceb0x

>B)

shuttle-fly-blogs

7. If possible, try to kill them off in the middle of the story, so we had time to like them and we will have time to let the loss settle in.

8. Also, place surviving characters in a situation where having the deceased person there would help them get out. You can choose whether you will point this fact out or if you want the audience to make the connection themselves.

thehellspawnhero

image
peachdoxie

9. Make them die by sacrificing themselves to save someone they love from a danger created by the antagonist.

socialjusticeprincesses

based on a few deaths that made me blub like a baby…

10. have their loved one, broken hearted, tell the team to stop fighting because “its over.” 

11. have their pet come looking for them. 

12. have their loved one perform a popular song at their funeral so it makes the fans cry whenever it’s played.

13. family witnessing the death and/or blaming themselves.

~ Mulan

asbehsam

so… let’s add some frustration to your dear readers’ sadness, shall we?

14. kill the character in the middle of making a joke, smiling, or expressing/experiencing joy/happiness.

15. make the character’s death slow and painful, but make them unable to call out for help even though they can literally see the other characters nearby.

16. after killing the character, have others think the character had betrayed them so they’d always hate them and remember them as traitors and never say nice things about them… Give your readers no chance to have group-therapy with other characters by making them the only ones who know the truth.

17. right before their death, show a side of them nobody has seen. (someone who is always tough and brave being genuinely scared of dying alone; someone who is always laughing being in tears before dying, etc.)

18. make them the only person who knows a big important secret that would help other characters in the story.

19. have them being lied to before dying. (thinking they’ve been betrayed; thinking they weren’t loved; thinking they’ve lost their loved ones, etc)

20. make the character very enthusiastic/passionate about a certain goal, constantly put stress on their goal, have them die unexpectedly before they can reach their goal. 

and the best one…

21. have another beloved character kill them–better be a close friend to your character, one that absolutely nobody suspects, one that everyone can’t help but love, one who is always enthusiastic about things and encourages your character. THEN

  • reveal the truth only later when it’s too late and the a-hole character has already escaped.
  • have a cowardly character know the truth and never tell anyone else
  • have another character find out the truth and have them die before revealing it to others. 
  • have the said character ^ not actually die, but go through something so they’d forget the friend of the deceased character is actually an asshole. 

This way only your readers will know the truth, thus the frustration would be… most enjoyable for you.

Satan out.

bobby-phantom

based off of the one character death that physically pains me to think about

23. Make the character a very loving and caring family person, whether it’s with their siblings or parents, their partner, or their children. Make them talk about how much their family means to them frequently. Kill them off before they could even say goodbye.

Bonus points if they have a very young child who means the world to them.

More bonus points if their family member kills them, or they believe their family member to have killed them.

generic-heroine

THIS MAKES ME SO INSPIRED TO FINALLY KILL THE SINNAMON ROLL IN CRITICAL SURVIVAL

how-to-art

24. After their death show characters who helped them and who the readers believed were their allies or friends celebrate their death and make jokes of it.

25. And another for not killing their body: Have them come close to death and lose their memory, and after have them work/with for those they were fighting against and find a family there. Their past allies/friends are completely aware of this, except for the person who cared for them most who is drowning in despair believing that they’re dead.

fantasy-writing

Have you all been playing a bit too much Darkest Dungeon?

Here’s some gruesome suggestions for your more deadly prose.

Source: the-right-writing
nimblesnotebook-blog

mawichandoodles asked:

What is the difference between angst and tragedy? How can I avoid turning a tragic story into a angst fest? Thank you.

Angst: Something bad has happened and the character reflects on it (in a “woe is me” way) until they reach a realization or until they accept what happened or until they ”turn a new leaf” (The Catcher in the Rye or that one contestant on Chopped who puts all the blame on the basket ingredients instead of their own choices and then never shuts up about it).

Tragedy: A sequence of events that lead to a tragedy due to the actions of the characters (Romeo and Juliet or that one contestant on Chopped who works really hard and makes the best tasting dish of the round but who forgets one of the basket ingredients and gets chopped even though another contestant served raw red onions to Scott Conant).

