Scrolling Through Nct's Account And I Decided To Become Angsty

Cliche but still valid Villain x Hero trope:

Villain and Hero going round after round until Hero finally slips up and Villain gets the upper hand, pinning them hard against the wall. Hero’s panting, bruised and bloody, eyes narrowed and defiant, daring Villain to do their worst. And Villain can’t help but give in to impulse and kiss them. 

Bonus: Hero freezes up, completely shocked, and does nothing to stop them.

Bonus bonus: Hero freezes for just a moment and then melts, kissing back.

Bonus bonus bonus: Hero kisses back with purpose and then uses the distraction as a chance to finally stun and capture Villain.

A Complete(?) PIDW Timeline Resource

Hello everyone, the next chapter is currently in editing, but I received a request on twitter for a PIDW timeline compilation, so I thought I’d drop it here as well. This is PIDW only, so anything caused by SY transmigrating in is not included. Beware of spoilers for anyone still reading the novel!

Most of these are stated in text, a couple (how Shen Jiu and Yue Qi’s events coincide with Su Xiyan’s and Tianlang-Jun’s, the timing of Shen Jiu’s trial) were placed because I felt I could deduce them with very high confidence. The one thing I couldn’t was exactly when Xin Mo’s first backlash occurred: the only information I could find was SY saying that it took place after the Demon Realm arc started.

Anyway, I hope this is useful!

Show, Don't Tell (Unless You Want to Sound Like Me): A How-To and How-Not-To Guide

Hey, my cute little Muses! It's your favorite (or maybe not) self-proclaimed advice-giver who still can’t get her own writing life together. Today, we’re tackling the age-old advice: “Show, don’t tell.” A rule that’s as confusing as trying to assemble IKEA furniture without the instructions. I mean, who needs those, right?

Why "Show, Don’t Tell" is Like the Holy Grail (and Why You Keep Dropping It)

"Show, don’t tell" is like that elusive treasure we all chase in our writing journeys. It’s supposed to make our stories vivid, our characters relatable, and our readers engaged. Instead, it often leaves us feeling like we’re playing literary Twister with our brains. So, let’s dive into this mess, shall we?

When to Show (Because Apparently, Descriptions Are Fun)

Imagine your character is sad. (No, not just because they’re reading my blog.) Instead of saying, “John was sad,” you could show it:

- Tell: John was sad.

- Show: John slumped on the park bench, staring at the ground as if the answers to life’s miseries were etched in the cracks of the sidewalk.

See? Now, John’s sadness is palpable. You can almost feel the weight of his despair. Or maybe you just feel the weight of your own struggles trying to craft such sentences. Either way, it's a win-win.

When to Tell (Because Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That)

Sometimes, you just need to get to the point. Not every moment needs to be a cinematic masterpiece. Here’s a hint: if you’re bogging down your story with endless details, you might be overdoing it.

- Tell: It was a cold night.

- Show: The icy wind howled through the leafless trees, its chill biting at the skin like a thousand tiny needles, making every breath visible in the frosty air.

Yeah, I know. The second one sounds fancy, but do we really need a weather report? Unless your character is battling the elements, a simple “It was a cold night” will do. Save your energy for the scenes that matter. Like the one where your protagonist has an existential crisis (which, let’s be honest, is probably inspired by your own).

The Balance (Or How I Pretend to Know What I’m Doing)

Finding the balance between showing and telling is like finding the perfect coffee-to-milk ratio. Too much milk and it’s bland; too little, and it’s just bitter. The trick is knowing when to be a barista of words and when to just dump the coffee and move on.

Here’s a worthy example (and by worthy, I mean it won’t make you want to claw your eyes out):

- Show: The corners of her mouth twitched upward as she watched the puppy stumble over its own feet, a laugh bubbling up from her chest.

- Tell: She was amused.

Both have their place. Use the first when you want the reader to be in the moment with the character. Use the second when you just need to convey information quickly and get on with your life (and your story).

The Overuse and Underuse (Because Moderation is for the Weak)

Let’s be real. We all either overuse or underuse this rule. Some writers show everything, turning their stories into long-winded epics that make "War and Peace" look like a quick read. Others tell everything, creating a narrative that’s as exciting as a grocery list.

Final Thoughts (Aka My Rambling Conclusion)

“Show, don’t tell” is crucial, but like most writing advice, it’s not a one-size-fits-all. Understand it, play with it, and most importantly, don’t stress over it. Remember, even Shakespeare probably had days where he was like, “To show, or not to show, that is the question.”

So, go forth, write brilliantly, and remember: if all else fails, you can always come back here for more advice (or just to feel better about your own writing skills by comparison).Happy writing!

Until next time,

Muse Advice Corner (a.k.a. the person who has way too many notebooks)

P.S. If this post didn’t help, at least you can say you survived reading it. That’s an achievement in itself.

Your feedback on my blog would mean the world to me! If my posts make you smile, why not fuel my caffeine addiction? Any support is super appreciated, even a comment too. Got any topics you want me to dive into? Just holler. Need some custom writing prompts? Hit me up anytime! :⁠-⁠) Also I'm thinking of starting a writing community do tell me what you think about it (⁠◠⁠‿⁠◕⁠)

do you have any tips on how to write for a quiet character living a comfortable life abruptly being forced to adapt to a rowdy and somewhat violent environment?

