Some Geology Vocabulary

THE BLACK SHEEP DOG MASTER POST

The Black Sheep Dog

Book I - In the Black 

“What is to you ‘taking advantage'—is to me, merely—” Orion searched around for the correct phrase. “—Adapting to these new circumstances I find myself in, and acting as I see fit when opportunities arise that are to my…benefit.”

“That is the most fucking Slytherin justification I’ve ever heard,” Sirius growled, angrily.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Book 2 - Black Mask

“Then why did he leave his family—truly?”

“Nothing all that exciting, I’m afraid,” he said, staring across the room, his smile grim. “Just a run-of-the-mill blood-traitor who was fed up. A political idealist. Took a different view of things than his family—the Black sheep of the Blacks.” She furrowed her brow. “You look disappointed.”

Chapter 1

Chapter 2 

Chapter 3 

Chapter 4 

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8 

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16 

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

What I love the most is when a story is told and there aren't any sequels, the story is over, but there are other stories set in the same world which occasionally mention the characters from the first story like oh! They're happy! They're living quiet unassuming lives!!! They have no more story to tell except the story of living peacefully!

Sirius: Why must you assume the worst of me?

Sirius: Aside from my history and general personality?

James: Sometimes your evil leaks out

Sirius: No argument.

Sirius: Can't fight the beast within forever.

James: Did that sound creepier now than in your head?

Sirius: No.

James: Ah.

James: Just checking.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐑𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥 (2024)

just because someone can articulate their point better doesn’t make them right, it makes them articulated. 

"Would you still love me if I-" I would still love you if we reincarnated a million times and you killed me in each and every one of them. And I would be grateful that your face is the last thing I get to see before I die in every lifetime. Next.

An aye-write guide to Showing vs. Telling

I’ll bet that if you’ve ever taken an English class or a creative writing class, you’ll have come across the phrase “Show, don’t tell.”  It’s pretty much a creative writing staple! Anton Chekov once said “ Don’t tell me the moon is shining. Show me the glint of light on broken glass.” In other words, showing should help you to create mental pictures in a reader’s head.

Showing helps readers bond with the characters, helps them experience the emotions and action more vividly, and helps immerse them in the world you have created. So “show, not tell” is definitely not bad advice - in certain circumstances. But it has its place. More on that later. 

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So How do I Show? 

Dialogue

Thoughts/Feelings

Actions

Visual Details

So instead, of telling me “He was angry”, show me how his face face flushes red, how his throat tightens, how he slams his fist, how he raises his voice, how his jaw clenches, how he feels hot and prickly, how his breathing gets rapid, how his thoughts turn to static, etc.

Instead of telling me “The cafeteria was in chaos”, you could show me  someone covered in food and slowly turning crimson, children rampaging under the feet of helpless adults, frenzied shouting, etc. 

Handy Hint! Try to avoid phrases like “I heard”, “I felt”, “I smelled”, etc. These are still “telling words” (also known as filters) and may weaken your prose, as your readers could be taken out of the experience and you may lose their attention.

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Is Showing Always The Right Thing to Do? 

No! Showing is not always right and telling is not always wrong! It’s important to develop the skill and instinct to know when to use showing and when to use telling, as both can be appropriate in certain occasions. 

So, “Show, don’t tell” becomes “Show versus tell”. 

.-.-.

What is Showing and Telling? 

Showing is “The grass caressed his feet and a smile softened his eyes. A hot puff of air brushed past his wrinkled cheek as the sky paled yellow, then crimson, and within a breath, electric indigo”

Telling is “The old man stood in the grass and relaxed as the sun went down.”

Both of these excerpts are perfectly acceptable to use in your writing! But both do different things, although their meanings are pretty much the same. The first example is immersive, sweeping, visual, engaging. The second example is much more pared back and functional. But both have their places in prose! 

Telling is functional. Think about when you tell people things. You tell your children dinner is ready. The news reporter tells you there’s a drop in crime rates. Your best friend tells you she’ll be late because her car broke down on the way to yours. These are brief and mundane moments in everyday life. 

So, do these deserve multiple paragraphs with sensory detail and action/feeling/thought for every little thing? Do you need to spend an entire paragraph agonising over a minor detail when there’s a sword dangling (physically or metaphorically) over your MC’s head? No. And I’ll explain why.

.-.-.  

When To Use Telling

As before, telling is functional. It’s brief. It’s efficient. It gives a gist of a situation without getting bogged down in detail.

Showing is slow, rich, expansive, and most certainly not efficient! 

Here’s an example of some telling: 

“Years passed, and I thought of Emily less and less. I confined her to some dark dusty corner of my brain. I had to elbow my memories of her to the side. I was too busy with other things. Finishing school, then university a year later. Life was full and enjoyable. But then, one dark cold September night…”

You can’t show this example, unless you wanted to waste page after page of your MC waking up, going through everyday life, to get to the point your actual story started. If you do that, you will likely kill off any interest a reader would have in your novel and likely, your book itself.

.-.-.

Summing Up 

Showing: 

Should be used for anything dramatic

Uses thoughts, feelings, dialogue, action, and visual detail 

Will likely be used more than telling

Telling: 

Delivering factual information

Glossing over unnecessary details 

Connecting scenes

Showing the passage of time 

Adding backstory (not all at once!) 

'I'll be gone in a month', you thought.

And it made you really terrified. You're still young and there's so much more you wanted to do. So you tried to avoid it- anything that you thought dangerous, you completely stopped doing it.

You stopped climbing up stools to take plates from higher cabinets because you afraid you'll fall. You started to be really anxious to cross the road because you're afraid to be hit by a car. You're extremely careful when walking down the streets so nothing like a flower pot would hit your head. You asked your friends to taste you food first before you eat to make sure it was not poisoned. You took every precaution you could.

You don't want to die yet. You can't die yet.

But every single day when you look through the mirror, it's empty. No matter how safe you were, it remained empty.

Until one day, you're all curled up in your blankets, fidgetting and bitting you finger nails as you're anxious because a month had passed, someone entered your apartment.

Quickly you stood up and reached for the nearest vase you saw just in case.

"Woah there, there's no need to be so violent", the uninvited guest smirked. "I mean no harm."

He handed you a glowing pendant. Warily, you took the pendant and asked,

"Who are you? What's this?"

Instead of answering, he showed a mirror in front of your face.

There it is, your reflection. You can finally see your reflection back. You smiled and screamed in joy.

"H...how? Why?", you managed to stammer although you're already speechless.

"Because you're a witch", he replied.

Then you knew that you're not a simple human but a species of immortal witch. Before being immortal, your reflection will disappear for some time- as for your case, a month.

Your reflection became normal- the mirror no longer showed your reflection a month after. And you're also able to see the future through the mirror.

-this just came to my mind and pardon me for my bad English.

From a young age, you realized the mirrors never showed your reflection; they showed you how you’ll look in a month. One day, your reflection is gone.

将进酒 Qiang Jin Jiu Official Merch Art | Shen Zechuan + Xiao Chiye