I recently watched this video posted by @criticalhitstory, about the three-act story structure. If you’re at all interested in writing films, or writing any kind of story really, I recommend you watch at least the first half of this video essay.
I’m not going to hash out everything in this video – I just want to call attention to the first point, which is something that’s fascinated me about storytelling for a while, but I’ve never heard someone else put into words before.
The three-act story structure is not something that was created. It’s something we’ve observed. It is not prescriptive; it’s descriptive. It’s not how a story shouldbe told; rather, it’s how stories aretold.
“The three act story structure is not something that was created. It’s something we’ve observed. It is not prescriptive; it is descriptive. It’s not how a story should be told; rather how stories are told”
This. This is what I’ve tried to convey to people so many times. The three act structure isn’t some marketing scheme designed to shoehorn your story into a cookie cutter mold, it’s the product of a millennia of human psychology. Learning how and why it is the way it is will enhance your stories rather than restrict them.
can i be honest for a second? i think its kinda dumb to attribute the law proposed in texas for that would ban drag queens from public spaces, and by extension any visibly transgender woman from public spaces, to arguments abt kink at pride. there has been a backlash against trans rights brewing for many years. and, notably drag queens sort of have never been a main focus of the “but there are children and nonconsenting people at pride events” sort of arguments. trans people have always been targetted as being uniquely corrupting for children to be around, its never needed the help of this stupid cyclical discourse we have every summer on tumblr. its been around before it, just as vitriolic and hateful, and itll be around after it, same as always. this is pretty obviously just riding the coattails of other successful anti woman and anti trans legislation getting passed, as well as being empowered by the growth of anti trans hate movements on both the right and the left
id have to read the text of the proposed legislation to know for certain what language and ongoing discussions its trying to coopt, and i aint doing that right now bc im already on the verge of cutting my own arms open this afternoon. but even if that kind of “kink at pride” type language was present in the bill, like, its kind of obvious that this kind of legislation was coming down the pipes, with or without “kink at pride” arguments, lmfao. i think its kind of deeply stupid, for people to see fascist political opportunism aimed at scrubbing a vulnerable and widely reviled minority group from public life, after months of successfully targetting said minority group with legistlation that cuts them out of sports and healthcare, and say, “this is happening simply because yall said you didnt like the dogmen”
like its kind of incredibly narcissistic to try and turn this legislation, which is an obvious, immediate existential threat to transgender women and girls, into a way to win points in your extremely online arguments about “is leatherman good? or is leatherman bad?” its not fucking relevant, frankly, and it really goes far to show how little you actually care about transgender women, that your first fucking instinct is to try and make this into an extension of the categorically useless pride discourse youre so obsessed with continuing every single year
Jason Todd, @Ragstoriches: “Can I get verified, already? It’s the real me, I swear. Maybe.”
Kimberley Sannowa, @Allrealnews: “I find it strange that out of all the Wayne children you choose to impersonate, you pick the one with the street blood. It’s obvious you’re not the dead child and why would you want to be, he’s simply another one of Gotham’s kicked and downed. You fan accounts stun me.”
Dick Grayson, @FavoriteSon (verified): “You can’t be serious, right?”
Damian Wayne, @TheBloodSon (verified): “Aren’t you one of the people working on the new Wayne Enterprises Charity Projects?”
Tim Drake, @Ihavethecompany (verified): “It’s been made apparent that Wayne Enterprises needs to look more clearly into who is being allowed in our committee. Let me make it unmistakably clear that there is no such thing as a street blooded child, just a child who has had every other option taken away from them.”
Tim Drake: “Gotham’s so called ‘kicked and downed’ are who WE is trying to bring up and we pride ourselves in doing just that. If you can’t even find the smallest of sympathy for a child, I suggest you find other work. Let it be known that the cruel have no place in Wayne Enterprises.”
Jason Todd: “This is sweet and all, and I’ll for sure book an appointment to shed man tears later, but I still don’t know why I’m not verified.”
really what the previous stream has shown is that cwilbur fails to recognize that the world has moved on without him after his death, and people have grown beyond his presence. hes functioning under this idea that he is a driving force behind peoples lives still, that he is the source of all disruption and disturbance. like cwilbur is still holding onto that grandiosity and self importance that he has had since s1, that idea that hes in a story and that hes playing a leading role. we see it on nov 16th, we saw it with quackity, and we’re seeing it now directed towards ctommy and cdream, and its why he so brutally misunderstands cdreams abuse of ctommy
cdreams abuse of ctommy cannot be senseless cruelty, of a person in power praying on a vulnerable teenager, of harm being done for harm’s sake. for cwilbur, ctommy’s abuse cannot be, at its core, about ctommy, at least in his current worldview. its the ugly side of the self hatred we saw earlier in this arc, and that self obsession that is a prerequisite to self hatred becomes cruelty and self importance. cwilbur cant see a world where cdreams abuse of ctommy isnt in some way connected to him, bc to cwilbur, he is the root of all problems (and also he does not see ctommy as an equal, which does not contradict his love of ctommy, but does complicate it. a lot.). he fails to realize cdream couldnt give less of a fuck if he lives or dies, that cwilbur is only important in this discussion bc ctommy cares about him. cdreams abuse of ctommy isnt about cwilbur, and has never been about cwilbur even in s1; cwilbur was at best an obstacle to ctommy for cdream. but cwilbur cant realize this without his entire mentally ill flavored worldview collapsing, which is how u get him making insane suicide threats and just his general vibes in the prison confrontation