Writing Ideas: Quiet Characters

common literary & character tropes

Beware the Quiet Ones: When the character who is hardly ever upset about something, suddenly raises their voice, the world turns upside down and seems to come to an end. There is an unleashed raging or cold speech of epic proportions that not even the most demented character in the story would want to sit through. This rage is almost always expressed verbally, though violence can also be included. Another version could be when the heroes' team is in low spirits, and The Quiet One, fed up with all the sulking, throws the table (or something else) to the side and gives a Rousing Speech to their comrades.

Elective Mute: It turns out that a character assumed to be unable to talk actually can speak, they just choose to be silent most of the time.

Emotionless Girl: An enigmatic female character who appears to be entirely emotionless. Whether she actually is emotionless depends on the story and often on her level of characterization.

Heroic Mime: A hero who never speaks.

Silent Scapegoat: Somebody who willingly takes the blame for everyone else's wrongdoings.

Suddenly Speaking: A character who was initially silent eventually reveals that they can speak after all.

The Quiet One: A character who does speak, but not as much as the other characters.

The Stoic: Quiet demeanor tends towards the brusque or outright rudeness, though there are a few polite Stoics. Some stoics may try to give the impression of a lot going on inside, cultivate an air of mystery and confuse other characters with cryptic one-liners. The Stoic sometimes displays emotion when under extreme stress or in other highly emotional situations, but their usual repertoire consists of mild boredom, detached interest, Dull Surprise or dignified disdain. The Stoics in ancient Greece were philosophers who believed that self-control is the highest virtue, and detachment from strong emotions and passion would give them greater insight in their quest for truth. They also thought that emotional reactions to the inevitable were silly; given that We All Die Someday, what is grieving over death but a judgment that the inevitable was somehow wrong? Stoics would later be criticized for fatalism and apathy.

The Voiceless: A character isn't shown speaking, but might still be capable of speech.

Tranquil Fury: This character can range from happy or stoic, but their anger is more quiet (but still dangerous). What defines this trope is the tendency to become deadly serious when it gets deadly serious.

Examples

In the story "The Six Swans", collected by the Grimm Brothers and Hans Christian Andersen among others, a Fallen Princess must make six shirts out of nettles and can't make a sound for seven years or the spell that transformed her six brothers into swans will never be broken. She manages to keep all of these conditions and gets to break the spell. This is an example of the Elective Mute trope.

Peter in Jumanji, who talks to no one but his older sister Judy ever since their parents' death by car accident. Once Alan gets out of the game and finds his parents are also dead, Peter starts talking to him as well.

Charles Wallace was an Elective Mute trope a child in A Wrinkle in Time. By the time of the later books, he has grown out of it.

Irish Mythology: The battle trance Nuada enters before the first battle of Maige Tuired is sometimes described as a battle fury. However, unlike The Riastrad, the famous "Warp Spasm" of the hero Cu Chulainn, Nuada does not become a berserker, but instead becomes exceptionally calm. This is an example of the Tranquil Fury trope.

Older Than Steam. Shakespeare's Henry V has the eponymous character's Tranquil Fury reaction to the tennis balls.

Dead Poets Society: The shy and insecure Todd Anderson spends most of the film struggling to get out two full sentences and is overlooked by the school and his parents. After his best friend kills himself, the school tries to bully him (and the other boys) into pinning the blame on their favorite teacher — and he leads half the class in an outright rebellion against the headmaster.

Don Vito Corleone from The Godfather is famously very soft-spoken, even hoarse, but an extremely menacing screen presence.

In the original novel The Godfather, both Vito and Michael Corleone were noted as young men for being soft-spoken, understated, and reasonable, especially in contrast to many of their Sicilian immigrant and first-generation compatriots. They go on to become in turn the most feared "Family" heads of their generations, while still rarely raising their voices above a normal speaking tone.

Sources: 1 2 3 4 ⚜ More: References ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

This is already quite a specific character, and it seems you have a rough idea of your storyline. I don't want to intrude too much on your story, so I compiled tropes and examples in literature as well as other media that are somewhat related to what you described, and you could perhaps incorporate these (& edit as needed/desired) to further flesh out your specific character and plot. Consider which direction you want your story to go; what reactions you want your own character to show once they're thrust into that new environment (Will they continue to be quiet? Will they go the other end of the spectrum? Perhaps somewhere in between? Will they succeed in "adapting" in this new environment?). Do go through the sources for more information and examples. Plus these previous posts that may be useful as well:

On Shyness ⚜ On Mutism ⚜ On Introverts

Word Alternatives: Quiet ⚜ Five-Factor Model of Personality

"someone who allows you to rest" is the relationship dynamic of all time

So the backstory of Princess Wanning is absolutely devastating. It’s not justification for her to continue the cycle of murder and abuse once she returns home but it definitely makes sense.