Angst and tragedy are not mutually exclusive and some element of angst often appears in tragedy (Hamlet in Hamlet). Here are some tips on writing angst and here are some general tips on making sure the angst doesn’t take over:

  • Characters Should Be Active: In an angst-ridden story, the characters tend to be passive. They sit around and reflect on what happened to them. Then just as they’re getting up to sit somewhere else, something else happens to them. They just sit there and take it. And then they reflect on it some more. The reader cares less about these angst-ridden characters. When the characters make choices that actively affect the plot in ways that lead to more tragedy, the tragedy becomes more heart-breaking for both the character and the reader. 
  • A Range of Emotions: Angst is mostly filled with anger and self-pity. Tragedy has a wide range of emotions. If every scene reads as angry, self-pitying, or self-reflecting, you’re moving toward angst territory.
  • The End: A necessary trait of a tragedy is that it ends in tragedy. Angst often ends when the protagonist is starting to heal from whatever happened. In tragedy, there is often little time for characters to start this process because the tragedy happens throughout the story, not before. So if you find that the tragedy is all done and you’ve got a whole chapter of characters reflecting on what just happened, take it out. The story should end with the end of the tragedy, not with the start of the aftermath.
i'm comparing everything to chopped now mawichandoodles answered
dement09 clownarmy
fucktonofanatomyreferences

A glorious fuck-ton of perspective angle references (per request).

[From various sources.]

z-raid

Sources:

dement09

This is goooooood stuff

prober2020

Understanding a Shame-Based Personality

There is a difference between blaming and shaming a person. 

  • Blaming is being told you did something wrong. 
  • Shaming is being told that there’s something wrong with you, and you’re worthless, bad, inferior or inadequate. 

Examples of shaming statements include:

  • “You were a mistake; I wish I’d never had you”
  • “You’re useless; you’ll never amount to anything.”
  • “You could never do what he/she does”
  • “You’ve ruined my life; you ruin everything for everyone”

Adults shamed in childhood have the following traits:

  1. They are afraid to share their true thoughts and feelings with others.
  2. They are terrified of intimacy and put up walls in relationships. They also fear commitment as they expect to be rejected.
  3. They are often extremely shy, easily embarrassed, and are terrified of being shamed or humiliated. They tend to suffer from debilitating false guilt.
  4. They struggle with feelings of worthlessness and believe they are inferior to others. They believe that is something they can never change as worthlessness is at the core of who they are.
  5. They often feel ugly and flawed, even when they’re beautiful – and everyone tells them that.
  6. They may be narcissistic and act as if they have it all together; alternatively, they may be completely selfless, almost to the point of being a doormat.
  7. They are often very defensive and find it hard to bear the slightest criticism. They feel as if they are being constantly watched and judged.
  8. They have a pervasive sense of loneliness and always feel like outsiders (even when others genuinely like and love them).
  9. They feel controlled – as if they always have to do want others want and say – and this blocks spontaneity.
  10. They are perfectionists and usually suffer from performance anxiety. This may also cause them to be procrastinators.
  11. They tend to block their feelings through compulsive behaviors like eating disorders, retail therapy or substance-abuse.
  12. They find it hard to establish and enforce healthy boundaries with others. 

onlinecounsellingcollege

anoia element-of-change
earthchakra

best earthbender in the world: toph uses earthbending to counter powerful magic used by a spirit from another dimension

element-of-change

I firmly believe this is the GREATEST and most extensive display of Earthbending we have ever witnessed.

Depending how you see this scene, Toph is either resisting the interdimensional pull of a vortex Wan Shi Tong opened to transport this MASSIVE building or she is SINGLE-HANDEDLY holding the entire thing up from one of its SMALLEST TURRETS

Can you even fathom?

Literally no greater amount of Earth has ever been manipulated so solidly by an Earthbender on screen. Toph is holding the ENTIRE EDIFICE SECURELY IN PLACE WHILE ONLY TOUCHING THE TINIEST TIP OF IT. WHAT A POWERHOUSE!!!!

anoia

and that was with her not knowing how to properly ground herself in sand

Source: earthchakra
still cool atla toph