90% Of Writing Advice Can Be Thrown Out The Window For Your First Draft.

90% of writing advice can be thrown out the window for your first draft.

Show don’t tell? Ignore.

Basic grammar and punctuation? Unnecessary. 

Physical descriptions of characters? Don’t need to bother. 

Solid plot? That’s for later. 

The words don’t come as fast when you’re thinking of the best way to put them together. It doesn’t have to be pretty, or much more than inconsistent nonsense.  The point is to have it exist.

Effective storytelling is for subsequent drafts! Go write some nonsense! 

Tag your OC:

OC 1: wow i'm really thirsty

OC 2: [rummages through bag and takes out full water bottle]

OC 1: hey, thank--

OC 2: [opens bottle and chugs contents while maintaining eye contact]

OC 1:

oc questions: ice (and suffering) edition

It’s a wintery day and your OCs are out for a walk. OC1 suddenly slips on some ice and falls on their butt. The other OCs notice.

Which OC…

winces in sympathy?

runs over to help but ends up slipping as well?

just facepalms and sighs?

manages to actually help OC1 to their feet?

records the whole thing and posts it online or on snapchat?

records the whole thing and keeps it as blackmail?

tries to hide their laughter behind their hands?

laughs their head off before asking “are you okay??” in a still giggly voice?

laughs so hard that they fall as well?

suggests that they just wear ice skates next time?

How to Bring Someone Back from the Dead

Make sure that it wasn’t their time to die. If it was, do not try to bring them back.

If you’re sure they weren’t meant to die, start preparing for your journey. It will be a long one.

You will need two coats, a quarter, a white rose, a blanket, a flashlight, extra batteries, lots of food and water, and an object of importance to the deceased (a necklace, a beloved book, etc).

Wait until late spring. You’ll want it to be warm out when you return.

Put on some good hiking boots. You’ll be walking for a while.

Enter any forest. The denser the better. Walk until the sun goes down.

Look to your left when it becomes too dark to see.

You will see a white glow in the distance. Walk towards it.

Be careful where you step. Some woods like to trip you.

Remember your loved one’s name.

Say aloud how much you missed them and why you want them back.

The glow will disappear once you reach it. When it does, turn on your flashlight and sit down.

Place the flashlight next to you and go to sleep. Do not be afraid. If you’ve made it this far, then the forest is on your side. It will not let you be harmed.

When you awake, the sun will be up.

Turn off your flashlight and put it back in your bag.

You will be standing just outside of a fairy ring. Do not enter it.

Take out your food and water. Eat some, but leave the rest at your feet.

Step into the ring and place the quarter on the ground, tails up.

Tell your loved one you are coming for them. They will not hear you.

The quarter will sink into the ground. You may now enter the Underworld.

Put on one of the coats. It will be very cold.

Close your eyes and imagine that you are sinking into the ground. Do not open them until you smell smoke.

When you open your eyes, you will be underground. A tunnel will stretch out before you.

Replace the batteries in your flashlight. It will get dark very soon

Follow the tunnel. You will feel cold. This is normal.

You will soon come across a small house. Knock on the door.

A dark-haired woman will open it. There is something wrong with her eyes. Do not stare.

She will ask you for something pretty. Give her the rose

She will smile at you and invite you in for something to eat. Enter the house, but politely refuse any food.

Talk to her for a while. She likes the company.

She’ll tell you a secret. Pretend that it doesn’t bother you.

Eventually, she will give you an item. I do not know what it will be. It’s different for everyone.

Thank her for being so kind. She wasn’t always like this.

Say goodbye and exit the house. Continue down the tunnel

You will be walking for a long time. If you need to sleep, do so. When you wake up, continue walking.

You will find food in your bag. Do not eat any of it.

You will get to a river guarded by the woman you met before. Do not ask her how she got here so fast.

Say hello and show her the item she gave to you. She will take it and give you your flower back.

You are now allowed to cross the river. Get in the boat. Don’t think about how it wasn’t there before.

Let the boat take you to the other shore. The fog will make it hard to see. Trust me that it’s better that way

When you get off the boat, the fog will be too dense to see clearly.

You will start to come across wandering souls. They will not care that you are here. They are too miserable.

The silence will be unbearable. Hum a song to yourself.

You’ll be wandering around for a while. Don’t give up hope. You’ll find them soon.

When you do, softly say hello.

They will not remember you. Don’t take this personally. They don’t remember themselves either.

Don’t touch them, not yet.

Their eyes will seem far away. It’s alright. They are listening.

Talk to them for a while. Don’t give your name and do not tell them theirs. They don’t trust you yet.

They’ll soon realize you are alive. When they do, answer their questions about the world above.

