So, Let Me Guess– You Just Started A New Book, Right? And You’re Stumped. You Have No Idea How Much

Villains who are in romantic relationships but abuse their partners are so goddamn boring. I want villains who are absolute bastards, absolutely villains, but who are loving and caring and attentive partners anyway. Taking over the world doesn't mean you have to treat your loved ones like shit.

[TRANS] Taeyong interview with News1: I am a leader

Nice to meet you. Please introduce yourself. I’m Taeyong, the leader who is in charge of ‘greeting’ (laughs)

How did you become NCT 127’s leader? I didn’t expect to be a leader, but naturally, I became the leader. The company told me that I was very motivated when I was a trainee. I take great pride in our team, thanks to this I think they (the company) thought I was suitable to become the leader.

What kind of leader do you think you are? A leader who can say his lines at once without making any mistakes. (laughs). A responsible leader. Someone who works hard with the mission to fulfill the role of a leader.

There must be some burden that comes with being the team leader. In the past, I used to really worry about what I should do as NCT 127’s leader. There is also the pressure to show a different image of myself for each NCT team, I really put a lot of care into that by myself. As we’ve been promoting, I feel a lot less burden now.

Out of all NCT units, only NCT 127 has a leader. Do you have more burden because of that? That was also a big part of the burden. Still, all the members of NCT 127 work hard, have outstanding skills, and a lot of affection for the team. So I was able to lose that burden.

What role do you take as the leader? As a leader, rather than taking care of the bigger things, you tend to take care of the smaller things more. It starts from choosing what to eat (laughs), how to organize the schedule, those things are decided by talking to the members. Furthermore, the members too, value showing our capabilities through the stage, so we talk a lot and arrange all our ideas. Of course, it’s also my job to talk to the company when there’s something important.

As the leader, what do you think is NCT 127’s exclusive charm? There’s many units under the NCT brand, but NCT 127 feels like home. Thanks to this we can chat even more comfortably with the members. We see each other when we’re unwell and we’ve been through a lot together, it’s hard to explain but it (NCT 127) just feels more close-knit.

As the leader of an idol group, what is something you focus on the most? Boosting the atmosphere within the team. I want to make the members laugh. (laughs) Before we would be talking about performances, but now everyone just works hard and we share our opinions about trivial things. I also want to make sure there’s no misunderstandings between the team and the company, wouldn’t that be a leader’s job.

Keep reading

Apparently a lot of people get dialogue punctuation wrong despite having an otherwise solid grasp of grammar, possibly because they’re used to writing essays rather than prose. I don’t wanna be the asshole who complains about writing errors and then doesn’t offer to help, so here are the basics summarized as simply as I could manage on my phone (“dialogue tag” just refers to phrases like “he said,” “she whispered,” “they asked”):

“For most dialogue, use a comma after the sentence and don’t capitalize the next word after the quotation mark,” she said.

“But what if you’re using a question mark rather than a period?” they asked.

“When using a dialogue tag, you never capitalize the word after the quotation mark unless it’s a proper noun!” she snapped.

“When breaking up a single sentence with a dialogue tag,” she said, “use commas.”

“This is a single sentence,” she said. “Now, this is a second stand-alone sentence, so there’s no comma after ‘she said.’”

“There’s no dialogue tag after this sentence, so end it with a period rather than a comma.” She frowned, suddenly concerned that the entire post was as unasked for as it was sanctimonious.

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.

Note - We’ve updated this post with more tools and clarifications!

Every day, there seem to be more reasons to break up with Google.

So we’ve rounded up a bunch of privacy-centric alternatives for all your deGoogling needs.

Check out the full list over on the blog!

- The Ellipsus Team xo

“Do it scared” but please realize that, if you Do It Scared too much and don’t let yourself rest + relax + have fun in between, you will fuck yourself up. If you “do it scared” all day every day, you will burn out badly and quickly. Sometimes this is temporarily necessary but please keep this in mind.

This is random but I like how the edit turned out hehe

I made these as a way to compile all the geographical vocabulary that I thought was useful and interesting for writers. Some descriptors share categories, and some are simplified, but for the most part everything is in its proper place. Not all the words are as useable as others, and some might take tricky wording to pull off, but I hope these prove useful to all you writers out there!

(save the images to zoom in on the pics)

Hero: Fight me, bitch.

Villain: Tempting, but where?

Hero: Wh—

Villain: Wellll there's the battlefield, of course, but then there's also the bedroom-

Hero: w h a—

Villain: Either way, we both know I would win.

Hero: *surprised pikachu face*

Also Hero: *iNTENSE BLUSHING*

This is my second upload bc tumblr is a bitch

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 (⁠◠⁠‿⁠◕⁠)