She must hate her brother and pretty much everyone who got to stay home in return for her being a hostage and I completely get her gut reaction to Xiang Fang Fei. It’s easier to be a good person when you’ve never had to suffer hell.

From her perspective, a man she is drawn to for his goodness has chosen an innocent girl who has never had to go through what she did. It must have been like torture.

Fang Fei is the mirror to this. She *does* go through hell thanks to Wanning but it didn’t make her lash out at innocent bystanders. Of course, we have no idea how long Wanning was in this situation for. How young was she?

We normally get this amount of depth and backstory for male villains so interesting we got it for the female villain here too. I find Wanning far more sympathetic than Shen Yurong (who I love) who did all this shit for greed and cowardice

🚨 THE END 🚨

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Subbed cdramas on youtube

So, I know with the demise of Dramafever, people have been looking for where to watch subbed cdramas. There is always viki, of course, and they have a good selection, but surprisingly, youtube also has a bunch.

Here is what I found:

Huace Media Channel has a number of subbed cdramas, including An Oriental Odyssey, Meteor Butterfly Sword, The Taoism Grandmaster, the Great Protector and others. 

https://www.youtube.com/user/huacemedia/playlists

YoYo Television Series Exclusive channel has a number of subbed dramas, including Eternal Love 1 and 2, When Paris Downcast, Legend of Yun xi, Lost in 1949 (Chen Kun!):

https://www.youtube.com/user/TheTvseriesofficial/playlists

Channel for KUKAN drama that has a few subbed cdramas like The Dark Lord:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVm75cj78njo38Izz_suQQA/playlists

The entirety of Colourful Bone (yup, that drama I have been pushing) is here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwMPGEs-m10&list=PLcHRE_huWMAzKEbtEnhPr945cP7TJMdZ_

Ashes of Love:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COAGJgaRAVs&list=PLJ8tSVdIuzBajHmCuVhaizzozMICen2up

Bloody Romance:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4MKRRJM3-w&list=PLJ8tSVdIuzBYv0FRhhQRP3v8V0nsRB6P7

Oh My General:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlmsVQcsOS4&list=PLQ2Fa1qFwrH1BNnWuGOfjGvZIjDF5b-TJ

Cinderella Chef (both seasons):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQSsrSqnm6E&list=PLQ2Fa1qFwrH1ZX7ttRukgVrabJ_hUWHPj

The Screen Foxes (Fox in the Screen):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xt6rTark6I&list=PLQ2Fa1qFwrH1a6mR92AXUlJIKTj2K-t5L

Age of Legends can be found here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohHmPLHNue4&list=PLpOa-OrneXm0RL_zDYbeRwqGt4VUfAwCk

The Journey of Flower:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4X_sq4LQQPA&index=1&list=PLLRYHxCh-wkpM3gFkBw0PYWk5CHVOOwhn

Chinese Paladin 5:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQcKd2Oo9S0&list=PL9ueEqDL4IUVULQyZ1u34VqcRozmC45nQ

Princess Agents:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4pMBHmBFFc&list=PLLRYHxCh-wkqb8PYzl2R1AjXJROtTHAV1

Lost Love in Times:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1lZRWxsQMU&list=PL9BcegyIUROk6JzEKDkpKWwFdmdHZLhSi

The King’s Woman:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBplbEAaiMA&list=PL9BcegyIUROk2yDaj3zz_AEmvTg6SuHFz

Nirvana in Fire 2 (which I think is one of YoYo channel dramas but here it is separately):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0YwGNAnCns&list=PLkLimRXN6NKy7jfS0Jf-hwfYR_ozsDET6

The Advisors’ Alliance:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQeNjOVSa1Y&list=PLYRGCE_sj_lHsQ7uWj5T1DSJsIj5iv16H

Tribes and Empires:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHslS0XEDsk&list=PLvpAVnYN4lb1VtTi_Axy0sO-oOo9qdqsV

The Legend of Chusen:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejzgVhpaXJc&list=PLQqbdnAgoRmbq73Lix-YR6nbyb74EQYMx

Fight Through the Heavens:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klnXkWrVhJg&list=PLkvG4EWPDB0mWdqbgUySTv2nBQUgSlJZ8

Legend of Dragon Pearl:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEBUbgdIpaE&list=PLkvG4EWPDB0lBE9tY5cJMsdXYh9uuu2cM

The Flame’s Daughter:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ap-KPNtjCs4&list=PLkvG4EWPDB0m3-8tfhK-vdIUSkxW6TnQc

Martial Universe:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wi3izji6fmU&list=PLkvG4EWPDB0lVdi85NAMOpvAXJRaHDSPm

Ruyi’s Royal Love in the Palace:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PD-xpO3uBA8&list=PLkvG4EWPDB0lcSDJv9x9o-d_zFjcWOjkm

Story of Yanxi Palace:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tr_R9s7gMgk&list=PLkvG4EWPDB0kxJFJxhgjxLmZ-JqSM-9Gm

I am sure there is more but these are the ones I know about.

Writing Prompt #2949

"We...we survived?"

"What the fuck do we do now? I really thought we were going to end up in the die trying part."