Ask them if they are cold. The answer will be yes.

Offer them the coat you are wearing. It will already be warm. You have body heat, they do not.

When they take it. Put on your other coat.

At this point, they will ask if you know them. Say yes and tell them their name.

They will like having an identity again. Try not to cry when they smile.

Hand them their item of importance. It will help them trust you.

Tell them your name and ask them if they want to leave.

If they say yes, take their hand. They will feel like a corpse. Try not to let this faze you.

Do not let go of their hand.

Walk back to the river. You will find it. The Keepers don’t like the Living in the Underworld.

The woman you met earlier will be there. Give her the rose again. She will give you back the item from her house.

Get in the boat.

When you reach the shore, exit the boat.

Your loved one will have some trouble keeping up. They are exhausted. The dead cannot eat or sleep, no matter how much they want to.

Keep walking. Try not to notice how hungry you are.

Do not eat the food in your bag.

While you walk, talk to your loved one. They don’t know it, but they’ve missed you.

They will trip and fall at some point. They are very tired.

They will start to cry. Don’t let this break your heart. Instead, tell them they will be able to rest soon.

For now, pick them up and carry them in your arms. Don’t worry, they will be very light.

Try not to notice that they aren’t breathing. It will only make you feel sick.

Keep talking. They will be too tired to respond, but they are listening.

When you see the woman’s house, tell your loved one that you’re almost there.

Keep walking and don’t turn around.

You’ll feel something watching you.

Don’t turn around. Please.

You’ll notice you’ve stopped talking. Start humming that song again. It will help stave off the fear.

Stop walking and place your loved one on the ground. Pull out the blanket and wrap them in it. Pick them up again and keep going. You’re almost there.

You’ll see a light up ahead. Feel the relief flooding through you and run towards it.

When you step out of the fairy ring, immediately place your loved one on the ground.

Encourage them to breathe. They will have forgotten how to.

When they start to breathe again, retrieve the food that you left on the ground earlier.

They’ll want to fall asleep. Make sure they eat and drink before they do so.

They will be very cold. Do whatever you can to keep them warm.

Thank whatever gods you believe in for letting you bring them back.

Go to sleep. Nothing will harm you here.

When you wake, do not disturb your loved one. They haven’t slept in so long. Wait until they wake up on their own.

Take them home. They will not remember you at first, but they will regain their memories soon.

Don’t tell them how they died. It’s best if they don’t know.

Spend time with them. Most people don’t get a second chance.

More guides

How to be a stranger

If your reflection is missing

If you are a researcher or adventurer and want to share a guide, join our subreddit! 

this is probably a super unpopular opinion but I honestly don't think jon deserves all the shit he's getting? time and time again he has jeopardised his own well-being for his friends and more than made up for his past mistakes? he is! completely on his own! and it's terrible and difficult to watch/hear! I'm really struggling to understand why melanie or daisy are more worthy of empathy/forgiveness than jon :/

This is actually not an unpopular opinion at all (I promise), but I FUCKING LOVE THIS TOPIC so allow me to explain why you’re technically correct but also why the other characters are very, very valid in their mistrust of Jon. 

Something to take into consideration that goes sorely underappreciated (I think) is that we, the viewers, are in a privileged position where we are routinely exposed to Jon’s private thoughts, feelings, and developments—thus, we’re primed to empathize with Jon as a necessity of the narrative. This forces us to be sympathetic to Jon in a way that the other characters aren’t capable of being (because they lack our perspective). It’s imperative to realize that without this perspective, Jon is genuinely difficult to find forgivable.

Because we have nearly four complete seasons of content and the clarity of our reflection tends to get muddied over time, let’s examine The Past Misdeeds of Jonathan Sims™️. 

Season 1:

Is a condescending and callous piece of shit.

Frequently berates the only employee who is motivated to please him. 

Refuses to disclose his fears and motivations to a single other being until prompted by the workplace assault of an Eldritch abomination. 

Season 2:

Either stalking his coworkers or invading their privacy/personal spaces. 

Expresses hostility when confronted about his behaviors.

Involves Basira in his investigations, which ultimately seals her fate as a prisoner of The Institute (which opens the door for the coercion of Daisy). 

Season 3:

Refuses to let his allies into the fold of his investigations when he isn’t hiding from the law or being kidnapped. 

Season 4:

Attempts to alleviate his allies’ mistrust in him/his humanity with persuasions and promises while hiding his feeding, ultimately proving their suspicions.

When confronted about his feeding, he deflects and tries to justify his actions. 

This is the reality of Jon’s actions throughout these four seasons without any of the context provided by the tapes. The other characters are not exposed to Jon’s trauma, fear, or doubts, and they aren’t exposed to his changing motivations or his positive behavioral developments. They don’t know that Jon has made a deliberate and concerted effort to trust them. They don’t know that Jon feels terribly for not trusting them in the past. They don’t know how sorry Jon feels for the actions he took when immersed in his paranoia. They don’t know that he was genuinely unaware of his compelling ability, that he truly didn’t know what would happen to Basira, Daisy, or Melanie when he took statements from them. They don’t know how afraid he is of what he’s becoming, or how much he’s struggling with his hunger. The pleas and apologies that he offers when confronted, as well as the suicidal rescue missions that aren’t asked for in the first place, are not enough to “make up” for his behavior… because it’s not really about “making up” for anything. 

Forgiveness is a long, ongoing, arduous process. You can’t just do better things and expect that the people who have suffered because of you are going to immediately rally in your corner, no matter how good your intentions are. You can’t put in Good Deed Coins™️ until you reach a zero balance, or put a band-aid on the chaos that you’ve wrought. This is an attempt to control the forgiveness process of other human beings and you cannot control the timing or likelihood of this process for anyone but yourself. You can only work on your faults and hope that other people choose to forgive you—and it isn’t a matter of deserving because no one has to choose forgiveness if they don’t feel it in their heart. Forgiveness is not a given or an obligation. 

And guess what? This struggle is entirely deliberate. A tragic hero, defined by Aristotle, was “a person who must evoke a sense of pity and fear in the audience. He is considered a man of misfortune that comes to him through error of judgment.” This is the tragedy of Jon as a protagonist. Jon is finally doing the right things, making the right changes and the proper strides, but it’s too late because he’s already made his mistakes. He failed to build that trust and confide in his allies when it was most important and he’s suffering now because of the consequences of his actions. It IS terrible, it IS hard to hear, and it isn’t fair, and it’s tragic. I love you guys, but you’re so caught up in what’s going to happen in the very end of the series that you don’t realize that the tragedy is now because it’s always been a tragedy. The tragedy is happening right now, and has been building since the first episode of the first season.

Tldr; You’re right. Jon doesn’t deserve this but it is what he has wrought, and that’s the entire point of this arc. This is that tragedy thing Jonny has been warning you all about. 

Six years working with child protective services should have taught him to keep a straight face even when confronted with the weirdest situations, but the social worker has to admit that he’s struggling right now. He looks down at his papers for a moment and then back up at his visitors.

No, the pointed ears are still there. So are the just slightly sharper teeth in their hopeful smiles. In fact, they look exactly the way they do in the stories. Right down to the emerald green eyes.

“Excuse me,” he says, nervously clearing his throat. “Could you go over that for me one more time?”

“Certainly! We would like to apply to be foster parents.”

“Right…” The social worker looks anxiously from one of the couple to the other. “But…but you’re fae.” He really doesn’t know a way to be delicate about this fact.

“Oh you noticed!” the one on the right says. (The couple introduced themselves as Mr. and Mrs. Peters, but he doesn’t remember who was who and as far as he is concerned their appearance gives him no clue whatsoever.)

“Well, yes,” he says uncomfortably. “And this being the case, I did wonder…”

The Mx. Peters (surely that can’t be their real name) on the left nods understandingly. “Of course, it’s quite alright, we do understand. But you see, the whole changeling thing doesn’t really appeal to us at all.”

“Taking care of a human child sounds wonderful!” their partner smiles brightly. “And we have plenty of room to love one or two more! But we simply refuse to give ours away, and that is regrettably a big part of the changeling business.”

“Your children?” the social worker blinks.

“Yes,” the parents beam proudly. “Two of them,” one of them adds. “A wee one of barely four summers and our eldest, who is nearly eight.”

The other smiles enthusiastically. “It is preferred for foster parents, is it not, to already have children of one’s own?”

The social worker pulls himself together. “Yes,” he says. “Yes it is.” Parents are parents, aren’t they? And if he forgets about the teeth, and the ears, and the intangible feeling that his carpet might start sprouting daisies, these two are giving off practically nothing but parent vibes.

“So you’ll consider us for the programme?”

He nods. “Yes, certainly, I will. Just—” He clears his throat. “We will need to visit your home fist, to verify your circumstances.”

“Of course!” the parent on the left agrees.

“That should be quite alright as longs as we remember not to offer refreshments,” their partner nods.

The social worker nods along and silently scribbles a discrete little note on their file. He is going to have to have a talk with his supervisor about this. And another thing—

“I will need your full legal names for the forms,” he says, looking up.

The two fae meet his eyes with silent stares.

He swallows. “…a legal name for the forms?”

The radiant smiles return.